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The different parts of the hurdy gurdy
The hurdy gurdy is a stringed musical instrument that has traditionally almost completely been made of wood. It has a
soundboard that resonates with sound which can vary in shape depending upon the instrument’s age, a neck
and keyboard along which nowadays two strings are strung.
A pegbox is positioned at the bottom of the keyboard, this is where the pegs that hold the strings in place and fine
tune the instrument can be found. It, too, has changed shape over the years.
A wooden wheel is at the other end of the keyboard, about 3/4 along the soundboard, where it is placed
perpendicularly alongside it. It protrudes from the soundboard by about half its diameter, and the strings rub against the
edge of the wheel causing vibration.
The wheel is rotated by a crank, other small parts of the instrument are
attached to its body, such as the bridges
and tailpiece upon which the strings are mounted.
The keyboard comprises a keybox which houses a set of
keys which when pressed stop the string to create notes and melodies. Other strings
on the instrument are also in contact with the wheel which passes along them to create vibrations, but
they lay off the keyboard and are the drone strings.
The hurdy gurdy is unusual in that it has a mechanism attached to one of the drone strings that
produces a rhythmic sound that can be heard under the melody and drone strings, used to beat a
rhythm and play rhythmic patterns that are in keeping with the musical line.
Its various names
It has for hundreds of years been played in most of Europe, from as far west as the Iberian
peninsula to as far east as Russia and the Ukraine and from as far south as Italy to as far north
as Scandinavia with rises and falls in popularity. Nowadays its tradition is alive in many countries.
Over the centuries it has been known by different names, including Roda, Rota Organistrum,
Sinfonia and Synfonia Chifonie, Vihuela de roda and Kinkerne.
in the Iberian peninsula: Viela de rueda or Lira de rueda, Zanfona,
Sanfona and Gaita
in France: Vielle a roue;
in Italy: Lira tedesca, Lira rustica, Lira mendicorum, Viola
da orbo, Stampella and Ghironda
in German speaking countries: Leier, Drehleier, Radleier,
Bettlerleier, Bauern leyer and Veiber leyer
in the United Kingdom: Hurdy-gurdy, Crank-lire and Beggar's
lyre
in Scandinavia: Vivlira , Bondlira, Juudgiga and Hjulhrpa
in Hungary: Forgolant, Nyenyere, Tekero and Tekerolant
in Norway and Iceland: Synfony and Fon
in the Basque countries: Zarrabete
in Poland: Lira korbowa
in the Ukrain: Relia
in Benelux countries and Wallonie: Draaiolier, Tiesse di
dj'va and Vierlette
in Russia, Belorussia and Bohemia-Moravia: Lirja, Koljosnaja
lira, Lera and Ninera
History
Various theories on how the Hurdy Gurdy came into being, its Far Eastern origins
and hypotheses regarding its predecessors, the organistrum and synfonia, exist.
We know of an ancient bowed instrument from China whose melody was played on
a string to the accompaniment of a drone string. Others expound the theory that
the instrument has a middle-eastern provenance of Arabic origins, very much like
the lutes and rebecks of Spain, that were imported after Arab invasions. There is
some written documentation in Arabic listing instruments that emit a constant
droning sound (yet a careful translation of these papers calls into question the
validity of this theory).
The carved decorations featured in iconographical material depicting the Organistrum
on the portico of the burial place of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela,
the first datable iconography of the instrument, that also depicts some examples
of Synfonias, are Arabesque. Yet this decorative style, a feature of European art of the
same period, is not enough to authenticate a definitive middle eastern provenance.
Moreover, despite the fact that there are instruments that are capable
of producing a continuous sound, very much like the sound a drone string makes, there is no
instrument in the contemporary Far East that produces sound from a circular bow, and one
that is turned by a small crank.
The distinguishing feature of the hurdy gurdy is the wheel
operated by a crank. We could therefore conclude that an instrument that is capable of producing
a continuous sound together with modulating notes is a result of its wheel and crank.
Therefore the hurdy gurdy, and its predecessors, came into being as a result of an
essential musical requirement and a technical addition during a precise period in history. Written
sources refer to a circular wheel rotated by a crank as an unprecedented technological innovation
of the time, which was stroked by a set of strings and operated by a small handle. It is worth
noting that the crank, which is attached to a rod, is an important feature of many instruments
and mechanisms of the medieval period.
It seems perfectly logical therefore that the hurdy gurdies origins are steeped in a
medieval context.
If we have tried to invent stories about it is simply because not only did we want to, but we also
needed to, as is claimed by musician and hurdy gurdy player Rene Zosso in an old interview.
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