Hi William,
I want to add my opinions to this "amateur" kit-
and scratch-building issue. This question comes
up every so often, but I think it?s an important
one to discuss, so I?m glad you?re here. There
seem to be two main points to your discussion:
1)You want a hurdy-gurdy, and 2) you wish there
were "good plans or a "good" kit.
First of all, the kit/plan issue. You want a
?truly functional? hurdy-gurdy kit, and/or plans
that will allow someone with no instrument making
experience to make a decent hurdy-gurdy on the
first try. The simple fact is, as most of the
?naysayers? here have stated, what you want isn?t
readily available. Umm? sorry. Please don?t
berate the hurdy-gurdy community for not providing this <g>.
The two following sentences in particular from
your recent post caught my attention:
"...the demand for a good kit and/or building
plans is obviously there. It truly surprises me
that someone with the knowledge and experience
has not stepped up to the challenge and created
a good set of plans or a truly functional kit to
aid those adventurous few that wish to challenge themselves."
I would argue that there isn?t really an obvious
demand for a good kit or plans, if only an
adventurous few wish to challenge
themselves. Proper plans, which must include
many detailed drawings and instructions, would
require a great deal of time and effort to
create. That adventurous few would have to pay a
hefty price indeed to make it worthwhile to
anyone undertaking the job of creating the
plans. I?m here to tell you that as expensive as
a hurdy-gurdy may seem, it doesn?t cost much for
the amount of effort that goes into making a good
one. Most of the people I know who would be
qualified to create the resource you?re looking
for are plenty busy just trying to make a living
building instruments. And, I suspect that not
all of the adventurous few would want the *same*
hurdy-gurdy. There are many different styles,
and this would reduce even further the need for
plans of any one particular style.
Kits: I cannot speak for any other makers, but
for me creating a kit would probably be as much
work as making a complete hurdy-gurdy. When I
make an instrument, I try to follow a somewhat
consistent order of work that (in theory, anyway
<g>) allows for a certain efficiency in the
process. And despite the detailed mechanical
nature of many of the parts, and my goal of
making things the same way each time, I do in
fact adapt bits and fine tune some adjustments as
I go along, a process that just doesn?t lend
itself to the kit-building concept. It?s been
said time and again: much of the effort of making
a nice sounding and well playing hurdy-gurdy is
in the setup and adjustment which takes place
after most of the construction work is
done. This is arguably the greatest challenge to
the novice hurdy-gurdy maker. To create a kit
that works well and works consistently for most
anyone without any hurdy-gurdy experience is an awfully tall order.
You may have noticed that I'm staying away from
any personal opinion about currently available
kits. Unlike some of the other builders and
players on this list, I have no experience with
any of them, so I cannot objectively comment on
them. But most on the list who have an opinion
think that someone without any experience with
instrument making in general, and hurdy-gurdies
in particular, cannot expect to end up with a
hurdy-gurdy that sounds good and works well. I
do know of a couple of people who have been
satisfied with the end result of their kit-making
efforts, but only after assistance with setup
issues from someone with experience. Most who
end up with a hurdy-gurdy that works well enough
to inspire them to continue playing soon want
more features or better sound than the kit
provides; they either buy a ?professional?
instrument or use what they?ve learned to make
their own improved version. This is, in my
opinion, a strong statement about the inherent
difficulties of hurdy-gurdy kits in general. In
the end, even the best kit is only as good as the
experience of the builder that makes it.
Blah, blah, blah? what you really want is a
hurdy-gurdy, right? We can discuss the lack of
plans and the merits of kits forever; it?s
interesting but it?s taking away from your
hurdy-gurdy building time! I may be
misconstruing some of the comments made by some
of the list members, but I don't think that
anyone here is insisting that you *not* build
your own hurdy-gurdy. If you truly want to try,
then by all means you should! In fact, from your
in-depth postings, I get the impression that
you?re someone who would in fact not be truly
satisfied with simply ponying up and buying a ready-made instrument.
So, what are you waiting for? Talk to the people
who have built their own instruments. Some are
list members; some have websites documenting
their projects. Find out what they?ve used for
resources, and get cracking! There are no
?secret enclaves? of hurdy-gurdy players in most
every American town; there are barely any
hurdy-gurdy players in *any* American town. Most
of them, however, are willing to give their
opinions if you ask them, which you did. Most,
also (myself included), are willing to help when
they can, if you ask, which you will. This is
*precisely* why this list exists, and there is no better use of it.
As Geoff and Juan have said, if you are
determined to succeed you will, despite the lack
of kits or plans you desire. Maybe in the end,
you?ll be the one who creates the kit or plan that everyone will want!
~ Matt
At 01:10 AM 5/28/2008, you wrote:
Greetings unto Melissa and the list,
I agree with your argument to a point...
"I don't think that anyone has made a violin kit that
can be successfully made by someone who has never
played a violin before. I don't think anyone builds a
bicycle without first learning how to ride a bicycle
built by someone else. Why should hg be any different?"
I know of instrument makers who have never
played a day in their life yet produce lovely,
fully functional instruments. Being able to
play is not a requirement for making an
instrument, although it would certainly be a
great boon to the effort. The same could be
said for your argument about the bicycle. It
would be valid argument if I had never seen a
bicycle in person and was trying to create one
from scratch with few or no references. The
end result would most certainly be a miserable
failure. But, if I was armed a great deal of
research before I started and a valid set of
plans, or even better a well designed kit made
by a professional bicycle builder, I could
more than likely create a functional
bicycle. I certainly would not expect to win
the Tour De France on it, but it would more
than likely function well enough for every day use.
If the making of a hg by a novice had never
happened, I would not be making
this argument. I would willingly acquiesce to
the wisdom of the naysayers. But it has
happened, numerous times, with varying degrees
of success, as many of the websites and members
of this list can attest to. This is how , by
their own admission, many hg builders got
started. I am not the first and most certainly
will not be the last to attempt to make a
functional hg. It just seems to me a monumental
waste of research , effort, time and money to
reinvent the wheel (in this case a rosined one)
every single time a novice wants to make a
hg. I know that making a hurdy gurdy is a
momentous task not to be under taken by
most. Yet, the demand for a good kit and/or
building plans is obviously there. It truly
surprises me that someone with the knowledge and
experience has not stepped up to the
challenge and created a good set of plans or a
truly functional kit to aid those adventurous
few that wish to challenge themselves.
It seems the only options advocated to most
aspiring hg enthusiasts is to buy a
professional grade hg (which ,while well worth
the money, is cost prohibitive to most people,
especially when just starting), to seek out the
secret enclaves of hg players that can
certainly be found in most every American town
and apprentice to them, or sit on the
sidelines and be forced to watch as the hg parade pass them by.
Many before me have decided to take the
road less traveled by trying to make their own
hg. I hope to join them. I do not think it
unrealistic to hope that some experienced
traveler will offer directions to help get
these hardy few where they are going with a
minimal number of detours and bumps in the road.
Just my humble opinion, offered with respect to all who share this list.
Sincerely,
William Gull
