Here's a rough, off-the-top-of-the-head summary translation of the posting by michel2233 Feb 2 2006, 06:54 PM from the URL <http://forums.rgc.ro/index.php?act=Print&client=printer&f=31&t=2765 > Craig Packard (Maryland gurdy player)
"This is a posting, the name of which probably means nothing [to most of you] Hurdy-gurdy... an instrument that "grabbed" meupon first hearing/seeing in Italy (where it's a traditional instrument) at a festival. The instrument is kind of similar to a violin/guitar equipped with a handle that turns a wooden wheel that touches the strings, thus making them vibrate... The sound is somewhat like that of a bagpipe. There's a keyboard mounted above the strings that covers them. It's also furnished with one string on which one produces the melody and with a couple of other strings, usually tuned to the octave. These [instruments] vary in function depending on the region whre they were made. Take a look, if you're curious, at the way it's tuned: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_tuning I find it hard to explain much more about the instrument; you can find information on the internet about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy_gurdy It seems, or at least I've understood that this instrument has influenced the construction of other very insteresting instruments nowadays, the cost of which can be very high ($80,000), particularly "flasnet" [cannot find a translation for this--perhaps he's referring to the barrel organ] which uses a handle to work a pump that inflates a bag, as in a bagpipe, that has a mechanism allowing air to pass through some holes (perforated cards or sheets) that winds up blwoing into something that properly speaking is like panpipes In the past it was used for many kinds of instruments, particularly wind instruments.. trumpets or other electronic isntruments.. more recently, a CD player activated by a handle that controls the speed of the CD The size/proportions of "flasnet" vary, depending on its portability, whether it's hand-pumped, other construction details. Another instrument based on the principle of a perforated cylinder is the pianola ("player piano" or "piano roll") or mechanical piano. Hurdy-gurdy is a word borrowed from English to designate the instruemnt "flasnet" and the person who plays upon "flasnet" [a "flasnetter" so to speak] In many European countries it refers to any hand-cranked instrument. In Romania, there's only one maker. Here are some samples of traditional tunes played on 'gurdy: http://home.comcast.net/~dennis_faucher/hurdygurdy/noemie.mp3 http://home.comcast.net/~dennis_faucher/hurdygurdy/chloe.mp3 http://home.comcast.net/~dennis_faucher/hurdygurdy/diningtable.mp3 http://www.midcoast.com/~beechhil/vielle/images/short.mp3
