Augusto, Not sure what he means by 'correct'. He obviously has a strong opinion about this, but I don't think that any particular tuning is any more correct than any other. What I quoted were the 'normal' or 'traditional' tunings based on what is used as standard for French dance music. Anything else is entirely valid and up to the player, as this instrument does not come under the same orchestral constraints as other instruments, e.g. violins, except perhaps when playing music scored in a particular way, e.g Corelli etc. I think to state that unison G can only ever lead to poor tuning would insult some of the other great players, and I am unsure as to how having 2 G strings in different octaves would alleviate this problem. (I have thought about trying octave G, so I do not dismiss it, I just don't think his argument is necssarily sound)
Geoff From: [email protected] Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 08:04:49 -0200 Subject: Re: [HG-new] Proposal on Hurdy Gurdy Construction topic To: [email protected] Geoff during a workshop with Dominique Forges during a festival in Quebec roughly two months ago, he strongly advised against unison tuning in G/C, saying that the correct way was to use octave Gs as well, similarly to what people do with D/G gurdies. He was quite adamant about that, saying that tuning in unison Gs, even with the same string, by the same maker, etc, would always lead to imperfect tuning and a poor sound altogether. I do have octave Gs on my gurdy and it sounds beautiful, as some friends here may attest from meeting my gurdy in person... Augusto On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 4:56 AM, Geoff Turner <[email protected]> wrote: Steve, Not sure where you get the idea of slightly de-tuning the chanters to get a vibrato effect. All the hurdy-gurdy players I know spend time tuning the tangents so that there is no vibrato. \Although the hurdy-gurdy has a reputation of being played slightly out of tune, this should not be your ideal. 2 chanters is mostly for volume, and to get an octave effect on the D/G tuning. Multiple drones are for changing octave or playing in a different key. One of the most important aspects of making the keys is in making the two rows of tangents contact the string at precisely the same moment. This can be achieved by trimming wooden tangents, or making the fully adjustable metal ones. Most players would think that 'fully-functional' means following the French norm of 2 chanterelles, octave tuned for a D/G tuning or unison tuned for a G/C, with a petit bourdon, gros bourdon, mouche and trompette, and therefore 6 strings. Geoff Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2011 16:55:15 -0700 Subject: Re: [HG-new] Proposal on Hurdy Gurdy Construction topic From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Excellent, that seems to answer several questions. I surmise the extra chanter strings, aside from tuning the tangents slightly off each other to get a "chorus" or vibrato effect, also serves to increase the volume of the melody strings in relation to the drones? That would seem to suggest that our hypothetical model should have two drones, and two chanters for the most flexibility, but that will add some complexity to the build as the tangents will have to be carefully adjusted laterally to apply equal pressure on both strings. -S On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 2:51 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: As it happens, Steven, the Hackman's "minstrel" model is three stringed; one chanter, a trompette and one drone. Mine doesn't have a lot of volume compared to other gurdies, but the trompette and chanter are more than enough for it to sound like a gurdy. -- 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. -- 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. -- 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. -- 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.
