Hurdy Gurdy (Hardy-Gurdy). hurdy-gurdy

Externally similar to a violin case. This instrument is also known as an organistrum or hardy-hardy. When playing, the lyre must be held on the lap, and most of the strings are played simultaneously while playing. Popular since the 10th century musical instrument not used as often today. But thanks to its amazing sound and original design, the lyre is still remembered today.

Sound features

The sound of the hurdy-gurdy is ensured by the work of most of the strings, when vibration occurs as a result of their friction against the wheel. It is noteworthy that most strings are responsible only for a monotonous hum, and the reproduction of the melody is ensured by the playing of one or two. hurdy-gurdy It sounds powerful, sad, monotonous, somewhat nasal. And to soften the sound, strings have long been wrapped with flax or wool fibers. Accurate alignment of the wheel also plays an important role - it must be smooth and rosin-coated.

Device

The three-string lyre has a deep wooden body in the shape of a figure eight, two flat soundboards that have bent sides. The upper part of the instrument is equipped with a head with wooden pegs, which allows you to tune the strings. The hurdy-gurdy has a short peg box that often ends in a scroll. Since the wheel rim protrudes somewhat outward, it is hidden under a special bast fuse in the shape of an arc.

The top deck has holes, and there is a key-saddle mechanism with keys on it. They, in turn, are simple wooden planks with protrusions. When a musician presses the keys, the protrusions come into contact with the strings, producing sounds. The protrusions are attached in such a way that they can be shifted in different directions, thereby leveling the sound range. The body of the instrument is designed in such a way as to enhance the string sound. The sound is enhanced by vibrations of the strings, which are caused by the movement of the wheel.

String Features

A hurdy-gurdy is an instrument with three gut strings:

• melodic, which is called spivanitsa, or melody;
• two bourdons, which are called bass and pidbasok.

If the melodic string, by design, passes through the inside of the box, then the bourdon strings pass over it. All strings are positioned so that they are in contact with the wheel rim. Before work, it is rubbed with resin, which makes the strings sound smooth and audible. The smoothness of the sound is ensured by the smooth surface of the wheel and its precise alignment. A melody is created or performed by pressing keys located in the side cutouts of the box.

Historically, strings were made from guts, although metal or nylon strings are increasingly popular today. To obtain the desired timbre and sound quality, musicians wrapped the strings with cotton wool or other fiber, and there should have been more coating on the bourdon strings. And if there is not enough cotton wool, the sound will be either too dull or too harsh, especially in the upper range.

How to play?

The hurdy-gurdy is a tool that is not particularly easy to use. Lyra is placed on her knees, and a belt is thrown over her shoulders. The tuning box should be located on the left side and slightly tilted, while the free keys should fall away from the string. With his right hand, the musician evenly and slowly rotates the wheel by the handle, pressing the keys with his left hand. In its sound, the lyre resembles a bagpipe or a whistle, since all three instruments sound bourdons. As for sound quality, it depends primarily on the friction wheel, which is accurately centered and well lubricated. If the musician plays standing, the lyre is suspended from a strap on the shoulder with a slight tilt to distribute the weight of the instrument.

How did the lyre appear?

The wheeled lyre is a musical instrument that has been known since the 10th century. Most often it was used in monasteries to perform church music. By the 15th century, the instrument became less popular, but continued to be used by vagabonds, the blind, the crippled, who walked the streets and sang songs and fairy tales to the simple sound of the lyre.

In Rus', this musical instrument was known around the 17th century, and experts answer that it appeared in our country from Ukraine. It was here that there were even entire schools of lyre players who wandered from village to village, performed music and earned money. The lyre was also used at weddings, as it sounded loud, and the most cheerful repertoire could be chosen for it. The peculiarity of the hurdy-gurdy is that it was produced in different lengths. In some variations, even two people had to play music on it, since the instrument was up to one and a half meters long.

Brotherhood of Lyre Players

In Ukraine, entire classes of 30 people were taught to play the hurdy-gurdy. The elders got into practice, which involved visiting neighboring villages during bazaars and weddings, when the money they earned was given to the mentor as tuition fees. After graduation, the musicians took exams.

IN Soviet years The hurdy-gurdy has undergone several changes. The photo shows that even in appearance the instrument changed somewhat. Thanks to the improvement of the design, it became more original; there were 9 strings, and they were tuned by minor thirds. Instead of a wooden wheel, a plastic transmission belt was used, which made the sound more even. A special device was used to change the degree of pressure on the string, therefore the sound strength of the instrument was different. Note that improved samples of the lyre are still used in folk orchestras.

What's today?

In Russia today the hurdy-gurdy is rarely used. The musical instrument (the photo shows all its colorfulness) remained part of the State Orchestra and the People's Choir of Belarus. It is noteworthy that hardy-hardy was also used among rockers: the groups Led Zeppelin and In Extremo chose the instrument due to its unusual sound. Today the instrument has been practically forgotten, but some orchestras, due to the unusual sound, retain the hardy-hardy as a highlight of their work.

hurdy wheels

Some of my acquaintances guess that I have been involved in folk culture for about 30 years now - albeit not professionally; and during all this time I hardly used musical instruments. I have some prejudice towards them - as one famous folklorist says; “In order to preserve folklore, all button accordions must be burned.” I extend this relationship to other instruments. :))) But there is one to whom there is a special attitude. Back in the early 1980s, Pokrovsky’s ensemble came to us in Nsk, where someone played a hurdy-gurdy and sang spiritual poems to it; I think it was Andrei Kotov, but I could be wrong. The lyre is a special instrument, and quite rare, so for all the years “in folklore” I didn’t really know what it was and where it came from, until I specifically tried to figure it out.

The history of this instrument goes back centuries. Its prototype appeared in... the 10th-12th centuries in Western Europe, and it was then called , or “organist”. Two musicians played it - one turned a handle with a drive on a wheel, which rubbed against the strings and produced sounds; and the other, in fact, played the melody by raising the necessary keys:

In the 13th-15th centuries, the instrument was improved, reduced in size, and since then it has been played by one musician, and instead of the complex raising of the keys, a keyboard that is almost familiar to us is used, where the keys are pressed with the fingers and return back under their own weight. The instrument was still used in monasteries, but the organ replaced it from divine services (we are talking about Western Europe); and he went among the people. Even then it ceased to be called “organistrum”, and in each country where it was widespread it has its own name; In world culture, the most widespread name is the English name hurdy-gurdy.

Features of the instrument - the strings are stretched almost like in an ordinary stringed instrument, but the sound is produced not by an ordinary bow, but by a wooden wheel that plays the role of an endless bow, so the sound is similar to bagpipes, just as tedious and disgusting. Two (or more) strings do not change their pitch and hum constantly - this is called “bourdon”; and one (or more) string, under the influence of the keys, changes its length, and, consequently, the pitch of the sound - this is the voice string. In the most ancient version there were 2 bourdons + 1 voice, but then musicians began to look for ways to increase the volume and striking power of the instrument, and in modern hurdy-gurdys there are more than a dozen strings, as well as all sorts of gadgets such as a “buzzing bridge” that allows you to beat out the rhythm with by changing the wheel speed.

In the 15th-17th centuries (data vary), the instrument came to Russia, through the territory of Ukraine and Belarus, where it became most widespread. In those years, the instrument had already gone out of fashion in Europe, and it was played mainly by beggars and troubadours, performing spiritual poems to it. So in our country, it was mainly used by passersby, performing spiritual poems and (possibly) reciting epics to it.

In the 18th century, the instrument experienced a new flowering when the European elite suddenly became interested in rural life, and several classical works were composed for the lyre. Perhaps at this time the lyre (more precisely, its European analogue, the hurdi-gerdi) became an exclusively secular instrument, and is still used by European musicians in ethno-music - both solo and in ensembles.

According to the author, nothing other than the hurdy-hurdy tools was used

Although lyres were mainly used in Ukraine and among the Don Cossacks (where they were called “Don snouts”), they also exist in the Russian version. True, they didn’t reach our places - no one had heard of them in the Urals (according to my data), let alone our Siberia. So for our places this is not a very traditional instrument (or not at all).

With the revival of folk culture “from above”, from the cities, the tradition of lyre singing began to revive - many ensembles are introducing lyres into their repertoire throughout the country. This instrument is special, “spiritual”, and it can and should be used when performing spiritual poems - for example, the well-known ensemble “Oktay” in Siberia still uses the lyre. :)

Masters of making lyres also appeared. One of the most famous is from near Myshkin; He has a whole video instruction on working with liras on his website. :) Also makes lyres, Ulyanovsk-Moscow.

One of the most popular videos on YouTube is with a Russian hurdy-gurdy - more than a million views.

It turns out that in Nsk we have a master who makes hurdy-gurdy wheels (as well as harps and other medieval instruments) - a 4-string (2 voices and 2 bourdons) chromatic lyre was found and mercilessly acquired from him - not the most ancient version, but also not some kind of hurdy-gurdy about 10 strings with a bunch of whistles. :))) Moreover, I already managed to break one string, now it’s straight ethnography, I still have half the buttons to break off. :)))

Due to the characteristics of the instrument, he cannot play quietly - if you turn the wheel too slowly, the sound simply does not come out, or it wheezes and stutters, so the poor neighbors. :) One good thing is that for studying you can turn off all strings except one voice string, and select and practice at 1/4 volume. :))) For a musician, playing the lyre is probably quite simple; but for me, as someone who does not know musical notation in principle, everything is still difficult for me; It’s only in the video that everything is simple, but try to find something worthwhile... The most difficult thing, oddly enough, is setting up the instrument; tuning a lyre is more difficult than a piano, and this is practically no joke - the difficulties here are not in the tension of the notes, but in a bunch of small subtleties, such as rosining the wheel, adjusting the height of the string tension, winding wool, and so on and so forth. It's okay, we'll break through. :) Soon, I hope, I will find something to show.

Unknown Artist - this is how a talented man from Novosibirsk, 45 years old, calls himself. He himself says about himself that he is in an eternal search for the unknown. He has a life plan for tomorrow - a permanent one, in which, for example, the following points: “light incense in the morning and closely observe how the trickle of smoke whimsically curls; don’t miss the moment of twilight and watch from the window as the blue shadows deepen on the snow; break some of the dishes for the happiness of the Motherland, trying not to scare the cat”... and many others that I would gladly “take” for myself. He takes amazing photos, united under the title “My Unknown Siberia.” He writes pictures, music (soundtracks for non-existent films and cartoons) and performs it. He makes ancient musical instruments that sound in his compositions. Unusual in shape, with amazing sounds and fabulous names.

1. RAIN STAFF, HURDY-Gurdy, KANTELE, KALIMBA

2, 3. HURdy-Gurdy

4. MEDIEVAL HARP

5.GUSLI

6. TYPES OF KEYS FOR SETTING

7. KALIMBA

8. NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN FLUTES

I saw many of them for the first time, so I went to Wikipedia to find out more.

hurdy-gurdy(organistrum, hurdy-gerdy) is a stringed musical instrument shaped like a violin case. In the X-XIII centuries. The hurdy-gurdy was a bulky instrument (organistrum) played by two people. The instrument was used in monasteries; church music was performed on it. By the 15th century, the hurdy-gurdy had lost popularity and became an instrument of beggars and vagabonds, often blind and crippled, who performed songs, poems, and fairy tales to simple accompaniment. During the Baroque period, a new flowering of the instrument began. In the 18th century, the hurdy-gurdy became a fashionable toy for French aristocrats who were fond of rural life. In Russia, the hurdy-gurdy became widespread in the 17th century. The instrument was mastered by beggars and blind tramps, “walkers.” In order not to “incur the wrath of the king and God,” they performed spiritual poems to the sounds of their lyres. (Wikipedia)

Rain Staff- an ancient exotic instrument, which is also called the “rain flute”, hmara (khmara-white-cloud), rain pipe, rain staff. In addition to these common names, it can also be called “waterfall”, “rain stick” or “the sound of rain”. This ancient instrument has been used for centuries by shamans in Africa, Indonesia, North and Latin America to control the elements of rain and thunderclouds. Simulates the sound of falling rain and creates the effect of water pouring, the feeling of falling droplets and the murmur of a stream. The longer the staff, the longer the sound and the thicker and denser it is.

Kantele(Karelian and Finnish kantele) is a Karelian and Finnish plucked string instrument, related to the gusli. Ancient kantele had five gut strings, modern ones are equipped with metal strings and their number reaches thirty-four. When playing, the kantele is held on the knees in a horizontal or slightly inclined position and the strings are plucked with the fingers of both hands. They play solo on the kantele, accompanying the runes of the folk epic “Kalevala”. (Wikipedia)

Kalimba- the oldest and most widespread instrument in Africa (especially in Central and Southern Africa, on some of the Antilles). Kalimba is used in traditional rituals and by professional musicians. It is called the "African hand piano"; This is a rather virtuosic instrument, designed for playing melodic patterns, but it is also quite suitable for playing chords. It is mostly used as an accompanying instrument. Large kalimbas give a unique low rumble to the lively bass rhythms of African music, while small ones produce a completely ghostly, fragile sound, similar to a music box. (Wikipedia)

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mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Harp- The harp has the shape of a triangle, which consists of: firstly, a resonant box body approximately 1 meter long, expanding downwards; its previous shape was quadrangular, the current one is rounded on one side; it is equipped with a flat soundboard, most often made of maple, in the middle of which, along the length of the body, is attached a narrow and thin strip of hard wood, in which holes are punched for piercing the gut strings; secondly, from the upper part (due to the large size of the neck), snake-like curved, attached to the top of the body, forming an acute angle with it; Pegs are attached to this part to strengthen the strings and tune them; thirdly, from a front beam shaped like a column, the purpose of which is to resist the force produced by the strings stretched between the fingerboard and the resonant body.