The Hurdy Gurdy(Metal versions)

The Hurdy Gurdy(Metal versions)

Not the Hurdy Gurdy Man song, but the actual medieval instrument, and rocking out with it!

Omen - Guilhem Desq (Hurdy Gurdy)


Break Your Crank - Guilhem Desq (electric hurdy gurdy)


Medieval Metal -Corvus Corax -Corvus Corax - Drehleier - Hurdy-Gurdy



A bit about the history

The hurdy gurdy, known in France as the vielle a roue or vielle for short, is an ancient instrument which is undergoing a modern renaissance in Europe and America. First, to dispel a popular misconception: the hurdy gurdy was not played by the organ grinder or his monkey. They used a large music box operated by a crank . Today's hurdy gurdy is roughly the same as those built in the Middle Ages. It has three to six strings which are caused to vibrate by a resined wheel turned by a crank. Melody notes are produced on one string, or two tuned in unison, by pressing keys whi ch stop the string at the proper intervals for the scale. The other strings play a drone note. Some instruments have a "dog", "trompette" or "buzzing bridge". A string passes over a moveable bridge, which by a clever movement of the crank in the open hand, can produce a rasping rhythm to accompany the tune by causing the bridge to hammer on the sound board. The instrument is held in the lap with a strap to hold it steady. The case can be square, lute back, or flat back with a guitar or fiddle shape. Forms o f the vielle a roue existed not only in France, but in Germany, Italy, Britain, Russia, Spain and Hungary.

More on it's ancient roots

The earliest known form of t he vielle a roue was called an organistrum and bore little resemblance to the modern one. It was so large that one person turned the crank and another played the keys. The wooden keys were arranged in various ways depending on whether secular or religious music was to be played. The organistrum was only capable of playing slow melodies and simple harmony because of the hard key action. It's main use was in the medieval church.

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a reply to: dreamingawake

That is bad ass.

Thank you for sharing these videos.

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: dreamingawake

That is bad ass.

Thank you for sharing these videos.

No problem, one of those found again treasures.

Love the instrument. Some other great hurdy gurdy musicians you might want to check out:

Matthias Loibner

Nigel Eaton

Patrick Bouffard

Valentin Clastrier

Each of those has quite a unique style. If you happen to be in Europe in mid July this is THE festival for discovering weird traditional instruments:

In the middle of July « Le son continu » brings together lovers of traditional instruments, music and dance in the grounds of the Château d’Ars, close to the town of La Châtre in the region of central France known as Berry (Dept 36-Indre). At the heart of the event is an exhibition of hand-made instruments with more than one hundred craftsmen presenting their hurdy-gurdies, bagpipes, accordions and other acoustic and ethnic instruments.

www.lesoncontinu.fr...

a reply to: dreamingawake


Medieval Instruments have a great sound.

One of my favourites is the Sackbutt as demonstrated here.



The Sackbutt in Henry Purcell's " Music For The Funeral Of Queen Mary "

a reply to: dreamingawake

Corvus Corax is one of my FAVORITES! My favorite song of theirs is Viator/Skudrinka. My wife and her belly dance troupe were invited to perform at a Scottish Highlands games (strange request, I know) and they put together a routine to the Viator/Skudrinka song and people went nuts. It was really interesting to watch.

a reply to: alldaylong

a reply to: MindBodySpiritComplex


Thanks for sharing all. Iwill look into these.

a reply to: HummaKavula

Pretty cool and sounds like that was a lot of fun.