I heard back from Helmut and he confirms what the Muskett book recommended, which is a G cello string in silver-wound gut. I have already ordered a D'Addario Pro-Arte G cello string in a medium tension, Ordered it from everythingcello.com, who had very reasonable prices. We'll see how it does!
Thanks everyone for the advice, Mitch Gordon Guerneville, California, US -----Original Message----- From: Simon Wascher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:59 pm Subject: Re: [HG] cello string for D drone Hello,? ? I supose its not the synthetic core thats your problem its the pitch or the string lenght. there are four d's in use on the hurdy gurdy:? ? the four pitches? d'' - the high chanter of the D tuning (one note lower than violins e'')? d' - the low chanter of the D tuning and the typical trompette (the violins d')? d - the "petit bourdon" - the higher drone (the cello d)? D - the lower drone (one note above cello C)? ? for the "petit bourdon" d a cello d string might work if the open string lenght is roughly the same as the hurdy gurdy ones - this is how the 1/8 cello came into discussion. The differences between 4/4 cello and 1/8 cello strings are serious and its impossible to replace the one with the other.? ? The string dimensions possible for a certain pitch also vary deeply. Not all hurdy gurdies share the same open string length and construction, not all players share te same sound ideal. For example Northern Renaissance Instruments alone offers the following dimensions for the "petit bourdon"-d (in mm gut equivalent) 1.62, 1.82, 2.04, 2.29. That is a range that could also easily cover a full octave!? ? The cello d is one note higher than the viola c. As the standard violas open string lenght is roughly the same as most hurdy gurdy drones its quite likely to find a fitting viola string.? ? Synthetic strings are used as standard strings for hurdy gurdy for at least 20 years now, used as chanters, trompettes and drones. If the string you bought is not fitting your needs its just the wrong string.? ? By the way, the price for a silver plated copper wound gut string in the dimensions needed is also about 20 - 25 Euro.? ? I still think you should ask Helmut Gotschy what to use.? ? kind regards,? ? Simon Wascher - Vienna, Austria? ? ?
