Hello Maraujo, I hope that we can hear and see the results when it is ready, I am very curious. I don't see how you can make a hurdy gurdy from a cello that can be played by one person, I would think that you would need a key system that moves the tangents from some distance or play it with two persons as the medieval organistrum. Anyhow, you will know what you are aiming at.
I write you because I saw in your email, rather hidden between the (important) wheel discussions: *Im using an online fret-calculator for my tangent positions.* Such fret-calculators will yield modern equal temperament, generally. Many hurdy gurdy players are not happy with this temperament, so you might think about alternatives. Anyhow, you might read the articles of Graham Whyte and me on these subjects: http://www.hurdygurdy.org/pdfs/tuningandtemperament.pdf http://www.orfeo-fiato.nl/hurdy_gurdy_tuning.html and calculators for this can be found on http://www.orfeo-fiato.nl/positions.ods http://www.hurdygurdy.org/pdfs/JustTangentPositions.xls If you have questions on this subject, I will try to help you. Ernic 2010/1/21 Melvin Dorries <[email protected]> > Greetings Maraujo, > > My encouragement to you on your project. You will learn sooooo much by > doing this. > > Looks like your on the right track with the harmonics at this string > length. Remember to allow enough room for string excursion at this string > length as it will be much more than a conventional sized HG. > > Though you could use solid wood to make a wheel such wheels tend to distort > over time and become eccentric. Also, they are prone to swelling and > shrinking much more than laminated wheels. It would be almost impossible to > find the proper piece of wood for this application from a wood supplier as > it would need to be a slice of the tree through its diameter such that the > growth rings are circular and emenating from the center of the wheel. It > cannot be made from not slab cut or quarter sawn wood which is most > common. If you were able to find such a slice of wood it would have to be > well dried without cracking . Though some supply houses offer such wood for > bowl turners it is usually wet and develops radial cracking as it becomes > dry. > > I would like to recommend that you stick with a laminated wheel. We have > used these for years now and find them to be very good wheels. You do not > have to do the lamiation work yourself as many wood supply houses sell hi > quality void free baltic birch plywood in 5' x5' sheets. Yes, it is > expensive but the wheel is the heart of the instrument and must not be > compromised in quality. > If you would like we can send you a high quality laminated wheel blank for > about $15 as well as any other parts you may need to build your HG. Contact > us off line if interested. > > Good luck on your project and show us some pictures when its done! > > Hurdygurdycrafters.com > Mel and Ann > > > > > --- On *Wed, 1/20/10, maraujo <[email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: maraujo <[email protected]> > Subject: [HG-new] Re: Hello to all, I have a question about hurdy wheel > theory > > To: "hurdygurdy" <[email protected]> > Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 6:38 PM > > > Thank you all for your input, this information is all very useful. I > think I have a plan... > > So, going by the dimensions of a standard 4/4 cello, my vibrational > length would be about 23.5". It seems my best bet is to maximize the > overtones of the drone strings by having 1/12 of the total vibrational > length between the bridge and the center line of the wheel (for 23.5" > that would be about 1.96") this should, in theory, give me the first 6 > harmonics of the string? I guess I would want that fraction to be a > little less for the melody strings so that I get the most overtones I > can as the tangents shorten the length. Im using an online fret- > calculator for my tangent positions. > > As for the wheel itself, It seems an 8" x 1" wheel would be somewhat > properly scaled to my new dimensions? I need to do some more research > before I start making the wheel. I'm new to working with wood, I > mostly work with metal for my job so for ease I had planned on turning > the wheel out of a solid piece of walnut of preferably bigleaf maple > (as suggested by the Hackmann's website) can anybody suggest any good > wood alternatives? Am I making a serious error by not using layers of > laminate (maybe laminate is not the right term to use) wood for the > rim? I understand that some expansion will occur along the grain but > I am clueless as to how to laminate a wheel. > > Thanks again for all your help. > > On Jan 20, 3:25 pm, Graham Whyte > <[email protected]<http://us.mc1108.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>> > wrote: > > The vibrating length is varies depending on which key is pressed > > The part of the string on the peg/nut side of the depressed tangent does > > not vibrate > > Because the bridge to wheel distance is fixed, HG players cannot > > compensate for this as different keys are pressed > > Guitar and bowed instrument players can and do compensate > > In the 19th century Nicolas Colson made 2 styles of HGs with wheels > > closer and further away from the bridge > > Chris Allen has historic examples of both styles > > My own Colson has the wider spacing and is so rich and sweet > > > > Graham > > > > Anthony Shostak wrote: > > > George Leverett-Altarwind Hurdy Gurdies wrote: > > >> By increasing the distance between the wheel & bridge, you might gain > > >> a little in resonance (most noticeable in lower midrange frequencies > > >> to my ears), but then the arc of vibration of the strings increases > > >> too, and you may have issues of chatter against the tangents. > > > Really? It seems to me that so long as the scale length remains the > > > same, the distance from wheel to bridge should not make effect the > > > viibrational arc, because the scale length is determined by the > > > distance from bridge to saddle. Otherwise, the pitch of a violin > > > would be different when bowing close to bridge than when bowing closer > > > to the fingerboard. No? > > > > > Anthony > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "hurdygurdy" group. > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected]<http://us.mc1108.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<http://us.mc1108.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[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. > > > > -- > 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]<hurdygurdy%[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. >
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