[nicneufeld]

Well, I've just been educated.  An expensive wheel-bowed folk instrument.  Think bagpipe crossed with a fiddle and harmonium!  Yeah, there's part of me that wants one...but a bit too pricey for me.  I could probably get a sitar plus a sarangi, sarod, or dilruba...   

[denny]

Looks like a Hurdy Gurdy to me.

Ah, yes!

[tumarkin]

Looks like a Hurdy Gurdy to me.

That matches what google images finds.  I've never seen one and don't know what they sound like.  The name is vaguely familiar for some reason though - I think from a Beastie Boys song

being older, different frame of reference.... it brought to mind an old song by Donovan called Hurdy Gurdy Man

[denny]

being older, different frame of reference.... it brought to mind an old song by Donovan called Hurdy Gurdy Man

You and me both, man!  ACID FLASHBACK!!!!

[oscarvan]

Hurdy Gurdy it is..... and although a good chunk of money, this one was not as expensive as most of them out there. It was built for me by a gentleman in Oregon, in a workshop in his back yard with a wood stove and a solar panel on the roof....

The hg Donovan sings of is actually a barrel organ. (Crank it, it plays a tune, think player piano).

First seen in depictions found in the Iberian peninsula (what is now Spain and Portugal) dating back to 1100 the hg was the street instrument for many centuries. They were also used in churches as the drones are quite good at keeping the congregation in tune. The Notre Dame in Paris has several depicted on the sculpting it has on it's exterior. Louis XIV was a music freak and had them all over the palace cranking at all times....think "rave". Then there was the dark chapter of the Hessian Hurdy Gurdy Girls....read here:

http://www.economypoint.org/h/hurdy-gurdy-girls.html

A piece of American History which is conveniently left out of the books.....

The instrument is still in use in folk music, although in a more modern iteration, in Eastern Europe. And the Swedes have a derivative known as the Nyckelharpa, also still in use in folk music.

I use mine at SCA events and play medieval-ish and later traditional tunes for general entertainment. For those of you that are familiar with the SCA, I particularly have a lot of fun joining the drum circles....the dancers LOVE any melody instrument, and I have sort of mastered a few middle eastern-ish scales that I can vamp for hours. I call it:Drive by taksim.... However, my friends and family have made me promise never to tune it in their presence again.

It can be heard here in a recording/video I threw together and posted to youtube in a camper in about 45 minutes, as a demonstration for my kids, using the hurdy, a dumbek, a macbook running on an inverter and a Sprint wireless card.......it's not as tight as I would like it to be, but it was fun to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzgrK4xjgAg

[jeffy]

being older, different frame of reference.... it brought to mind an old song by Donovan called Hurdy Gurdy Man

You and me both, man!  ACID FLASHBACK!!!!

A bit late, but here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqhxK_g9mrA

[tschmidlin]

being older, different frame of reference.... it brought to mind an old song by Donovan called Hurdy Gurdy Man

You and me both, man!  ACID FLASHBACK!!!!

A bit late, but here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqhxK_g9mrA

That song sounded vaguely familiar, so I did some googling.  It turns out that the Beastie Boys song "Car Thief" samples Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man, and the lyric that was familiar is

"Space cake cookies I discover who I am
I'm a dusted old bummy Hurdy Gurdy Man"

Listening to it, the sample is very short and comes right after the lyric.

I also found out that the Butthole Surfers covered that song.  It's a good version IMO, but you guys might not like it.

[nicneufeld]

Want to some cool non-traditional instruments used in interesting applications?  Go see Steve Howe in concert.  Besides being a phenomenal guitar player, he has a collector's heart and is always using beautiful, interesting old instruments.  The man even has a book out!

http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Howe-Guitar-Collection/dp/0879302909

[akr71]

I also found out that the Butthole Surfers covered that song.  It's a good version IMO, but you guys might not like it.

You beat me to it.

[tubercle]

Got a mouth harp but can't play it very well.  My lovely wife bought me a dulcimer for christmas. Its coming along ok, been playing guitar, mandolin & banjo for a while and its simular, just different.

[tonyp]

Want to some cool non-traditional instruments used in interesting applications?  Go see Steve Howe in concert.  Besides being a phenomenal guitar player, he has a collector's heart and is always using beautiful, interesting old instruments.  The man even has a book out!

http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Howe-Guitar-Collection/dp/0879302909

Steve Howe rocks, I had the pleasure of seeing Asia open for Yes at Six Flags Great Adventure on my birthday in July 2010 and it was one of the most memorable events I've ever witnessed until the lightning and rain started   When I was about 8yrs old my best friend's older brother used to play Yes and all of the 60's/70's stuff for us and we got hooked, been a Yes freak every since.

Recently I saw that Jon Anderson was playing this neat little guitar in a video of one of his new songs, its called a Strum Stick, check it out:

Jon Anderson - Under Heaven's Door

[tonyp]

Oh I forgot, I also play the Doumbek, a traditional middle-eastern drum.

[nicneufeld]

Steve Howe rocks, I had the pleasure of seeing Asia open for Yes at Six Flags Great Adventure on my birthday in July 2010 and it was one of the most memorable events I've ever witnessed until the lightning and rain started  

I saw that tour myself, Benoit David and Rick Wakeman's son Oliver did a surprisingly good job standing in as vocalist and keyboardist, respectively.  Definitely a Howe-centered show, with ASIA and all.  Before that I saw them in 2002, and in 2000.  I'm only 29, so not much before that, sadly.

[theoman]

I saw the title of this thread and wondered if didgeridoo was going to be mentioned. I have 6 didges, but really only play 3. I'm not great, but somehow picked up circular breathing pretty quickly. If you ever get into it enough, go see my friend Ben:
http://hickssticks.com/

He made 2 of my sticks and they're awesome.

[alikocho]

I played orchestral percussion in high school. Once played on mugs, and once on an anvil.