# General Mandolin Topics > eBay, Craig's List, etc. >  Cool Old Hurdy-Gurdy on eBay

## Petrus

Sorry, not quite mando content but too cool to ignore. These are neat looking contraptions ... I'd be a bit intimidated at the prospect of changing strings and otherwise keeping them maintained though.  It looks like a cross between a bowlback mando, a fiddle, an accordion and a keyboard. Actually, that bowlback looks like it was constructed similarly to a bowlback mando ... so there's a mando connection after all.  :Grin: 





http://www.ebay.com/itm/141294617397

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## Dave Hanson

they sound like an angry wasp in box.

Dave H

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Dobe

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## Petrus

Well you can't go wrong then.  Anyway, I don't think I'll be getting HGAS any time soon.  :Cool:

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## Jim Garber

Pretty cool tho it looks like it would need a fair amount of work to make it truly playable. I don't know why you would be intimidated by restringing -- it has only four strings that I can see: the two melody strings and the four drones which I believe are called chanterelles.

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## billhay4

> it has only four strings that I can see: the two melody strings and the four drones which I believe are called chanterelles.


??? :-)
Bill

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## Jim Garber

Hah! I meant 6 -- or maybe I am seeing double. Doh!

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## allenhopkins

Hurdy-gurdy is one of those instruments that almost always gets *explained* before it gets played (see *hammered dulcimer, washtub bass, nyckelharpa, Jew's harp,* even sometimes *mandolin*).

In the right hands, capable of some pretty amazing music:



In the wrong hands, annoying as hell (no examples, please!).

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billhay4, 

bratsche, 

JLeather, 

Marty Jacobson, 

Verne Andru

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## jaycat

That thing has "carpal tunnel syndrome" written all over it.

Somebody sure went to a hell of a lot of trouble to invent a contraption with a not-particularly-distinctive sound. I would think a slightly out-of-tune cello would do the trick.

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## foldedpath

It's a cool stage instrument, with the right band behind it:

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Perry Babasin

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## Sandy Beckler

Always knew...never quite understood...it's all so clear now (without the mushrooms...)

HURDY GURDY MAN
Donovan

Thrown like a star in my vast sleep
I open my eyes to take a peep
To find that I was by the sea
Gazing with tranquillity.
'Twas then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love,
Then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love.

and a whole lot more Hurdy Gurdy's

Sandy

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Perry Babasin

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## Petrus

I wouldn't mind having a nyckelharpa either, or a hardanger fiddle.  But hey, I've got a gusle .. one string, less stress.  :Cool:

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## jso

[QUOTE=allenhopkins;1292311]Hurdy-gurdy is one of those instruments that almost always gets *explained* before it gets played [QUOTE]

So very true!

[QUOTE] Somebody sure went to a hell of a lot of trouble to invent a contraption with a not-particularly-distinctive sound. I would think a slightly out-of-tune cello would do the trick. [QUOTE]

Oh, I don't know. I think the h-g has  a very distinctive sound, especially with the buzzing of the drones and sympathetic strings.

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## Petrus

> That thing has "carpal tunnel syndrome" written all over it.


Maybe they have ones with electric handles nowadays.




> Somebody sure went to a hell of a lot of trouble to invent a contraption with a not-particularly-distinctive sound. I would think a slightly out-of-tune cello would do the trick.


I'm sure they thought it was the most brilliant thing at the time. I can imagine the old-timey ads: _"This astounding new invention shall render the troublesome old fiddle obsolete. No more tedious bowing back and forth; a simple turn of the crank, and the apparatus' wheel does the bowing on its own!  And the frustrations of attempting to find the correct note on the primitive fiddle fingerboard is now rendered moot, as a simple press of a given key assures an exact tone every time, with diminished labor! This invention utilizes the most up-to-date principles of Science to insure both gentlemen and ladies a fine musical experience, with no musical training required!"_  :Grin:

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## multidon

Spencer Tracy's charater played one in the movie "Captains Courageous". Didn't sound so bad.

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## jesserules

They sound amazing.  

The routine maintenance will keep you busy, though.

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## Jeff Mando

[QUOTE=jso;1292487][QUOTE=allenhopkins;1292311]Hurdy-gurdy is one of those instruments that almost always gets *explained* before it gets played [QUOTE]

So very true!

[QUOTE] Somebody sure went to a hell of a lot of trouble to invent a contraption with a not-particularly-distinctive sound. I would think a slightly out-of-tune cello would do the trick. 


> Oh, I don't know. I think the h-g has  a very distinctive sound, especially with the buzzing of the drones and sympathetic strings.


When I was a kid in the early 60's I had a Mattel Bugs Bunny guitar with a crank on the side that sounded BETTER!!!! LOL

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## Gregory Tidwell

it was a hurdy gurdy he was playing in that movie, but if you read about it you'll see that the sound that were coming from it were dubbed.  That music was done by an orchestra, I believe.

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## Jim Garber

> I wouldn't mind having a nyckelharpa either, or a hardanger fiddle.  But hey, I've got a gusle .. one string, less stress.


I have a nyckelharpa on loan from a friend but I barely have had time to play it -- pretty busy trying to keep up with fiddle and mandolin.

The hurdy-gurdy is the string equivalent of bagpipes. Nyckelharpa is hurdy-gurdy with a bow instead of a wheel and with sympathetic instead of bowed drone strings.

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## Petrus

It'd be fun to try to convert one to a mando-gurdy.  It would need eight melody strings, in four courses, in addition to the drone strings.

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## jim simpson

It's like some primitive Gizmotron (remember those?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gizmo

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## Verne Andru

I have to thank [or not] you folks for this thread. I was a complete hurdy gurdy noob until this got me digging. I found a very cool thread to the English translation of what appears to be the definitive hurdy gurdy history:

http://www.hurdygurdy.com/brocker/chapter_00_toc.htm

According to it, the HG has a long history that predates the use of organs in church music and [my supposition] is quite possibly the precursor to modern keyboard and synthesizer-type instruments.

Lest anyone waxes with HGMAS, there is even a builder that will sell you one as a kit or fully assembled:

http://www.hurdygurdycrafters.com/index.asp?fmt=large

They have a very cool sound and likely a much more prominent place in the evolution of musical instruments than has been credited them to date.

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Petrus

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## catmandu2

> They have a very cool sound and likely a much more prominent place in the evolution of musical instruments than has been credited them to date
> ...
> 
> Lest anyone waxes with HGMAS, there is even a builder that will sell you one as a kit or fully assembled:
> 
> http://www.hurdygurdycrafters.com/index.asp?fmt=large


I think they were largely supplanted by the fiddle--far more convenient, easier to maintain, etc.  Cost is a factor--although still prevalent in French bal, etc: some folk traditions still embrace the medieval aesthetic of gurdys, bray harps, pipes, etc.  FWIW, Musicmakers also offer a decent entry-level diatonic gurdy kit--either finished or not; I had one in walnut with pretty good resonance

some eye/ear candy: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...-eye-ear-candy

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## Shelagh Moore

I've always liked them and for a while played with one of the first well-known hurdy-gurdy players in the UK. Certainly a very high maintenance instrument though... I shudder to think what the technical discussions are like on the gurdy board given what we already have here!

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## Lord of the Badgers

> I wouldn't mind having a nyckelharpa either, or a hardanger fiddle.  But hey, I've got a gusle .. one string, less stress.


I know someone who plays a Hardanger. It's not really as interesting as you'd think (unless she's just crap lol). 

H-Gs are cool... but my god are they susceptible to heat changes & tuning. That's the least of it... I wanted one but...

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## catmandu2

> I know someone who plays a Hardanger. It's not really as interesting as you'd think...


Hardingfele has a traditional place in Norwegian folk music--I think much depends on whether one likes the music, and/or has an interest in the tradition; without that--it's just another folk/fiddle idiom, etc.  However, if one has an interest and appreciation of the music and culture, the sound of the hardingfele--and its design, construction, role in the music, etc--adds much to the character of the music/tunes.  I play some trad scandi (and some Norwegian) tunes on fiddle--and they sound, to me, not as compelling nor enchanting as when my hardingfele-playing friend plays them

If one doesn't particularly have an interest or appreciation in a given traditional form, chances may be that one is missing the perspective which makes unique qualities in the indigenous instruments compelling.  For example--if I didn't have an interest in trad Scots, Irish, Welsh music, then I probably wouldn't find the clarsach so compelling...etc

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## Petrus

Hmm. If you could fit a wax cylinder inside the bowl (on the underside of the workings), the same crank you use to turn the rosin wheel could turn the cylinder, and you'd be able to record your music on-board!

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## Paul Kotapish

> Somebody sure went to a hell of a lot of trouble to invent a contraption with a not-particularly-distinctive sound. I would think a slightly out-of-tune cello would do the trick.


If you ever get the opportunity to hear a good vielle a roue in the hands of great player, you might revise that dismissive opinion. I don't know of another instrument that is any more distinctive sounding, actually. 

And the real skill with the HG/vielle is--like the most stringed instruments--in the right hand. A good player not only gets the drones going, but maintains a whole second rhythm line on the "dog" bridge, which supports a dedicated string that buzzes in response to changes in the pressure of cranking hand--extremely challenging to master. It's a real "band in a box," and I've seen one player get a whole room of dancers going on traditional French bourrée and waltzes.

Here are a couple of the top French players:




Here's a master from Austria:




A little more info: http://www.hotpipes.com/hgdemo.html

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## jaycat

> If you ever get the opportunity to hear a good vielle a roue in the hands of great player, you might revise that dismissive opinion.  . . .


Perhaps that day will soon come. In the meantime, I am in the kitchen preparing a good "nouvelle roux."

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## catmandu2

> ...I don't know of another instrument that is any more distinctive sounding, actually.


Yes, the gurdy is anything but "indistinct"-sounding.  It may be an exotic sound not to one's immediate taste, but again--exposure to the musical and cultural traditions may render greater perspective and appreciation

Trends in Norway are the removal of the sympathetic strings of the hardingfele--presumably to better enable modern music on the fiddle--for modern sensibilities.  The darker timbre of old-world instruments and harmony may be increasingly remote, but it all had/has a place and a time..

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## Jacob

A hurdy-gurdy is a *lira organizzata* without the pipe organ.

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catmandu2

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## catmandu2

Cool

I have a similar collection of clarinets, banjos and melodeons...and you know, regarding timbral "distinction," etc.-- these instruments are often satirized and vilified, but they typically evoke the most interest from audiences and listeners

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## Petrus

Seeing them played, I didn't realize they were that large. Based on the photo in the first post (which has no scale or person in it) I figured they were about the size of a bowl back mando.

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## Jim Garber

> A hurdy-gurdy is a *lira organizzata* without the pipe organ.


Very cool, Jacob, tho Lil Darlin' sounds pretty wimpy... IMHO they should have forgone (forgoed?) the jazz.

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Jacob

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