University of Chicago Folk Festival - Sat 2/15/2014
Hurdy Gurdy workshop / demonstration
Mel Dorries, Vince Nichols, and I (Gary Plazyk) presented the fourth hurdy
gurdy workshop / demonstration at the University of Chicago Folk Festival
(http://www.uofcfolk.org/ ). We had an audience of between 40 and 50 people,
and our one-hour program was well-received. I'll include an outline of the
presentation that worked for us; you are welcome to use it as is or as a
starting point for a program of your own.
We began with the group playing "Are You Sleeping?" [key of C] together once, then
three times as a round, to get people's attention and focus them on us. We then took turns
talking about the following topics and then playing a tune or two, alternating talking and
playing. We finished with a question and answer (Q & A) session, and then invited people
to come up and see the instruments up close.
Description of the instrument
* like a mechanical violin with a keyboard
* wheel & crank
* keyboard
* but wait, there's more: drones
* but wait, there's more: sympathetic strings
* but wait, there's more: buzzing bridge
More about the instrument
* takes a lot of fussing and adjustment (high maintenance instrument)
* rosin & cotton
* tangents
* problem sounds: cats fighting, musical knife sharpener
But where's your monkey?
* in English, there are other instruments with the same name
* barrel organ (preprogrammed tunes like an ice cream truck) and monkey
* Jack-in-the-Box toy
* other cranked music boxes
* other languages have more descriptive names
* Some hurdy gurdy buskers have been known to bring along a small dog or
marmot (woodchuck or groundhog)
Different designs in different cultures
* simple begger instrument
* French style
* Hungarian style
* played for dancing, played with bagpipes to lead wedding procession
* used in compositions by Vivaldi, Schubert, others
* the electric guitar of their day
* banned from some towns because of the noise
The sad story of the Hurdy Gurdy girls
* German girls recruited to entertain with hurdy gurdy at sales shows
* girls shipped to California in Gold Rush era (1850s)
* saloons in American west in 1800s called "hurdy gurdy houses" (Twain), although
some dispute as to which "hurdy gurdy" was meant
* unsavory reputation
Hurdy gurdy sightings
* Spencer Tracy in the 1937 film Captains Courageous
* Donovan's 1968 song "Hurdy Gurdy Man" - no hurdy gurdy in recording,
but it brought name awareness
* Sting at the 76th Academy Awards in 2003
* Tom Hanks in the 2004 film Polar express
Modern hurdy gurdy revival
* refurbishing old instruments
* design features in new instruments
* modern groups incorporating hurdy gurdy
* annual get-togethers in states of Washington and Indiana
Accessories and props useful in the presentation:
* Set up a clock or cell phone with a large time display in sight on the
floor to keep track of the time; the U of C workshops are scheduled from the
top of the hour until 50 minutes after, allowing 10 minutes for one group to
pack up and the next group to set up.
* I like to bring a small portable speaker/amp (I use a Pignose), a
microphone stand, and a microphone for whoever is speaking; our presentation
room is fairly large.
* I made up a binder containing pictures of hurdy gurdies: photos of
instruments and copies of art containing hurdy gurdies.
* about a dozen printed copies of the Wikipedia Hurdy Gurdy article to
give to people that might not have Internet access
* business cards listing the national and Chicago hurdy gurdy group
mailing lists
Things I would do next time:
* I'd spend a little time having each presenter introduce themselves,
give a brief description of their instrument, and talk about when they first
saw a hurdy gurdy and what kind of music they play on it.
* I'd spend a bit of time on the history of the instrument, its development from a
folk instrument to a fashionable prop in the French court, to its displacement by more
modern instruments, to the repression of street musicians in Russia in the late 1800s and
near-eradication by the Soviets in the 1930s (250-300 players "lirnyky" rounded
up and executed).
* Due to unavoidable problems, several people that normally play hurdy
gurdy as part of a musical group were unable to attend. At past workshops, we
have had a variety of playing styles demonstrated accompanied by guitar, banjo,
penny whistle, and accordion. I think if you can arrange at least some pieces
to be played as part of a group, it makes the instrument seem less of an
historic curiosity and more of a real living instrument.
* I'd mention that there are many YouTube videos - just search [hurdy
gurdy]
* If video projection facilities were available, I think it might be nice
to have a slide show running continuously showing pictures of hurdy gurdies on
a screen in the background.
* I'd suggest stopping after 35 to 40 minutes to leave time for questions and
"meet the instruments".
* I'd state a firm "Thank you, goodbye" at 50 minutes, and say
conversations can be continued out in the hall or in another room, to give the next group
time to set up and start on time.
* Above all, if time is short and it's a question of talking or playing,
PLAY! People are primarily there to hear the instrument!
Questions we were asked:
* What does it sound like? (from someone coming in for the next workshop
while we were doing Q & A)
* Was there any music written specifically for the hurdy gurdy?
* Is there special musical notation for hurdy gurdy (drones, buzzing
bridge)?
* What wood is used on the instrument?
* Where can you get one?
* How much does a hurdy gurdy cost?
* Where can you learn to play one?
* Is it hard to play?
* Can you play a hurdy gurdy with other instruments?
* Do many people play them?
* Where can I hear one?
* How does the buzzing bridge work?
Tunes that we played (the ones I can remember):
* Are You Sleeping? / Frere Jacques
* Amazing Grace
* several original compositions
* Brillig
* Two An Dros ("Stomp")
* Elenke / Pease Bransle
* Cuckoo
* Horse's Bransle
* Chypre
Check with Ann Dorries (http://www.hurdygurdycrafters.com/ ) for photos of the
event.
-Gary Plazyk, 2/15/2014
--
--
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 unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
