Music Recently | Hurdy Gurdy and Calliope

I have been obsessing over Hurdy Gurdy music lately. I recently was reading a book where the Hurdy Gurdy was mentioned. I had always thought that the Hurdy Gurdy was a Grinder Organ. You know, the kind worn on a strap by a street performer with a monkey companion. But, no, while a Grinder Organ and a Hurdy Gurdy both have a crank handle to turn, that is where the similarities end. 

I feel as though I have been living under a rock to just be learning accurately about a Hurdy Gurdy at 32 years old. They are fascinating! They sound like several instruments playing together all at once. Here you can hear for yourself:

Lymington Fair 

Swipping Maisie

Sussex Cotillion

Kesteven Processional 

Homage to Hearth

Angels We Have Heard On High

It sounds like a blend of Bag Pipes, Violin, and Reeds, with some kind of percussion. 

The way they work is by several strings riding up against the wheel that turns by the crank. The wheel is like a round violin bow. There is a box with keys that press against some strings to shorten them and make the different notes. There is also a string that can rattle when the crank is jolted quickly. And there are drone strings that constantly hum.

The Hurdy Gurdy was invented over a thousand years ago and was first used to help people sing in Church before the Organ was a thing.

 I am probably out numbered here. I assume you know more about it than I did. 

 It has been difficult for me to find much Hurdy Gurdy music that I really like. A lot of the Hurdy Gurdy music that I found on YouTube was too heavy for my taste or too middle eastern. That is not the way I want to say that, but I don't know the right words to describe what I talking about. I think by calling what I mean "middle eastern" you will imagine the right tones. It's a high wailing kind of sound that is not exactly minor but has dissonance of some kind. 

 The videos I have shared here are some of my favorite Hurdy Gurdy songs that I found by hours of combing through videos on YouTube. If you don't like these, try looking up other styles of Hurdy Gurdy music. They are pretty neat instruments!