Showing posts with label Hurdy Gurdy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hurdy Gurdy. Show all posts

Friday, March 1, 2013

Indiana Hurdy-Gurdy Workshop: October 2-6


Dear friends,
Just a reminder that our Second Midwest HG workshop in Bloomington, Indiana will take place again on Oct 2-6, 2013.  Save the dates for a great GH adventure. We will post more details later, but for the moment, Robert Green, Juan Wijngaard and Michael Opps will be the instructors.
I wish you all a great time during the Holydays and a 2013 full of fabulous cranking. For more info and questions you can contact me: tlozanoramos@yahoo.com or you can check at: www.earlymusicinmotion.org
Best,Tom Lozano


selected photos from Hurdy Gurdy Weekly • Indiana Hurdy-Gurdy Workshop
Apr 20-22, 2012
Bloomington, INDIANA USA
Photographer: Mel Dorries
The first Hurdy-Gurdy workshop in the Midwest took place on April 20-22, 2012 in scenic Brown County, Indiana, attracting both amateurs and professionals. Learn and play alongside other enthusiasts in a relaxed atmosphere with renowned teachers and performers.
Indiana Hurdy Gurdy Workshop | Early Music America

Instructors: Robert Green, Juan Wijngaard and Tom Lozano




















special thanks for Mel Dorries & Tom Lozano for providing these photos for The Hurdy Gurdy Weekly

Monday, October 15, 2012

whats more: hurdy gurdy postcard from Germany

a friend who was traveling sent this to me from Germany awhile back

2609. Orgelleier von César Pons
Grenoble, Ende 18. Jh.

"Gurdy organ" by César Pons
Grenoble, late 18th Century


Friday, May 25, 2012

hurdy gurdy - over 100 videos | news



There are now over one hundred videos in my Hurdy Gurdy playlist!


hurdy gurdy - YouTube


see also


hurdy gurdy instruction - YouTube: 28 videos to date


The Hurdy Gurdy Weekly is mentioned in the recent newsletter of Bagpipe & HurdyGurdy Foundation in Denmark! Thank you!

Draailier Doedelzak ‏@DraailierDoedel
@r_cherwink I've mentioned your Weekly in the newsletter of our Bagpipe & HurdyGurdy foundation. It's in Dutch (sorry) http://draailier-doedelzak.nl/document/2012_mei_Nieuwsbrief.pdf

The newsletter is a PDF. Here is the website: Stichting Draailier en Doedelzak. They have an event on June 3 - see http://draailier-doedelzak.nl/agenda.htm.
translate to English





Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Hurdy Gurdy Weekly • Indiana Hurdy-Gurdy Workshop


selected photos from Hurdy Gurdy Weekly • Indiana Hurdy-Gurdy Workshop - Picasa Web Album | The Hurdy Gurdy Weekly
Apr 20-22, 2012
Bloomington, INDIANA USA
Photographer: Mel Dorries
photos: 83

The first Hurdy-Gurdy workshop in the Midwest took place on April 20-22, 2012 in scenic Brown County, Indiana, attracting both amateurs and professionals. Learn and play alongside other enthusiasts in a relaxed atmosphere with renowned teachers and performers.
Indiana Hurdy Gurdy Workshop | Early Music America

Instructors: Robert Green, Juan Wijngaard and Tom Lozano
Next workshop: October 2 - 6, 2013





















special thanks for Mel Dorries & Tom Lozano for providing these photos for The Hurdy Gurdy Weekly

Friday, May 4, 2012

kicksy wicksy | Nigel Eaton / Cliff Stapleton




"This is just half of a super tune by English Hurdy-Gurdy player Cliff Stapleton, I had to re-record this as my pick-up fell off during the performance at Halsway Manor." - Nigel Eaton

update 31 May: video deleted but Nigel says maybe a new one this weekend with the entire tune :)
nigeleaton1's channel

update 20 June: Nigel said: "well i did a version of kicksy for ya, no worries best N" - - see what next: Kicksy Wicksy - a Cliff Stapleton tune played by Nigel Eaton - thanks Nigel!


same tune (complete) - Nigel Eaton w/ Cliff Stapleton


NIGEL EATON & CLIFF STAPLETON | gurdymike's channel


hurdy gurdy playlist - YouTube



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Robert Mandel - Hungarian hurdy gurdy virtuoso



Robert Mandel - YouTube

Hungarian hurdy gurdy virtuoso Robert Mándel, at Concordia University (Chicago) on February 8th, 1982. Robert talks about the hurdy gurdy, plays some tunes and then there are some closeups of the gurdy.

Quoted from one of his recordings:
'The hurdy-gurdy came to Eastern Europe at the beginning of the nineteenth century and was brought in by Western European travelling musicians, and by the middle of the 20th century it was no longer part of living folk music anywhere. The instrument had no repertoire of its own and bagpipe music, of a similar sound, was usually played on it. These days in Hungary one can bare by meet a hurdy-gurdy player or two of the older generation in the rural farmstead regions of Szentes, Csongrád, Kecskemeét."

Like many folk events, there wasn't enough light to make my early 1980s vintage camera very happy, hence the blurred / smeared video. You should see the un-processed original ;)


thanks to Gurdypedia!
who also shared this -

A more recent video of Robert Mandel and the Mandel Quartet performing a number of French renaissance dances by Claude Gervaise (c.1550) on the hurdy-gurdy and other period instruments.



ROBERT MANDEL and the Mandel Quartet
French renaissance dances composed by the editor and arranger Claude Gervaise. Gervaise was an assistant to Pierre Attaingnant too, and also the editor on the title pages for several of Attaingnant's books of instrumental dances.


thanks to Gurdypedia!
posted > The Hurdy Gurdy Weekly


Monday, April 16, 2012

new at what it is: French Session | Hurdy Gurdy 120411


gaia's garden • santa rosa ca • 11 apr 2012


We are a "session," which is not the same thing as a performing band. We don't know in advance what tunes we will play, and we don't rehearse together. Instead, we rely on our musicianship and knowledge of the genre to choose and play tunes on the fly. It's spontaneous, relaxed and participatory...



more > what it is: French Session | Hurdy Gurdy 120411


Thursday, April 5, 2012

Gurdypedia


DOCUMENTING THE CURIOUS WORLD OF THE HURDY GURDY

Hurdy-Gurdy Playing Satyr with a Sleeping Nymph Master of 1515 (Italian [?], active ca. 1515) Engraving with drypoint burr plate: 6 1/4 x 7 in. (16 x 17.8 cm), sheet: 6 3/8 x 7 1/8 in. (16.3 x 18.1 cm) Gift of Henry Walters, by exchange, 1931 (31.31.19)


> Gurdypedia


Saturday, March 31, 2012

Zanfona Sen Palabras (Hurdy Gurdy Without Words)



Zanfona Sen Palabras (Hurdy Gurdy Without Words) / 1



Exercicios para Zanfona sen usar unha soa palabra, so a mmica e a demostracin.
Technique exercices for hurdy gurdy without words. Only mimic, example and demonstration.

Captulo 1.
Comps /Bar 4/4 (X4)
patrn rtmico / Rhythmic Pattern:
golpes/ strokes : /1 . . 4 . . 3 . . 2 . . 1 . 3 . /


Zanfona Sen Palabras (Hurdy Gurdy Without Words) / 1 - YouTube


Zanfona Sen Palabras (Hurdy Gurdy Without Words) / 2 (7/8)



Exercicios para Zanfona sen usar unha soa palabra, so a mmica e a demostracin.
Technique exercices for hurdy gurdy without words. Only mimic, example and demonstration.

Captulo 2.
Comps /Bar 7/8 (X2)
patrn rtmico / Rhythmic Pattern:
golpes/ strokes /1 . 1 . 1 . . 3 . 3 . 3 . . /


Zanfona Sen Palabras (Hurdy Gurdy Without Words) / 2 (7/8) - YouTube



Encontro Zanfona Contemporánea


Encontro Zanfona Contemporánea (1/2) - YouTube: Reportaxe feita sobre os Encontros de Zanfona Contemporánea de Narón que organiza o Patronato de Cultura do Concello de Narón e aCentral Folque anualmente en marzo con concertos, curso intensivo, actividades paralelas, convivencia,...



Encontro Zanfona Contemporánea (2of2) - YouTube: 2ª parte da reportaxe sobre o Encontro de Zanfona...



links | see also

fraioscar's channel - YouTube

Oscar Fernández (facebook)

what next - label: Hurdy Gurdy


Tuesday, February 21, 2012

hurdy gurdy wheel, crank & shaft assembly



wheel, crank & shaft assembly by Graeme McCormack




"I have just finished Drawing up the Henri 111 Renaissance Hurdy Gurdy. I have modelled it on an existing instrument from Paris circa 1750. The main deviation from the original is that it can play over 2 octaves and has adjustable bridges and string lifting mechanisms. I have also changed the internal frame to use smaller wood stock. The original has solid end blocks that needed large wood stock to cut them from. There are 9 x A1 size sheets to this plan. I will add more written information as I make this gurdy." - Henri 111 hurdy gurdy

AntiQuated Strings - Graeme McCormack

Monday, February 20, 2012





new top view, 2/20/12

- an idea that i've been working on for awhile
- there is now a page on it at whats more

whats more: barrel gurdy
"it uses a hand-cranked wheel to bow playing strings and drones like a hurdy gurdy, but is played with a slide like a Vichitra Veena (as in video) - no gurdy keybox..."


Monday, February 13, 2012

The Wren | Hurdy Gourdy | Neil Brook gurdies



The Wren - a unique hurdy gurdy style by Neil Brook







more @ hurdy-gurdy.org.uk > The Wren


gregory jolivet at sidmouth 2010 playing (a) neil brook hurdy gurdy.


gregory jolivet at Sidmouth 2010


Hurdy Gourdy - more Neil Brook instruments


Hurdy-gourdy.m4v

"This has been gnawing away at me for decades and I finally got round to doing it. The pun on gourd was too much to resist. One thing it's not is a novelty toy. It's got a lot going for it."
- pretty cool, Neil!


Large gourdy.m4v/

A clip featuring a hurdy-gurdy built using a large African gourd as a body. The tune played is "Child Grove," found in Michael Raven's "1000 English Country Dance Tunes" (Tunes published before 1730)

the new gourdy has a great deep and full sound - i really like it, Neil!
- he says "The results are seriously asymmetrical and quirky but I kind of like that after decades of striving for perfect symmetry. The latest one is ridiculously off centre but the small trompette area and the large drone area should make for good bass and treble as required. The overall effect is a gurdy built in a hut in Kenya!"


Neil Brook, Hurdy Gurdy and Fretted Instrument Maker

site features hurdy gurdy tips, instruction, a great selection of mp3 samples, notation, etc.

Irish music on the hurdy-gurdy.
Here in the north west of England, players of French dance music hard to find. There is much more chance of playing in a session if some of the Irish session tunes can be played. There are many book of such tunes available and all are great sources but they are not compiled with the hurdy-gurdy in mind. I have listed below a selection of good tunes which I find fall reasonably easily out of the gurdy. There are no special techniques involved but a degree of competence up at the dusty end of the keybox is useful. It will quickly expose any poor intonation in the top octave and the correct cotton application is essential...



see also

whats more: barrel gurdy
- an idea that i've been working on for awhile - now a page at whats more (RC'S ART & STUDIES BLOG)
"it uses a hand-cranked wheel to bow playing strings and drones like a hurdy gurdy, but is played with a slide like a Vichitra Veena (as in video below) - no gurdy keybox."

Friday, December 23, 2011

INDIAN MUSIC: Vichitra Veena | Dr. Lalmani Mishra




Vichitra Veena by Dr. Lalmani Mishra of Mishrabani Gharana playing Raga Tilang

the instrument that i am thinking about building is a combination of a hurdy gurdy and no-frets vina as in the video above. the basic idea is to slice a barrel along one side (which becomes then the top of the instrument), intstall a soundboard on top, and have a large cranked wheel to drive a couple of playing strings and some drones (no hurdy-gurdy keybox) ...maybe i will post a photo of my sketch of a "barrel gurdy," or the new idea of using a conga drum rather than a barrel.

Dr. Lalmani Mishra

my "vocal teacher's" teacher *

Lalmani Misra (August 11, 1924 - July 17, 1979), M.A., Ph.D., D. Mus. (Veena), M.Mus. (Vocal), B.Mus. (Sitar, Tabla), (Sahitya Ratna) Dean & Head, Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, was an eminent Indian classical musician known as much for his art as for his scholarship.

Lalmani learnt Dhruvapada (Dhrupad) Dhamar in the tradition of Pt. Shankar Bhatt and Munshi Bhrigunath Lal. He learnt Khayal singing with Ustad Mehndi Hussain Khan, a disciple of Ustad Vazir Khan of Rampur Seni Gharana. He received training in Dhruvpad, Bhajan and Tabla from Swami Pramodanand; in sitar from Shri Shukdev Roy. Under the tutelage of Ustad Amir Ali Khan he perfected several other musical instruments.

Lalmani was appointed on the post of assistant music director in Shehanshahi Recording Company, Calcutta at the age of twelve. He worked in several films for the next two years...


Performing in Berlin, with a troupe, April 1932

...Carrying out research in the music of Vedic age, he unraveled the mystery of Samic scale. To re-establish the lost notes of that period he created a Raga Sameshwari. Dr. Misra also first made it possible in history of mankind, the twenty two Shruti-s (not to be confused with śruti, the genre of Vedic literature) to be distinctly heard on a single Veena. The invention and key to its function has been explained in “Shruti Veena” published on 11-02-1964 by Vikram Singh, Narendra Printing Works, Varanasi.

He had created several other Raga-s like Shyam Bihag, Jog Todi, Madhukali, Madhu-Bhairav, Baleshwari etc., all in strict adherence with rigid classical norms for creation of new Raga-s. Unesco released a compact disc of his Vichitra Veena entitled The Music of Pandit Lalmani Misra in 1996.

much more interesting history on this teacher > Lalmani Misra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

* i studied with Dr. Laxmi Tewari, a student of Dr. Misra's, at SSU for a couple of years around 1978 to 1981. Tewari-ji still teaches at SSU, and is an ethnomusicologist as was Misra. (the link for Tewari goes to an article from 1996 by Jan Haag). more on Dr. Tewari later :)



see also

Indian Music (Hindustani Classical) playlist on robertcherwink's YouTube Channel