Although the piano quickly became the standard instrument for composition in the 1700s, the star performance instrument was still the violin. Like the piano, the violin evolved via improvements on similar medieval instruments. These include the rebec, a three-stringed instrument of Persian descent, the popular Renaissance fi and the five-stringed lira de braccio, often used when reciting poetry. The words viola, vielle, and Germanic fiddle, all derived from the Latin vitula, were used for all kinds of handheld stringed instruments. The word violin itself is derived from the Italian viola. Though instruments of this kind were widely popular in Europe, the earliest four-stringed versions of renown were produced by Andrea Amati in the 1550s. King Charles lx of France was so impressed that he commissioned two dozen to be constructed for him, one of which is still in existence today and is the world's oldest violin. Violin-making in itself became a kind of art, peaking in a golden age in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Violins made by the most famous families of violin makers, or luthiers, such as Stradivari and Guarneri, are still emulate and highly sought after to this day The standard violin had strings created from sheep gut, while the strings of a violin's bow were made of horsehair. The voice of this stringed instrument became the central instruments in orchestral compositions thanks to their rich, beautiful tones. orchestras today usually feature two sections of violinists, one to play melodies and the other to supply background harmonies or melodies at lower octaves Even though the violin and piano may now play second fiddle to the electric guitar and the drum set, they are still vital components in contemporary music. Electric and digital pianos are not uncommon in rock groups, while many pop groups with country or Celtic influences still feature the violin.