i found this on shak on the morning site . are the .. lower infos ..
about strings is good ? BYE SYLVAIN
Hurdy Gurdy Adjustment
by S. R. Kelley
HOW TO KEEP YOUR HURDY GURDY ALIVE AND WELL
There are three major secrets to coaxing the Hurdy Gurdy to work well. They
are cotton, shim, and Dog (buzzing bridge or chien). We will approach each
in it's place.
First of all, you must provide yourself with a strap with which to
immobilize the Hurdy Gurdy while you play. A guitar strap works nicely.
Attach the strap to the button at the front of the hurdy gurdy and to the
button nearest you at the back, the head being to your left. The hurdy gurdy
should rest horizontally in your lap tilted away from you at about 45 degree
with the strap tightly around your back.
Cotton: Look at each string to be sure that there is cotton where the string
contacts the wheel. To apply cotton, pull from the blob of cotton a GOSSAMER
web and induce the turning wheel to pull it under the string and wrap
tightly around it. Look again. Too much cotton will result in a weakened or
otherwise impaired tone. Too little cotton will cause the string to be worn
in two. Use just enough cotton to protect the string. The best cotton is a
long staple unbleached cotton of a slightly woolly appearance obtainable
from weavers supply stores. Long staple white cotton has rather slippery
habits. Pill bottle cotton may be used but it wears quickly.
After you are sure the strings have sufficient cotton you may begin tuning.
Tune the Chanter strings one at a time to G. This will be the lowest G you
can get without it sounding like a rubber band. When they are in unison you
may tune the Mouche and the Bass also to their respective lowest obtainable
G's. disengage the Mouche and the Bass from the wheel and you may tune the
Dog and the Tenor to C, again the lowest. Recheck the strings for cotton
after this.
Tuning can be remarkably tricky if the instrument is completely out of tune
when you begin, so use care. Once the strings have been tuned they tend to
stay pretty close so that it's not nearly so much trouble later.
The wheel must be resined once in a while but it takes very little. Use
violin or cello resin that comes in the little wooden block and rub it
against the turning wheel for about four or five turns. Then use the edge of
the wooden block to polish it. Feel the turning wheel with your CLEAN thumb
and if you feel bumps of rosin, pare them off with your thumbnail. Use rosin
sparingly and try to achieve a perfect polish.
Now we will go on to the shims: Between each Chanter string and the bridge
you will need shims, usually of folded paper. Thin strong paper is desired
and is folded and or added to increase or decrease the thickness of the
shim. Somewhat fanatic attention is required and you may find yourself
altering the thickness of the shim by as little as one cigarette paper.
The purpose of the shims is to most finely adjust the exact pressure of the
string against the wheel. This, combined with the quality of the cotton and
rosin has everything to do with the production of good tone. The Chanters
are very sensitive in this regard and must be continuously looked after.
Fortunately, the drones need much less attention. If you find that the
Chanters have a harsh and rough sound then they probably need thicker shims.
If the Chanters sound weakly or intermittently, then the shims are too
thick. If the Chanters have a sort of warble, then either the shims are too
thick or the string is being impinged upon elsewhere, perhaps by a tangent,
or perhaps too much cotton. If the Chanter warbles when playing a particular
key, then possibly the tangents of that key are not tight enough. In that
case try oiling the tangent with almond oil which will help the fit and
protect from humidity changes. The tangent may be removed and a tiny bit of
cotton be wrapped around the stem, then replaced. If all fails, replace the
tangent. Sometimes even the best of us are completely mystified; one evening
the hurdy gurdy will play beautifully, then the next day it will steadfastly
refuse the finest of your intelligence and sensibilities, your choicest
curses, and entreaties to any god we know of. It is unaffected by karma,
hence mysterious.
After that comes the Dog: The Dog is actually not difficult, but it may seem
so at first. Of course you must adjust it so that it sounds strongly when
you wish and only drones otherwise. This is accomplished by turning the key
in the tailpiece. A slight turn has a profound effect. This is something you
must learn for yourself. Understand that while the left hand will learn
rather quickly, the Dog is played by varying the speed and pattern of
cranking with the right hand. It takes a delicate touch. This is no mystery;
it only wants great patience and practice. Most of the time the hurdy gurdy
is played in C. For this, use the Chanters, of course, and the Dog with the
tenor drone. Sometimes adding the Mouche will seem fuller but mostly it
tends to blur things. The hurdy gurdy may also be played in G by using the
Mouche and the Bass drone. The Dog may be tuned up to the fifth, D, or you
might try a cheater bridge so as not to stretch the string. Avoid getting
anything that might act as a lubricant on the rim of the wheel. If you do
you will see soon enough why you must wipe or clean it and re-resin. Oil the
bearings with a drop of light oil once in a while. There is an oil hole for
the front bearing in the top in front of the wheel. If the crank knob
squeaks, oil it at the joint. When new (and periodically thereafter) the
individual notes must be tuned by turning the appropriate tangents. They
will not always be the same, as the strings are organic and subject to
variation. The nut (top melody bridge) is movable to make the strings longer
or shorter as necessary. The distance between the nut and the seventh lower
note should be the same as between the seventh lower note and the bridge.
Strings used are :
Chanters: Viola da gamba bass A 2
Dog: Viola da gamba bass A 2
Mouche: Cello A gut or aluminum wound
Tenor drone: Cello G wound
Bass drone: Cello C wound
La Bella strings seem to be suitable.
The hurdy gurdy and the strings are sensitive to humidity and temperature
changes so protect them from extremes. Hurdy gurdys are also very sensitive
to exact tuning especially the harmonic notes of the scale. A slight
disunity can produce bizarre sounds and may seem like it must be something
else entirely..Or vice versa. When in despair, remember: It's good for your
character
----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Wascher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 5:24 PM
Subject: Re: [HG] BUILD: Key placements (2)
Hello,
Am 22.04.2008 um 19:54 schrieb John Tappan:
F5 key is located on the upper (accidental) row of keys.[...]
I gather by reading this list that those really high notes may not be
used all that often.
The traditional repertoire does not use them much. But if you see the
hurdy gurdy as an instrument to play whatever you like to, you might miss
that key (I do).
Is this a standard/traditional key arrangement, or something that Mssr
Pignol just opted for?
this is the traditional setup for the french vielle a roue. The 18th
century original compositions fit to it too.
Some builders refer to a “full two octave” range, which should include
that last accidental note. Is it primarily a matter of narrowing the
key blanks and making smaller holes to make room (assuming the tangent
can still be adjusted properly)? And even so, is it worth the effort to
make those changes?
there are some makers that offer their 34.5 cm standard instruments with
full 2 octaves. If the vibrating length in longer the troubles get fewer.
I play an 36 cm Alto one that has f, f#, g(=second octav), ab, a, b (in
the upper row), c and d(in the upper row). The d I rarely use, the others
I do use a lot.
The main problem when making thouse keys is the connection between the
keys and the key-slides: the slides need to sit where the frets (tangents)
are. The keys are wider than the slides to fit the fingers. So the trick
is to find a solution where the keys and the slides match with enough
material to last. Its also a question of materials and craftmanship.
S.
---
have a look at:
http://hurdygurdywiki.wiki-site.com
http://drehleierwiki.wiki-site.com
---
my site:
http://simonwascher.info
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