Hello Jay, Am 21.03.2010 um 08:16 schrieb LVJay: > Regarding the idea that beginners shouldn't use more than a basic > string set: as a pianist, I probably have more finger strength and > muscle control than most people who are just starting out. > Do you still think I should be looking at a "starter" instrument?
first, the number of strings is for the beginner not so much a question of strenght and contol but of the complexity of maintainance: a 10 string one has as much strings as two standard hurdy-gurdies, but to keep it in good tuning and playing conditon its harder to maintain as its all one system. second, the Allegro is no beginners instrument, its a standard instrument. It can do all you ever expect from a hurdy gurdy and this in top quality. As long as you do not want more than a good hurdy-gurdy its great. Only if you want to go beyond that, like play an instrument with viola c as lowest note on the keyboard, get a wider range keyboard, its usefull to buy an instrument of the alto type (alto is french for viola). > As I was listening to various tunes, it occurs to me: > If I want to play with other instruments (pipers, etc) I should > probably be looking at an instruments with a d/g tuning, yes? In advanced playing, the open strings are of not much importance for the keys you play in (not more than for the violin for example). The open strings are seen as registers that can be combined: A typical set up with three strings would be: * c - small C or C3, the note one octave below Middle C * g - small G or G3, the G below Middle C * g' one-lined G or G4, the G above Middle C allowing to play in any keys in these three ranges and to use the following combinations: octave parallel, duodezim parallel (very nice), fifth parallel (and all three at once). The choisse of drones is much more important for the keys you play in: they should be choosen after the roots prefered by the instruments you want to play with (the traditional relation between the pitch of the hurdy gurdies open chanter strings and the drones is not a must - its just comfortable). The keys played in are limited by drones and the intonation system choosen and setup after them. Any note is compared to the drones pitch at any moment, so tuning systems that respect the drone are sensible (no equal temperament but well tempered). I personally play a lot in keys with the roots of C, G, D, A, E and sometimes F. The three drones are C/D (with capo) and G/A (with capo) and E/F (with capo). With the buzzing strings I mainly use g, c'/d' (with capo) sometimes tuned up to e'. The open melody strings are c, g, g', the tuning system is Kirnberger II, A=440. Kind regards, Simon -- 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. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to hurdygurdy+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.
