Naming Silver Audio
Last updated
Last updated
Coming up with a name is never easy. When working on new music, I dreaded the album or EP naming process. I’d keep asking myself “what is vibe of name?” and “does this name sound legitimate?” The litmus test for me was always to see if a song from the album came up on shuffle, would it fit in with the “real” music that preceded it?
Naming was a similar journey. I just wanted the app to sound like a real thing next to other apps. Lucky for us, other music tool makers are weirdos just like us and have some fun names (think Fruity Loops, or Sauce Fattener).
We settled on Sound Compass for a while but it just didn’t feel exciting. It seemed more like a feature and less like a product. Maybe it was too specific. Whatever the reason, the team wasn’t fully into it either.
When I came to terms with the fact that Sound Compass wasn’t going to work for our platform name, I decided that the name I picked should get to the heart of what music is to me. When I think about it, music is both a science and a type of magic. Scientifically, you can use music theory to create music. You know that using creating something in the minor key will evoke a certain feeling. You know that you can specific sets of frequencies played together will create beautiful harmonies or uncomfortable dissonance. But when everything comes together, it still feels magical. You created something from nothing - like alchemy.
So how do I come up with a name or logo that captures both these ideas? Well, the western music scale contains the letters A through G (yes i know there are sharps and flats in there). When I lined up the letters, I realized that Ag is also the symbol for Silver on the periodic table. Digging deeper into the “creating something from nothing”, I looked at how silver was represented in alchemy. To my surprise, it was a crescent moon! I loved the look and feel of the name and logo combination, and decided to just roll with it!
Like most names, after living with it, it seems like a matter of fact now. But the journey to finding the name was a good one.
Of course, Silver Audio is so much more than a name. and start working some audio alchemy today.
Oh, and one last thing—if you’re the domain owner of and you’re reading this… please sell us your domain!!!