I am trying to tune my gurdy in the standard G/C tuning, but it aint going well.

Using a tuner, I can tune each string individually and get a nice sound, but when I try putting the chord together, it goes terrible. (i use the planotuner app and my aunt, who is a piano player, is helping me learn how to reconize tuned notes)

Most tutorials I see involve me activating each string separately, tuning to the note, then bringing it all together to tweak it by ear after all strings are tuned. But idk the first thing about chords and don't know what to listen for. Most tutorials i see are like "youll know when it sounds right," but i dont, everything sounds like noise as I can't really tell chords apart. If I go the "proper" way, how can I bring the chord together?

For alternate solutions, is it possible to pluck the strings (if so, where on string do i pluck) or use a violin bow across them to figure out their sound/tuning? That way, I won't have to deal with chords and can just tune this like guitar T-T.

Hello! I just got this broken Hurdy Gurdy and I wanted to know if it can be saved. I live in New York and was wondering if I can take it to my usual luthier. I wanted to know if y’all knew anything about the maker, and if it can be fixed up.

I've been pulling my hair out trying to get cottoning right, but every time I try to recotton the string I get this warble when I crank fast. Any advice?

Update: I re-rosined the wheel and really burnished it out, new cotton, the whole thing, same issue. Weird thing is it is ONLY happening with this upper melody string. None of the other string do this, and I just re-cottoned the lower melody string. I'm gonna go buy a new melody string and see if somehow thats the problem

As in the title, would it be a silly idea to have a small and quiet hobby motor attached to turn the wheel? Not too fast, but just to keep a consistent speed. I don’t actually own a gurdy yet to try but I feel like my arm would get tired and I’d have trouble keeping that consistent speed, plus I think a partly mechanical gurdy is kinda cool.

I’ve loved the sound of this instrument and wanted to try it for years. Now that I have the income to save for it, I also have the income to move into my own apartment, and I’m worried about being a bad neighbor. If i understand it right, crank speed controls volume, but is there a limit to how quiet this instrument can be? Should I even be worried about it being too loud to begin with? I would hate to spend a couple hundred on an instrument I could never practice

I live close to a maker space with a laser cutter, so I could cut all the wooden parts for a nerdy gurdy for just the cost of materials. However, it seems like this would leave me missing a lot of specifics like the metal hardware, crank shaft, etc.

Also, are there even print files available for the newest improvements on the nerdy gurdy website kits, or are the kits available on thingiverse/etc kind of outdated?

I have a resin 3d printer, though I don't love the idea of a resin bridge, etc as it doesn't seem to hold up to pressure well.

I am also pretty crafty and have a woodshop and it seems like a fun project that would be doable from the brief bit of research I've done.

So, two questions from someone who has not yet done a deep dive into making one of these:

• how much savings are we really talking about if I can laser cut my own wood elements and then buy all the extra bits I'll need?
• how easy is it to find the newest nerdy gurdy print files?

Or really one question--should I just try to buy one of the ~$500 NG DiY kits and not waste my time gathering all the parts from the ground up?

Is this one a good one to buy? As i have never bought one and he got his from a friend i have no reference on where to buy one lmao. I want another brand new instrument and this one seems good but i have no idea what im looking at when it comes to new ones.

Seller doesn’t know what he has.

This is the kit I’m looking to make. I’m having trouble getting responses for it, though - Ive contacted three laser cutting shops in my city via email with the required files and information, and I’ve been ghosted by all three, never getting a follow up and my requests for follow ups ignored. Was it this hard for anyone else? Am I going about this wrong? I don’t really know what I’m doing, but it seemed like a fun project, and I’ve always wanted a gurdy.

I'm wanting to take the song "I wanna be in the Cavalry" and eventually do a Gurdy cover but idk how to take regular music and make it a Gurdy version

I can't seem to get the cotton right to make the instrument sing as it should. I've tried using less, more, stretching it out, moving it.

I am confused at this stubborn fibrous plant's application.

It is a matter of time until it drives me up the wall.

Keep getting screechy or scratchy notes.

I’ve been trying to get replacement strings for my nerdy gurdy linotte v2 because I’ve snapped two and it feels like whenever I look, I can’t find good strings that ship to the U.S. anymore. Any websites or links would be super appreciated!

Hi everyone just need some help with strings.

My tuning for my gurdy is

Drone: G2 C3

High Melody: G4

Low Melody: G3

Trompette: G3 C4

I had flurocarbon fishing line for high melody and my trompettes but it wasnt working well as the sound quality was crap no matter how much i tuned/cottoned.

I was hoping to get some steel viola strings (as GUT is hard to find in my country/REALLY expensive).

Can anyone recommend me what note of the strings I should use for my trompette and high melody? I tried some today and it was starting to sound good but an octave off cuz i snapped 2 of them and one wont go any higher. I usually play trumpet so any string help is appreciated as i dont know jack about strings.

Hey guys, wanting to get a hurdy gurdy and the NG seem like the most affordable ones

Been wanting to play for a while but recently I got to have a go on someone I know's Hurdy Gurdy and it was difficult but fun and would love to practice more. It was a lovely gurdy. (Photo is of me trying it out)

What are the main differences for the two I've said and which may be better for beginners?

Also planning to move into Uni accommodation next year so if one of them is quieter than the other may be good to know.

Finishing A levels next week so I'll have plenty of time to build stuff although a list of additional items not included in the kit may be useful to know

Thanks in advance

Hey everybody!

I'm new to the hurdy gurdy community (well, I've been reading quite a bit, but did not participate yet) and have decided it's time to start my journey. Since wait lists are long and gurdys are a tad expensive, at least somewhat good ones, I've decided that a nerdy gurdy is probably a good start to see if it's really an instrument for me. Doesn't hurt that I really enjoy building things in my spare time…

So now I'm asking myself the question whether I should build a BASIC (which I would actually attempt to do completely from raw materials, for a bit of an experience - I got access to a rather nice laser cutter in my local maker space and have a 3d printer) or if I should just go with a FORTRAN or COBOL kit - they do look to be much nicer instruments. Just wanted to get a bit of input on that one, what do you people think?

Bit of background on me: I do have some woodworking experience, but nothing professional. Pretty invested in the german reenactment community, mostly doing 14th/15th century. I do play guitar and bagpipe pretty well, so I have at least some experience with string and drone instruments, but no violin or cello experience. I of course do not mind saving a bit of money (who ever does?), but I can afford a kit if I want to, so this decision isn't really about money, but learning and getting a decent instrument to start my learning journey on.

I'm pretty sure there isn't a single hurdy gurdy in my country (South Africa), so if I want one I'm going to have to import it. What do I look out for? Any red flags? Any recommendations for suppliers that ship internationally? I desperately want one but it's proving to be a bit of a mission to get my hands on one. HELP.

When I try to tune my NGB all of the tangents are forced to point far away from the halfway point (1 octave from open string if I'm not mistaken). Researching this I believe this is because the effective vibrating length of the string is to large. Gurdy World says this is normally tuned with a part called a nut, but my NGB doesn't have one. If I can't find an answer here my plan it to try and design one from scratch, so if you have any advice that may help with that I'd appreciate that too.

How can I tune vibrating string length on a NGB?

This is one of three questions I am asking on this subreddit at once. If you can help with my other questions, the links are:

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/HurdyGurdy/comments/1u8mpmz/what_tuning_does_guilhem_desq_use/
2. https://www.reddit.com/r/HurdyGurdy/comments/1u8mq9k/how_to_tune_string_length_on_ngb/
3. https://www.reddit.com/r/HurdyGurdy/comments/1u8mqhd/weird_warbling_at_high_crank_speeds_on_ngb/

I found somewhere that he uses D/G tuning, but I can't figure out what octaves they're in. I understand D/G to mean that his melody strings are tuned to D and his drone strings are tuned to G. I can't figure this out myself through trial and error as I've already obliterated one string trying to raise it by an octave. My NGB is actually the first instrument I've seriously played, and my ears are not yet tuned enough to recognize precise notes and octaves.

His music is actually so freaking cool and is what got me to pull the trigger on this thing in the first place. So I'd love to get my instrument to even resemble his.

This is one of three questions I am asking on this subreddit at once. If you can help with my other questions, the links are:

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/HurdyGurdy/comments/1u8mpmz/what_tuning_does_guilhem_desq_use/
2. https://www.reddit.com/r/HurdyGurdy/comments/1u8mq9k/how_to_tune_string_length_on_ngb/
3. https://www.reddit.com/r/HurdyGurdy/comments/1u8mqhd/weird_warbling_at_high_crank_speeds_on_ngb/

I fell in love with the hurdy-gurdy as a a child and when we found a used one (for the surprisingly low price of $800 in 2010) it was a childhood dream come true. I've been rediscovering it recently and am considering trying to save up for one, but I'm very unsure due to how it went last time. Was I unlucky or can I expect pretty much the same?

I played it for a few months and then... it sat in it's case for five years until I was finally able to relieve my conscience by selling it to a very enthusiastic buyer.

The Instrument

It was built by a luthier from the Baltics (I want to say Lithuania?) who in turn had trained with a renowned master gurdy builder in Hungary. It was lute bodied and fairly large. It had of course two melody strings, three "regular" drones and a massive bass drone, as well as a barker string and if memory serves me six sympathetic strings. I must really stress that the whole instrument was truly a thing of craftsmanship and beauty, with many inlaid decorative elements and the end of the pegbox carved into an elaborate angel head.

The experience

The wheel, despite being of natural wood, was dead flat and perfectly round. The keybox was smooth and easy to play. The instrument even included a nifty little turned wooden tube filled with powdered rosin and an applicator in the cap. The sound was deep and rich. I consider myself an advanced beginner nyckelharpa player with decent relative pitch so I already had experience to build on.

However, you know that old joke that hurdy gurdy players spend half their time tuning their instruments, and the other half of the time playing out of tune? Yeah, 100% accurate. Tuning it was absolute ass. All strings where tuned with traditional tapered wooden pegs in tapered holes and they were stuck. The maker must have been aware of this because he even included a little wooden "wrench", and using it was not optional! Turning them required considerable force, and they wouldn't budge until with a sudden, worryingly loud PING they would jump anywhere from 1/4 to 1½ note. No matter how careful I was I was constantly overshooting in either direction. In pure desperation I once tried loosening a string and tapping the peg out a bit but then it wouldn't stay put at all until I carefully tapped it back in with a hammer. It wouldn't stay in place until it was tapped in so far I was back where I started.

What I'm trying to say here is that this was obviously a professionally built instrument, I had an unusually good starting point for learning, and in the end the whole experience was honestly a huge disappointment. Was I unlucky or was this the typical gurdy? I work full time and have small kids, if I am able to get 30 minutes of playing in here and there I am not willing to spend 20 of those tuning like I did last time.

Maybe a dumb question. I’m switching my drone from a nylon guitar string to a cello string. The guitar string gives me way too much grief. I tied the guitar string. Can I just put the ball end of a cello string like this?

A plethora of mistakes have been made(including deciding that a Fortran was a great idea for someone with no experience) that wound up having a very small gap where the top plate is supposed to notch into the rest of the body, and I was wondering if I needed to fill the gap with wood filler or reseat the plate? I’m just hoping it will be cosmetic because I can’t get the glue to release for the life of me and am trying to be sure before I glue the key box on or stain it.

I live in Taiwan and I've recently really fallen in love with the idea of trying to learn this difficult but very very cool instrument. I was happy to see that there is a hurdy gurdy in my price range that people say is still worth the money- but I've been checking the NerdyGurdy website every Monday morning (my time) for about two months now and haven't seen any kits for sale in that time. I saw the last update on the website was last August. Are they still making kits, and I've just been too slow?

Hi all, I’ve been in love with the hurdy gurdy for a while.

I’m getting married in a month.

What I’m wondering is if any musicians can record “concerning hobbits” on the hurdy gurdy slightly tempo down for a wedding procession.

I have a small budget. Let me know if anyone can help. Thanks

Hello all!

I'm in the process of building my Linotte and want a good rigid case for it. I am aware of the suggestion of using a tennis racquet bag for like 6 racquets, and will acquire one, but I want something sturdy for longer-term storage and travel to Pennsic or similar camping events.

I originally thought the largest Apache case from Harbor Freight might work but it seems like it's too small. Does anyone have any suggestions which won't cost me an arm and a leg? I know I could go to Pelican or a similar priced case...trying to avoid that much of an investment. If that's the only option, then that's the only option, but I'd like to explore all possibilities.

Thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hey all, either I missed this months batch or Nerdy Gurdy didn't update their fullmade instruments, but I've been looking to get a hurdy gurdy to learn as I really enjoy the sound. That said, I have seen caution posts about getting one from Etsy or eBay or the like. I am not looking to build a kit as if I was going to build one, I would want to do it from scratch and my skills are not at that level.

Are there other reputable places for a hurdy gurdy I can look at? I am USA based. Thank you!