I have heard some pretty bad and out-of-tune guitar playing in my time but people don't avoid guitar bands because of it. I think it is up to all of us to lift the profile of the gurdy so that the general public know it can sound good and anyone entering gurdyworld as a maker or player knows what to aspire to.
Philip G Martin aka Drohne www.drohne.co.uk --- On Sat, 5/11/11, Felicia Dale <[email protected]> wrote: From: Felicia Dale <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [HG-new] Specifications for proposed 'builder gurdy' - part 1, start with one important dimension To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, 5 November, 2011, 17:25 Uh... we have actually lost gigs because the organizer found out I play the gurdy. Their prior experience with gurdies was so bad they wanted nothing to do with them, even when presented with evidence that gurdies can sound good. We've also had people nearly leave concerts for the same reason. I have had more people than I can remember come up to me and say, Wow, that's a hurdy gurdy? Yours sounds like a musical instrument! And then comes the story about the person with the gurdy shaped object made from green wood in a shop class or some such variation. It's not snobbery, it's just a fact that there are some dreadful HSOs out there and they do cause problems for the rest of us. But having said that, I've heard some lovely instruments sound like garbage because of indifferent set up or inattention to tuning or lack of skill/talent/sensitivity on the part of the player. It's not always the instrument that is the problem as witnessed by the several kits and "home made" gurdies which have sounded quite lovely and have been played with quite a high level of skill. For the record, I would generally not discourage a person from making a gurdy from scratch or from a kit but only encourage them to come to this list for the best advice on choosing how to progress. Just because someone makes a home made instrument (even a gurdy) is not instantly a guarantee of a bad result- but guidance is key in all the phases of gurdy building and playing. I usually encourage folks to just buy a decent one, though, as most people don't have the time, energy or space to build instruments of any kind let alone something as complex and demanding as a gurdy. Felicia. On Nov 3, 2011, at 2:52 AM, Tony Vincent wrote: On 3/11/2011 7:42 p.m., Ulrich Joosten wrote: Dear list, didn't someone propose tho discuss this topic on a special luthier list ? I do not want to offend anybody. In the past 35 years a lot of qualified instrument makers worked hard to develop modern instruments that really SOUND like a "real instrument" I hate the idea of some enthusiastic amateurs proudly presenting their newly tinkered gurdy with a horrible sound… Well said! No offence taken. The idea of all those amateur players banging out screechy old tunes and annoying everyone is anathema to real musicians with real instruments even if they are just carrying on a thousand year old folk tradition and enjoying themselves to boot. What right do they think they have spoiling it for real musicians? I think I must go and destroy my home made gurdy and perhaps even enter a monastry and do penance. What on earth was I thinking? Well done! You have have redefined snobbery for me. This is exactly the attitude that has raised such ire in many beginners. Regards, TonyNZ -- 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.
