Sorry, that was more a general comment rather than a serious point but, of
course, one would have to examine a Colson in it's original form to be able
to know that.
What I was saying was that IF you have an original then things can be
learned from them especially in the way of construction etc (I would think).
However, as has been said, most things in museums tend to have been messed
around with for many years before being acquired. I, personally, can't see
the point in putting something on show that is no longer an example of what
it is supposed to be.
Going back to my (inaccurate) comments on paintings, it would be a little
pointless to exhibit the Mona Lisa if, at some time in the past, someone had
added a nice vase of flowers to it to "brighten it up". I'm sure they would
remove it and try to get back to the "original".
Of course, they could take the same attitude that the British Museum has
with the Sutton Hoo helmet.
Very little remains but the metal parts that have are cleaned and displayed
on a "blank" that fills in the missing bits and, next to it, is a full
"copy" of what it would have looked like in it's prime.
Sadly (and I too have noticed the same glaring errors) the same care isn't
taken with musical instruments.
I have seen the wrong reeds in instruments as well (bagpipe reeds usually
instead of the correct double reed) . To me that's misleading and a
double-standard.
Modern restorers should be able to clean and set up instruments without
altering the original - unless several years of bird droppings from an
instrument rescued from a barn counts as "history".
I can see both sides but the "leave it alone" side seems to be too over
zealous and gentle care and conservation would add a lot to the display.
Emotive point of course.
Colin Hill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Graham Whyte" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 1:22 PM
Subject: [HG] Loose keys was Hurdy Gurdies in museums
From my experience as a Colson owner and player,
The loose key shafts are almost certainly due to wear
My Colson has had its key shaft slots shimmed at least once in the distant
past
More recently it had a complete set of new ebony keys by Chris Allen
My other baroque HG has VERY worn keys and will also be getting a new set
soon
After nearly 200 years of playing, HG keys get very worn
Only shimming the slots is a common but not entirely satifactory fix
The problem is that both the slots and the key shafts wear
The keys shafts seem to wear the most
The wear is only at the ends where they slide through the slots
They will be the original size in the middle and can jam is pressed hard
Shimming only works well if the shafts are thinned down and squared up
first
The shafts on my Colson had been thinned a lot and some broke across the
tangent holes
Graham
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf
Of Colin
Sent: 04 June 2008 12:26
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [HG] Hurdy Gurdies in museums information
I understand. What we have to decide is the direction we are looking from.
A
musical instrument or a blueprint.
For historical reference it needs to be as near to how it was originally.
As
a musical instrument, it needs to have been maintained, with parts
replaced
as they wear out or better practices evolve.
Teflon spray wasn't around when a Colson was being built so, I presume,
the
key slots needed to be loose to allow for changes in humidity perhaps.
Good points.
It IS important to have something to compare with.
Still feels sad though................
Colin Hill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Wascher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 10:15 AM
Subject: Re: [HG] Hurdy Gurdies in museums information
Hello,
Am 03.06.2008 um 00:10 schrieb Mike Gilpin:
Actually the Colson wasn't as bad as the others. From my notes I see
that it needed a few tangents and touchpieces for the keys and the keys
in the upper register were very floppy in the key slots. I was
surprised
to find the wheel only very, very slightly warped and ran true and the
shaft had no discernible endfloat or lateral movement. To get this
working again wouldn't mean losing any original features, just
replacing
the odd key touchpiece, tangent and the chien. I suppose a very small
amount would be lost truing the wheel..........................
But then, as Graham said, they conserve not restore, which of course
makes it much easier for people like me to come along and study an
original unrestored item. This conservation / restoration dilemma is a
difficult nut to crack!
having an untouched and unrestored instrument is a very rare and very
important source of information:
From the acctual Colson one can for example learn, that the maker had a
way to create a very steady wheel and axle system, that "the keys in the
upper register were very floppy in the key slots" - things you cannot
learn from the restored instrument.
Sometimens even the frets are untouched, giving an idea of the tuning
system used 300 years ago - so even just making an instrument playable
by
tuning it to todays taste might destroy a very rare and important bit of
information.
S.
---
have a look at:
http://hurdygurdywiki.wiki-site.com
http://drehleierwiki.wiki-site.com
---
my site:
http://simonwascher.info
