Saving for a Hurdy Gurdy
Donation protected
My name is Earl and I am a musician with a love of medieval music. I also have a great love for the Hurdy Gurdy, which is one of the coolest musical instruments most people have never heard of. This mechanical violin from the 11th century has a haunting and enchanting sound.
I managed to find a broken one here in Ashland that I have restored to playing condition and it is a wonderful beginner's instrument, however the one that I have is becoming more and more limiting as my playing ability grows.
The hurdy gurdy I am practicing with now has a diatonic keyboard which prevents me from changing keys, as if a piano player only had the white keys and no black ones. This is unusual for modern hurdy gurdies as this limits the type of songs I am able to play because it takes time to retune the entire instrument to be able to change keys. I also have no ability to play semitones, meaning that any songs with sharps and flats are almost unplayable without taking artistic liberties with the melody.
The keys clack loudly and the crankshaft rattles because neither is fitted properly. This creates unwanted noise that becomes distracting while I play, which is almost exaggerated on top of my quieter than normal instrument. The loose keys are also almost unusable on the higher end because they don't consistently hit the proper note on the string, which shortens my playing ability to about one octave worth of notes.
I am very grateful to be able to learn with the instrument I currently have, but it is beginning to show its limitations as my skill with it improves. I would like to upgrade to a higher quality instrument and am attempting to save money to purchase a new one from a local luthier here in Southern Oregon. These instruments are a bit expensive though, and it's tough enough paying for school and living expenses.
I play my current hurdy gurdy to make a few dollars here and there when I can, but I thought I would set this up as a simple place for friends and family, or perhaps even the kind stranger, to donate some money to a young artist seeking to expand their musical abilities.
My intention is to support the local economy while also being able to expand my musical horizons and, at the same time, be able to bring joy to people for years to come with a well-made instrument of a time gone by.
If you are interested, here is a link to my facebook page where I post updates on my hurdy gurdy playing around the Ashland area:
https://www.facebook.com/BardForHire
I managed to find a broken one here in Ashland that I have restored to playing condition and it is a wonderful beginner's instrument, however the one that I have is becoming more and more limiting as my playing ability grows.
The hurdy gurdy I am practicing with now has a diatonic keyboard which prevents me from changing keys, as if a piano player only had the white keys and no black ones. This is unusual for modern hurdy gurdies as this limits the type of songs I am able to play because it takes time to retune the entire instrument to be able to change keys. I also have no ability to play semitones, meaning that any songs with sharps and flats are almost unplayable without taking artistic liberties with the melody.
The keys clack loudly and the crankshaft rattles because neither is fitted properly. This creates unwanted noise that becomes distracting while I play, which is almost exaggerated on top of my quieter than normal instrument. The loose keys are also almost unusable on the higher end because they don't consistently hit the proper note on the string, which shortens my playing ability to about one octave worth of notes.
I am very grateful to be able to learn with the instrument I currently have, but it is beginning to show its limitations as my skill with it improves. I would like to upgrade to a higher quality instrument and am attempting to save money to purchase a new one from a local luthier here in Southern Oregon. These instruments are a bit expensive though, and it's tough enough paying for school and living expenses.
I play my current hurdy gurdy to make a few dollars here and there when I can, but I thought I would set this up as a simple place for friends and family, or perhaps even the kind stranger, to donate some money to a young artist seeking to expand their musical abilities.
My intention is to support the local economy while also being able to expand my musical horizons and, at the same time, be able to bring joy to people for years to come with a well-made instrument of a time gone by.
If you are interested, here is a link to my facebook page where I post updates on my hurdy gurdy playing around the Ashland area:
https://www.facebook.com/BardForHire
Organizer
Earl Vincent Wiskow
Organizer
Ashland, OR