Singing Songs of Love

So THAT’s what a hurdy gurdy is!  Donovan sang a song about the ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man‘ back in the 60’s, I never really knew what that limey was talking about.  It’s an instrument that sounds like it’s straight outta Westeros.

Here’s what the hurdy gurdy wiki says about this thing

The hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument that produces sound by a hand crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents—small wedges, typically made of wood—against one or more of the strings to change their pitch. Like most other acoustic stringed instruments, it has a sound board and hollow cavity to make the vibration of the strings audible.

Most hurdy-gurdies have multiple drone strings, which give a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in a sound similar to that of bagpipes. For this reason, the hurdy-gurdy is often used interchangeably or along with bagpipes, particularly in Occitan, Catalan, Cajun French and contemporary Asturian, Cantabric, Galician, and Hungarian folk music.

What your favorite instrument? Let me know, [email protected].