[CAUT] Hurdy Gurdy

[Fred Sturm]

Hi Jeff,
	I have a similar "hurdy gurdy" in my "client base" (referral from a  
close friend), though mine is made in Barcelona (name escapes me),  
has the crank on the side, and has six settings: each cylinder has  
six songs on it, and it has two cylinders. Fascinating little device.  
Hammers made of that elbow plastic (though none breaking yet) with a  
slip of wood in a slot at the tip which actually hits the strings.  
The hammers are close to the strings, and are mounted much like  
upright damper levers that don't quite touch the strings, with  
similar springs. The nubs on the cylinder act on the bottom of the  
lever to move the hammer away from the string, then suddenly release,  
and the flex in the system allows the hammer to hit the string and  
rebound. Troublesome to tune, as the pins are much smaller than 1/0  
but larger than zither (my smallest piano tip just barely doesn't  
strip), and the space available to pluck the strings is minute. A bit  
of music wire is the best plucker I've found.
	Nice aspect of tuning it: the client brings it to me.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu



On Sep 11, 2006, at 1:30 PM, Jeff Tanner wrote:

> This is a deep hearted thank you to all for the answers to the  
> Hurdy Gurdy question.  If I ever encounter a real one, now I have  
> some ammo.  At least I've learned about something I didn't know  
> about before, and this has evoked quite a bit of interest for me.   
> I am much appreciative of all the effort you all went to offering  
> advice and help.
>
> It turned out to be a Faventia Barrell Piano, exactly like the one  
> found at this link, but with a deep red stain.
>
> http://www.pebworths.com/Faventia/Faventia.html
>
> Quite an interesting music box to be sure, at the time, an  
> expensive gift to her grandfather.  It has apparently earned the  
> nickname "hurdy gurdy" due to the crank handle you turn to play  
> it.  She said that's what she'd always heard it called, and I  
> looked on ebay and found one exactly like it, callled a hurdy  
> gurdy.  Each pitch is noted above each set of tuning pins (1/0),  
> and a piano tuning hammer is required to tune it.
>
> ...so I guess it turned out to be more piano related than I  
> expected.  I must say I'm disappointed it wasn't actually a hurdy  
> gurdy.  I'd gotten my hopes up for that.
>
> Thanks,
> Jeff T
>
>
> On Sep 8, 2006, at 11:51 AM, Jeff Tanner wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>> I know this is completely off topic of pianos, and I apologize but  
>> I'm not finding any clear answers anywhere else that satisfy me.   
>> (and yes, I've been to http://www.hurdygurdy.com )  I thought I  
>> see if there are any CAUTs who might have a little experience with  
>> this medieval instrument.
>>
>> Does anybody know how the Hurdy-Gurdy (or French Vielle a Roue) is  
>> normally tuned?  I'm supposed to meet with a client tomorrow to  
>> help her.  Feel free to answer off list.
>> Thanks,
>> Jeff
>

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