I think we must also acknowledge that, whilst we thought 78s were fantastic
and 33 1/3 and 45s marvellous in the days of vinyl, the CD has brought a new
understanding of what sound can be.
We accepted the old records (with all the scratchy sounds etc because it was
the best available.
The same can be said of special effects in films (anyone watched the
original Flash Gordon films?). I thought they were state of the art back in
the 50's when I saw them (although I do have them all on DVD now).
Regardless of how instruments sounded at the time, there wasn't the choice.
You either liked what you heard or you didn't. We may say NOW that the
sound was (or may have been) harsh to our ears but I doubt the comparison
could have been made then.
On the other hand, they may have had some way of making them sound perfect
and we have lost the method.
Because we just don't know, it seems fair enough to make instruments as best
we can today without speculating what a similar instrument may, or may not,
have sounded like many years ago.
Colin Hill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Wascher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 12:36 PM
Subject: [HG] on making simple hurdy gurdies
Hello,
my two cents:
the making
In the times when symphonies and organistrums were state of art in
music - the organistrum players preside the musicans of the Pórtico de
la Gloria - wood was the central cultural techinque.
Craftmensship was enourmous, in wood and in all others of natures
materials. Just look at the cathedral in Santiago as a whole.
Ther was a higher general knowledge on woods and woodwork than today, and
the level of skills were *at least* compareable to today for at least
some specialized individuals conected with the courts.
The same applies to craftmanship in woodworking tools. Where we miss
certain tools we today think are inevitable they simply had other methods
to achive the same or a better effect. Much of these ancient expertise is
lost today. We simply do not know as much as they did.
This musical instruments were not the primitive ancestry of todays, they
were top of the pops. Medieval hurdy-gurdies had their place at the
court, surrounded by cathedals, silken gold woven purple cloth,
perotinus, and people who were specialized in ilumination of codices -
things we can't afford to make today.
The peasants strain of gurdyism came later - or at least there is no
evidence for it in this period. And even thouse later instruments were
madye by people who were very skilled in wood. Much more than any
do-it-yourself person of today ever will be.
Simplicity is a quality as long as its high quality materials and
craftmanship come together to a simple solution.
Most do-it-yourself efforts in hurdygurdy today kits or selfmade lack
both.
This is because most Europeans and North Americans of today do not grow
up with wood and woodworking as first cultural techniques, cant sharpen a
knive, cant split a block of wood into a plank, cant make a simple
chipwood box - and how can you dream of making a simple hurdy gurdy if
you cannot make a chipwood box of similar dimensions (which is made
without a saw)?
the sound
We do not know about the sound of any music before about 1900. And even
then we do not know the effect the music had to listeners now dead.
We can try as hard as we like to put us as musicans back into the
circumstances of earlier times. Live in an Medieval castle without modern
medical or other facilities. We might then be able (not for sure) to
produce music as it was.
But the listeners never ever will undergo the same treatment and therfore
will not hear this music right.
All we can do is finding out about the spirit in which a music was
intended and translate to the modern audiences language. And therefore we
need to play instruments which give the same feeling to a modern listener
as the old instruments did to the former. This is not a just copy. Its a
translation. But the just copy might be very educational to the maker and
player - and maybe no good for public performance.
sorry for the plain words.
---
have a look at:
http://hurdygurdywiki.wiki-site.com
http://drehleierwiki.wiki-site.com
---
my site:
http://simonwascher.info
