Hiya all! Just wanted to share with you the results of my recent experiment. A while ago I posted a question on this group regarding my HG's volume, the issue being that it played too quietly. As my folk metal band is currently recording our demo track, it will soon be my turn to record the gurdy as well. Thus, I was forced, in a way, to improve the gurdy's performance in a relatively short time and so I decided to do the following: I took the original bridge off the hurdy. This had to be done with a knife, seeing as I glued it there. But it had to be done if I was to improve anything. I took this step because of an advice here on the mailing list saying that the volume depends mainly on the bridge itself. My former bridge was in one piece (for the drones and the melody strings) and quite thick (1,5 cm). I fashioned three new bridges from pine: One main bridge for the two melody strings, a lot thinner and narrower, and two smallish, side bridges for the drones. I sanded the melody bridge to fit the string height then finally glued it onto the board. I did not glue the side bridges, and found this to be a good idea.
The results were astonishing. Once tuned, my instrument is now playing with the volume of a violin, which is more than acceptable for my needs. The voume of my former bridge was more alike to that of the tin whistle (a few dB quieter). Here's what I have learnt: The tone volume as well as the quality to some extent, depend heavily on the bridge. This pertains the bridge's thickness, also overall mass (it should be as minimal as possible, meaning the bridge should also be narrow) as well as material used (pine seems to work best). If for any reason (homemade gurdy, as in my case, or of strange design) the bridge on your hurdy is in one piece, meaning that it transfers the vibrations from the melody as well as the drone strings to the board, the tone will almost certainly be impaired in some way. If possible, make sure the strings have each its own bridge, if you wish to resolve this issue. If you're not certain about the position of the drone bridges, do not glue them. This will enable you to slide them independetly left and right (parallel with the wheel) and thus the strings towards or away from the wheel, creating a volume adjustment system. I find this works for me nicely, seeing as in one of our songs, the drones have a powerful role in one part of the song, meanwhile in another part, they just have to provide a soft undertone. I can also turn them on or off by sliding the bridge. Well, that's about it. I hope this can be helpful to someone someday. I would also like to thank Mr. Simon Wascher, Mr. Kazimierz Verkmastare and Mr. Miles for their helpful tips and advice. Photos will be posted soon. Enjoy, Gašper -- 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.
