Guilhem Desq - Cicatrices - Hurdy Gurdy

Uuuugh I love Hurdy Gurdies!

Never thought I'd see someone shred on a hurdy gurdy before!

Guilhem Desq - Visions (Official Music Video)

Electric hurdy gurdy... that's such an interesting sound

It is, I love it!

He was one of the performers at FaerieCon, this year and last! He's a fantastic performer! He's also a second-generation player, learned from his father and crafted his own instrument, as I recall.

He also thinks it's amusingly lame that we call it a hurdy gurdy. Apparently the French word for it is prettier.

i want one...

Oh, wow. lol Yeah, that's like next level stuff. I could tell he'd been doing it for forever because of the unconventional techniques he was using, but that proves why!

papermint tiger : Yesss, me, too. It's too bad they cost a literal fortune. For something that used to be known as the instrument of the destitute and beggars, it's really glowed up.

Whyyyyyy do musical instruments get picked up by the mainstream musicians and then priced outside of the budget of those who were the maestros of them to begin with?!? It's like the hipsters of the music world!

yeah it's really too bad they weren't held in higher esteem at the time, and it's quite lucky they're still around at all

like reverse supply-and-demand, which has resulted in actual supply-and-demand

no one wanted them now everyone does

Yeah, that's the fascinating thing! They were almost lost forever! And now it's the trendy, cool, old-fashioned instrument everyone wants. XD

There is a playable model kit you can get from ugears for $70, but the sound is kind of shit? Though I posed the question about whether adding actual violin strings to it instead of the clear, plastic threads it comes with would help the sound any, and someone said probably? Soooo...

At the very least, even if it doesn't help the sound, you get a cool model kit you can build and make wailing cat noises on for shits and giggles.

ugears did post a video showing how to tune it properly, though, which would probably help, 'cause that sounds a lot better then some people I've seen playing the thing after they put it together, and someone else recommended putting oil on the gears that creak so that you don't hear that when you're playing, just the music. Hmmm.

Yyyeah, hurdy gurdy strikes me as one of those instruments where you really have to know what you're doing for it to not sound like shit...

'Game of Thrones' played on the Ugears Hurdy-Gurdy

>_> The people in the comments screaming about how it sounds like "shit" and "insults hurdy gurdies" make me laugh. Like. Mah dudes. This is a playable model kit. Did younexpect to be able to play in an orchestra with that thing?!?

Oh, it's kinda cute, for all that! I like all the pretty little fiddly carvings.

Best use for the thing is a model kit you put together with your kiddo that they can play later. It's meant for fun, not serious music.

Yeah, honestly, it's really pretty! even the gears inside of it are super pretty, but you can't really see them!

tbh i was thinking about getting it, but it looked so complicated to put together lol

True. Plus if you're just a beginner it's a relatively inexpensive way to dip your toe in and see if it's worthwhile to invest in a real one.

UGears Hurdy-Gurdy - Assembly and Demonstration

You can really see it all here.

...i mean for all that it's a model kit it actually sounds great??

hardly concert worthy like you say but it's clear and loud

Yeah, seriously, the fact that they can get that good of a sound out of it after fiddling with the tuning is really saying something!

also lol yeah at the people saying 'good thing i didn't buy this' and 'ugh it sounds awful' ...have fun saving up for a real one?

ugears has a lot of really fuckin' cool shit, too. Like victorian-era automatons that you build, and they're really affordable!

papermint tiger : Seriously. Hope you got $2k laying around if you were looking at this thing as a serious option for your hurdy gurdy hobby and now hate it!