Hi Felicia, thank you for your help. I agree that getting a better instrument to grow into is better than outgrowing one. I knew that this would probably be my only hurdy gurdy purchase that's why I wanted to get all the options available. I went with the 3-pickup amplification system because I figured I wanted the option of playing acoustically with our duo and electrically with a full band. I went with geared tuners because I know the problem in trying to tune with friction pegs. I probably could have gone without the sympathetic strings or built-in tuner but, by that point, I had almost all the sha-bang :-)
With Skype, do I need to download a program or subscribe to a service? I'll check into it. Let me know when you're in the New Jersey area. Jake On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 11:25 PM, Felicia Dale <[email protected]>wrote: > Hm. Well, I'm going to be based in the DC area but traveling up and down > and all around quite a bit over the next year starting in the spring. I bet > we'll be within striking distance of each other at some point or another. I > also really like the idea of Skype. I can get William (my husband) to aim a > camera directly at what I'm doing re: cottoning and as for tuning we could > work that out by talking and listening. > > I'm not bothered by the c/g v d/g tuning. I can either transpose or play > harmonies to whatever you're playing. > > And if you do put your gurdy up for sale, let me know, okay? It sounds > like a lovely instrument. > > Felicia. > > On Dec 22, 2011, at 8:20 PM, Jake Conte wrote: > > Felicia, I'm in East Brunswick in central New Jersey. I know there are > some gurdy players in New England, but that would be a 3-6 hour drive by > car. > > > > On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 11:16 PM, Felicia Dale <[email protected] > > wrote: > >> Jake, where are you located? Perhaps someone with a bit more experience >> could swing a meeting with you and help you out with the cotton and rosin >> issues. I would be glad to give it a try if we're within striking distance >> of each other. >> >> Felicia. >> >> >> On Dec 20, 2011, at 6:42 PM, Jake Conte wrote: >> >> Hi Elisabeth and Kevin, >> >> By "high maintenance" I mean the whole cotton issue. Do I put to much >> cotton, loo little cotton? Tweaking the tangents. One player once told me >> not to worry about whether I put too much or too little cotton. Eventually >> I should know how much to put on. Another roadblock was that I had asked >> to have it set up in D/G as I play primarily Celtic music and figured D/G >> would be better suited for that. >> >> And, not to dwell on Bruno's comments, but I just wanted to add that this >> was going to be my one and only hurdy gurdy purchase and I wanted to get it >> with all the 'bells and whistles' and I wouldn't be able to afford a second >> gurdy. Now, I'm thinking maybe I should have bought a more basic model >> instead. They did make a "Symphonie" model which was a lot less expensive. >> >> Thank you all for your inspiration. I will definitely make a go of it >> and, hopefully, will not be putting it up for sale next year. >> >> Jake >> >> >> >> On Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 2:20 PM, Kevin Hughes <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> Hello Jake, >>> >>> I'm curious as to what problems you are encountering in learning to >>> play. You used the phrase high maintenance in two of your emails. Could >>> you be more specific as what these issues are? >>> >>> I was once asked to look an Orca from Olympic Instruments. A friend had >>> borrowed it from another friend(who been give it as a gift but never played >>> it) and thought that the bridge needed to be lowered(or the string notches >>> made deeper) and wanted me to look at it and see what I thought. It turned >>> out that he was trying to tune the open chanterelle to D and so the string >>> was not making good contact with the wheel. I looked at the paperwork that >>> came with the instrument, found the chanterelle should be tuned to G, tuned >>> it, cottoned the string, did a bit of shimming, and the instrument >>> played. (This was a couple of years ago and I still haven't seen the friend >>> play it.) But it seemed like the instrument was close to being good to go >>> when shipped. >>> >>> When starting out the cottoning and related shimming is the first hurdle >>> to overcome. Neil Brook has a youtube video that is helpful for >>> this. Next is getting used to turning the crank and playing notes. The >>> Muskett book is good for this as are Neil Brook's DVD tutorials. Aftre >>> that work in trompette technique. Scott Gayman has a great series of >>> youtube videos on this. And as with any instrument consistent practice >>> yields best results. >>> >>> You will of course have to replace the cotton from time to time. A >>> tangent or two may shift and need to be realigned. There could be other >>> issues that arise, however once the instrument is set up it doesn't seem to >>> me to need constant tweaking. Other folks may have other experiences. >>> >>> I wish you well in your endeavors. >>> >>> Kevin >>> >>> -- >>> 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. 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