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May as well link a video of impressive Hurdy Gurdy playing, even though not synth related: https://youtube.com/watch?v=AdCU75EMqh4

“Guilhem Desq - Cicatrices”




HN geek checking in to namedrop my own project (sorry it's not Rust + RISC-V!)...

Autumn Equinox are a three-piece of hurdy-gurdy (the "wheel fiddle"), nyckelharpa (the Swedish "keyed fiddle"), and upright bass. We play tunes from and inspired by Celtic and Eastern European traditions, and the hypnotic drone of the hurdy-gurdy is a common thread. We often play tunes by other hurdy-gurdy composers like Andrey Vinogradov and Nigel Eaton as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ntNy6aNOfA

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgPXIBhQzGT3O_Y7fLVFb2w


Fantastic. Have you heard of the wheel harp?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGOqIYo9cBE


I had never heard of the Wheel Harp before.

It appears to be a sort of polyphonic hurdy-gurdy: one tuned string per key, and depressing the key engages that string with the wheel-bow. The wheel appears powered by electricity, and the foot pedals appear to either control the pressure or speed of the wheel-bow.

In contrast, the hurdy-gurdy's (and nyckelharpa's) keys shorten its melody string to increase the pitch, like fretting a violin or guitar. The wheel is manually cranked, and the rhythm of the cranking is used to adjust tone and engage the buzzing of the trompette. The HG is monophonic in that you can't dynamically play chords, though you can engage multiple melody strings simultaneously (usually octaves or fifths).


The sound of that thing is so incredibly haunting. I really like it though and I've been thinking about building one.


Beautiful innovation. I love old sounding new instruments!


I had a hurdy gurdy phase as well. My absolute favourite recording/performance: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KzbCNzc9Lb4

Matthias Loibner - Mooreiche

The kind of coloration he teases out of the instrument is mindboggling


Then i need to drop Andrey Vinogradov here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvNZeh6f8vE



Not too many hurdy gurdy players are in metal bands after all. (Even though she just left Eluveitie...)


While we're at it, you can't forget Anna Murphy (formerly of Eluveitie, currently Cellar Darling) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDE3Bx1Cb1I


Recercatrice -> (lady) researcher -> inquisitor

(Corsican) -> (English) -> (Latin)

Thanks Google translate for helping to expand on this awesome medievalXmodern theme


"Cicatrices" means "scars" in French, not sure what you got from Google Translate...


I know. “Scars” doesn’t have that medieval-modern vibe. He probably should rename his work..lol

On its own, calling a piece like that “research” is quite endearing.


Surprised to see no mention of Patty Gurdy yet.

https://youtu.be/FBK7i7oChKk


Ossian Brown of Cyclobe plays the hurdy-gurdy masterfully, too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqqAun9LukU


Beyond anything I could have hoped for. Thank you very much




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