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Post by Zi on Jan 22, 2023 18:54:56 GMT
I'm sure I've seen a reference to the hurdy-gurdy recently but I can't remember where. I've never really thought very much about it but I was looking for a recording of Telemann's Niaise - it comes up as a sight-reading exercise for the descant recorder - and I came across this. I can't figure out if it sets my teeth on edge or not but it is an amazing sound. I wonder if I've heard this in the past and mistaken it for the bagpipes.
There's a modern version which looks absolutely amazing and Eluveitie (a Swedish metal folk group) use one along with just about anything else they can lay their hands on. It is a seriously cool looking instrument! Mind, everything they handle looks seriously cool...
Anyway, this is the much more sedate Niaise.
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Post by pavane on Jan 23, 2023 8:19:19 GMT
I used to think I'd like to play hurdy gurdy just because of the name - I had no idea what it was actually like. A few years ago I was in a local pub and there were some trad musicians playing - this was a Sunday early evening in winter so they were playing just for themselves and the people in the bar, not tourists. There happened to be some people over from Brittany (tourists, as it happens) and one of them went and muttered something to the band and next thing the Brittany group turned out to be musicians themselves and were joining in - they had their luggage with them including instruments - and they played with the locals for a while and then carried on and did a short impromptu concert of their own. They were a trio of fiddle, hurdy gurdy, and someone who played recorder and shawm. It was a very interesting sound!
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Post by Zi on Jan 23, 2023 11:46:37 GMT
Mr Z insists he's seen lots of them. He is unimpressed by Eluveitie and he doesn't think we need a Hurdy-Gurdy. I'm astounded at how many people appear to play them and how diverse they are. I'm pretty certain I've been mistaking them for small bagpipes and they've popped up a lot in Celtic and Folk music without my realisation. I wondered if Alan Stivell had used it but I can't find any mention on recordings here but Wiki says he has influenced Eluveitie.
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lafa
Quaver
Posts: 17
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Post by lafa on Jan 26, 2023 20:14:37 GMT
Two young ladies I know, the elder with one arm ‚elbow length’ and only thumb and two fingers on her hand, went out clubbing and came up with the idea of making music together. The younger wanted to play the bagpipes but most musical instruments were ‚out’ from the word go for the elder one. However, with the help of their parents, they found a Hurdy-Gurdy maker who was impressed by the girls’ enthusiam and made a special extension to the handle of an instrument for her. Fingering, in spite of the missing fingers, seems to be no problem and the lass plays both from scores or by ear. Hurdy-Gurdy and bagpipes, a most succcessful pairing for two unusual ladies.
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Post by Zi on Jan 27, 2023 9:28:37 GMT
That's a wonderful story! Thank you for sharing it. I hope they have many many years of happy music making! I am certain now that I've been listening to the hurdy gurdy believing it to be small pipes. This is a picture from wiki of a modern hurdy-gurdy
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Post by pavane on Jan 28, 2023 11:08:02 GMT
I've never seen anyone playing one standing up before! It looks to me like it accentuates the awkwardness of doing something so completely different with each hand (it always looks a bit like that patting your head while rubbing your stomach thing). I know that doesn't make sense because there are lots of instruments where hands do different things.
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Post by Zi on Feb 19, 2023 10:16:22 GMT
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