Please begin by telling us anything you would like about yourself. Age, place of birth, residence, etc.
My name is Naska.
I was born and still live here in Kazan (Russian Federation, Tatarstan republic =) Yep, try to find that place on the map LOL!) I was born on 12/11/1982 so I'm almost 30 years old =) I was actually a present to my mama on her birthday (she was also born on the 11th of December =)).  OMG! I was not the best present in her life LOL!

What made you decide to play the violin?
The sound of the violin and great opportunity of this instrument made me decide to play it - definitely =) I wanted to play violin all my life. I guess since I first heard its sound when I was 2 or 3 years old..

How long have you been playing the violin?
I bought my acoustic violin at the end of summer in 2008. But can't say that I really learned to play it.. My parents refused to listen to my off notes and horrrrrible bowing XD....Unfortunately no mutes to be found in our stores =/ ... Then I got an e-violin in February of 2010.. and with this violin I developed lots of bad habits and no useful skills for playing it =(. When I met my teacher, she told me that we not only have to start from 0 but from backwards, LOL. She says that I've been playing since April of 2011.. and who am I to argue? =)

How often do you play? How long are your practice sessions?
I play every free second that I have! My job schedule is to work 4 days and off for 2 - so I play 2/4 =) Sometimes if i have a free minute before or after work - I use that time as well =) My practice sessions on a working day never last more than an hour but on a day off I never play less than 3 hours.

In your opinion, what's your proficiency on the violin?
Beginner (I'm not planning to be a beginner for a long time LOL =))

Your greatest personal experience with playing?
Playing duets with my teacher - that feeling is so great! I always feel like .... hmmm, I can't even find words to describe it... There are not that many great things to compare it to.. It's like a Sunrise.

If any, what other instruments do you play?
I play the synthesizer and bass guitar. None professionally. I played the acoustic guitar a long time ago so maybe I can remember a few chords =))

What does music mean to you?
Music is a magnificent world of imagination... It's like a thought, so gentle, that if you try to express it with words it becames stupid and narrow.. Like an itch on your back that you can't reach with your hands because they're too short =) And only the expression of music can scratch it and make you happy. Well this is what I mean, LOL -  you see, I'm trying to explain my feelings about music with words =) LOL again.....

What or who has been your greatest influence?
All the music that I've heard in my life, from granny's lullabies, the "Grendel" band, "Libido air bag", black metal, native folk songs to Vivaldi. I don't like being influenced by any one particular person...

What are your goals for playing violin? short and long.
Short: Christmas Project violin 1 part, Ave Maria, Por una cabeza, Bile the cabbage down.
Long: Being able to play by ear, note reading and music composition.

What type of violin training?
I have a teacher - so mostly I do what she tells me to =) So: G, D, F, C Scales,  A Major 4 octaves, positions and shifting.  And between you and I:  Double stops, Shuffles, Playing Pieces from my sort goals list =) I am working a lot on dynamics - that's my weakness =)

How do you warm up?
Exercises before playing:
Tune the violin =), play open strings and scales.

What is your favortie type of music?
It's easier to count types that I don't like... But even among those there are exceptions.. I can tell, I definitely like cyber grind core and classic =)

What is your favorite piece of music? Why?
I don't have just one particular favorite piece.. I like Vivaldi -" Winter", Handel - "Passacaglia", Pachelbel - "Canon in D",  Weena Morloch - "Girl", Panzer AG - "Battlefield" ... these are only pieces that I can name off the top of my head, but if i look at my music collection I can list another hundred pieces and all of them my favorites =)

What are your 2 favorite things to do other than playing violin?
Painting and jumping (I don't know what it's called when you jump off of a 14 floor building with a cord attached to you - I suppose that this sport exists all over the world =)

Do you come from a musical family? If so please tell us about them.
Not really. My mama played violin (!) when she was in 3rd grade, but they had to sell the violin... So she never returned to music..

Are you a member of any orchestra?
Nope =) But if you can count a duet as an orchestra, then my friend (she learns to play harmonica) and I...

Do you ever perform publicly?
Yep. I played bass guitar in 2005 in a night club.

What do you work with?
I'm a technical support operator for our local internet provider.

If you don't mind, please share with us information about your violin and bow and if you have several please tell us about them as well.
I have 2 violins: An acoustic Prada (it does not have any sticker inside-so i don't know the model) which cost me about $100 and a Brahner EV-503 e-violin. The bows and rosin are those included with the violins =)