Hurdy Gurdy (The medieval wheel instrument)

hey everybody and welcome back to the channel for as long as I've had this channel I've been getting comments asking to do a video with the hurdy-gurdy if you're unfamiliar it is a fascinating instrument with a really fun name and I decided to call my friend Jake who I work with okay it's a lot of strange requests for me and I asked him could we find a hurdy-gurdy expert in Illinois and thankfully we do we do have a hurdy-gurdy expert here in Illinois hi I'm Jim Carroll and I play the hurdy-gurdy and these are two of my instruments I have four hurdy-gurdy so far I always say you can never have too many [Music] [Applause] [Music] pretty giri's are basically considered folk instruments but that's not quite true because you see the instrument dates back a thousand years ago now if you could picture this instrument ten times its size really would take two of us to play it right those are the times I would be young to be cranking here and you would be pushing in these keys and for your listeners who might be of the Catholic faith they might be interested to know that the instrument was first used in the Catholic Church really its original function was a liturgical and that's quite I don't know what that means oh that that means like for worship it basically preceded the pipe organ after the pipe organ became really popular in the church around thirteen ninety 1400 this instrument was phased out of the church and its ranking size for people like me and you to plan yeah so let's talk about that absolute basics what is going on here yes so as the Builder George Leverett said these are like the version of a medieval space shuttle okay there's over 80 moving parts in these there are very complex instruments so hurdy-gurdy is a very old english name from a thousand years ago back yeah where does the name basically means string instrument of the wheel as opposed to the bows so so I turn this crank it turns this wheel of course nothing's happening because the strings are not activated yet I press up or in on these keys which will then play the notes now I have two sets of strings the top ones are my melody strings which played the tune mm-hmm there is ones on the side that are drawn accompaniment so me I'm just gonna start adding strings and what I add them through these are through these controls here now on yours which is an older model and this was very very different you'll have to do them by hand here yeah but on the newer ones and I say newer Renaissance and Baroque period they added these lovers here so I'm gonna just start with a melody string when I move this lever it's it's going to place this string on the wheel so when I turn the crank that's transactive I imagined that the wheel was just like a bow like on a violin it is like a boat and that it was a circular bone but exactly its function yeah yeah but I see here that it's actually wood and then there's this felt around the string yeah that's cotton how many strings does this happen well basically mine is a six string model I have three melody strings and three drone strings so this one has six strings that has four so medieval hurdy gurdy x' are basically simpler instruments and with this closed I mean it just looks like a huge box with like four strings at the entrance right right right right and it looks like a music box it is it is but however I guess it is however however it is a musical instrument in the sense that you do need musical training in order to get tone out of it here's a neat coordination exercise which you could probably do because you're a guitarist but I try this with people and like oh my god so you do this with your right hand but you do this with your left oh yes yes and so guitarists though usually really fit right into this because used to doing country things exactly noticing these strings are all made out of different material what material works with what string and melody strings and my drone strings here are wound are basically flat line and they have you know synthetic Center to make them a little softer kind of like look how the synthetic cut yeah and then this string here is made out of totally different material and it's called the trumpet now this is the hardest thing to play about hurdy-gurdy and I'll tell you why I'll play my lower belly to string my upper drum show but let's say I want to throw on some rhythm yeah [Music] so that type of string intentionally buzzes like that can tap out of rhythm yes ah and the way that's done is with this movable bridge here this moves up and down so that it's it's like having a broken bridge that's smacking against the body exactly really that's fascinating this is called the Tarrant which is a string that you'll notice is attached to this violin oh cool so that's not even that's not a tuner it'll just the bust with the tension and then I tune from here I've never seen that on any other instrument yeah it's very different very similar to when I was learning sitar that sitar has a bridge you know that rolls off so now I have shrink and smack against it yeah and it's a sound that I was used to from guitars with bad bridges and then you find that a lot of these things that I was used to in that context are done intentionally in others and have a really beautiful you know use for them right and I'm also seeing on this just like on the harp that I have you can change the tuning does that bring it up exactly yeah this brings it up a step mm-hmm and I could just play in a different key yeah so it has very much a back pipe sound what's it on strings behind this it does but you know you can also add vibrato by moving your hand up and down all right yes like a kind of viola that's cool sound like every other instrument I've used that has these types of buttons I just instinctively being guitar player will you know add vibrato yeah and it different works but it actually works something you can do it that's right now if you try to do it sideways yeah I get the backing of the keys but if you do it up and down yeah and you get a nice clean for Braco for this instrument is there a standard tuning you know there are several tunings depending what strings you have for example this is what we call the G D tuning a C tuning as well which is what you have there yeah and that would be a cmeg that's like a more medieval kind of tuning yeah and this is more like that sounds cool let me see on cero tuning yeah yeah that's not a medieval - okay great so if we miss it before where did this originate I don't know maybe France France okay this is a French instrument do these a coordinate just like yeah like just a piano like just lay on these would be the white keys and these would be the black keys you want to get a nice steady even okay okay you can take it a little louder yeah cuz the speed will tell you the will get you Devon good so now you'll notice there's not as much resistance there right now now I'm gonna keep going I'm going to put on another string for you feel no more resistant Justin yeah yeah tad more that's to put on the other melodies from okay you're going beyond it's like oh yeah that's why cuz I you got now you got more strings let's put on the upper string you're feeling good so far yeah yeah okay you are literally crankin i got it cuz i that's a nice even drum so very well that's right [Music] that's right what you want to do yeah I'll bow down because you notice it's getting away from you yeah so I keep your forearm on it yeah but does it but there's no like there's no hard and fast rule [Music] oh go get there yes good good the vibrato is really cool [Music] but nice accentuation now [Music] that's nice and I knew it would because you're already you already have a good cranking arm so that's good just play that hot now okay now keep going keep on not explain what we can find you see I was slowing down today [Music] thank you God hey everybody Rob from the future here here to say thanks to audible for sponsoring this video audible is the leading provider of audiobooks which could be a great sidekick for you this summer if you're gonna be doing a lot of biking or something I spend a ton of my life doing which is listening to something while noodling away on the guitar for hours and hours and a particularly good audiobook for that that I'd recommend is a room full of mirrors which is a very deep dive biography on jimi hendrix which is fascinating you can start a 30-day free trial by going to audible.com/veritasium - 500 500 that's audible.com slash Rob Scallon or in the u.s. text Rob Scallon - 500 500 thank you so much to audible for sponsoring this video and let's get back to the hurdy-gurdy and I will go back to the infinite white space that is above every video getting a nice contact here nice revolutions here it's a interesting feeling of the more energy I put in here it actually goes flat we're but the guitar it's the exact opposite if you're really strong it goes sharp uh-huh just learning to do the opposite [Music] yes brother you go up everything just goes up exponentially yes how hard you're cranking and how hard you're pressing down changes the pitch it just goes up here it's very manageable and then shoots up to this area it's another thing that's odd is that if I'm playing this like a guitar like I'm used to it's you know I have a note then it's down down up up up up up and here's the opposite what's kind of upside down yeah subsides down but when where my hand is situated up like I'm trying to play a song right now that I'm very familiar with but it's obviously I mean if I played it like this and you know if you wanted to play it like kind of like a good runner yeah you could do that did you hurdy-gurdy players often plays like single notes like you could you could on this particular one there is a technique you can do that I can't do with mine because my crank if I try to go over verse it'll fall off okay [Music] now we call that tremolo that's right there you go there you go good I'm going into the guitar playing position which is a bit ah that's all right whatever you know only think of that Apetit trying to play metal tune and hopefully people in the comments will know what I'm playing I'm not doing very good yeah I'm happy with that yeah that's great do you want to maybe you just do a jam and we'll see if we can use that cool let's do a melody if you can on the other and I'll be doing the lower notes and you'll be doing the third [Music] you [Music] that was great all right yeah yes all right Noah this is the first time I've ever played with another yes you know what you really have it for this instrument I have to tell you I'm very well gonna have to buy one or two if you've really got a talent for this I really really you you just locked right into it and it is so much thank you so much for coming in Jim oh my things are being it being in my video my pleasure and yeah you can frantic I could definitely gonna make at least one or two songs with this thing before I give it back to you I can't wait there so subscribe if you want to see those and thanks for watching

Channel: Rob Scallon

Views: 4,869,643

Rating: 4.9307976 out of 5

Keywords: Rob Scallon, music, musician, guitar, guitarist, hurdy gurdy, medieval, renaissance, how to play, lesson, what is a, crank, instrument with crank, hurdy gurdy expert, Hurdy-gurdy, wheel, Patty Gurdy, how does the hurdy gury, instrument, stringed instrument, how, drone, classical, music lesson, Aequilibrium, medieval tune, wheel instrument, organ, how does the hurdy gurdy work, strings, hurdy gurdy metal, medieval hurdy gurdy, Andrey Vinogradov, Guilhem Desq, expert, bridge

Id: gYJg9cLk1us

Length: 13min 6sec (786 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 22 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/malhora]

I have fallen in love with this instrument. Thanks for sharing!

[u/JAK49]

Oh, nice. I think I stumbled upon a music video with one of these recently. A band called FAUN. I can't even remember how I found this song, but I really enjoy it. The one guy is playing something that looks a lot like this.

[u/phreaksh0w1985]

"You got a very good cranking arm" Internet, do your worst :)

[u/obviousbond]

"that's all ya gotta do to get to the FP of this sub? post a medieval instrument??"

...starts looking for hammer dulcimer videos...

[u/CupBeEmpty]

If anyone wants to hear a fantastic use of this, with the vibrato to boot.

Dudanotak by A Hawk and a Hacksaw with the Hun Hangar Ensemble.

I seriously recommend listening to that song at near painfully loud volume.

[u/NewEletia54]

I've heard about the instrument, but never seen it before. Cool video!

[u/trihedron]

My favorite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyznoWJDHI

[u/radioheady]

Any Witcher fans might remember this song with a hurdy gurdy lead. Such a cool instrument, perfect for a brooding, ominous song

[u/simCaZeLeetimus]

Always loved how the hurdy gurdy sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyIXR3s8OtY