Hi, folks, I'm sure people at OTW will have some opinions to share, but I have just run into this and I'm curious. I videotaped some of the HGers playing in Seattle at the Folklife Festival a couple of years back, some as a group on the boulevard, shall we say, and some in the French dance class. Since having my HG up to playing condition this year, I never got back to the tapes until now. First thing I saw was that the folks on the street (RT, Penny, et al) appear to be playing in D/G and the folks in the dance class were playing G/C. I wanted to play along with the players on the street, so, what the heck, couldn't hurt any to de-tune for a bit. I think my chanterelles were happier going down to d from g.
Questions: 1) Is an instrument being a D/G or G/C just a matter of preference and string diameters, or is there something about the instrument which dictates what it is? Looking at the key arrangement, I thought it was a G/C, as it corresponded to the piano keyboard and D/G layout must be different, but now I don't think so. 2) Could it be that I should stay in G/C, but use a lighter diameter string to lessen the tension on the chanterelles? I have Savarez oiled gut 0.94 mm / 0.0370 inch strings. The silver on gut (pul 1000?) gros bourdon, btw, is not happier tuned down. Or, should I just suck it up and learn my instrument better? 3) I don't know if Alden is about, he may be busy getting ready for this week. At OTW 3 years ago, I bought this set of strings from him, before my HG was refurbished. He was familiar with my instrument and I had it there, so I trusted his experience and judgment (still do :^) and bought what he gave me. Do you think he chose a set to make it a G/C because that was what the instrument was, because it was easier for a newby to read music on a G/C, or because that's what most people play? Of course, I could find out that I've been tuning my chanterelles an octave too high. Don't think so, an octave lower is rather slack and muffled-sounding. Newby perils. Thanks for your thoughts. Barbara PS - thanks to all the folks who talked about rosin. I tried different ones we had in the house. I had bought a dark, disk-shaped one at the '06 OTW auction, thinking that must be what HG players used. However, when I tried the lighter one we use for our psalteries, I didn't have nearly the problems I'd been having. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
