Hurdy-gurdy

What it is

A bowed-by-wheel string instrument: a hand-cranked rosined wheel rubs the strings like a violin bow while a keyboard of tangents shortens the melody strings. Also called wheel fiddle, vielle a roue, drehleier. Drone strings give a bagpipe-like sound. French six-string models have two melody and four drone strings.¹⁴

Range

G2 to G6^13,898 Hz – 1.57 kHz

French vielle in G/C ('vielle en Sol'): the chromatic keyboard spans two octaves, G4-G6, and the two chanterelles (melody strings) and the mouche are tuned to G4; the trompette (buzzing string) to C5, the petit bourdon to C3 and the gros bourdon to G2. The page writes notes in scientific pitch (its G4 is the chanterelle on a violin string, its G2 the gros bourdon on a cello string). A vielle in D runs D4-D6 on the keyboard with drones on D3 and D2. Source is a French school study site, not a maker. Sebastian Hilsmann (maker) gives a trompette tuned to C3 as an example, so drone and trompette tunings vary between players.

Tuning: Wikipedia: in later instruments tunings vary widely, 'with equal temperament most common'; drones switch on or off to play in two keys (e.g. C and G, or G and D).¹⁴

• Drones (zanfona in C): bordon in C, 'two octaves below middle C' (C2); bordoncino in G one octave below the melody strings (G3). Octave numbers are my conversion.¹⁴
• Vielle in D (D/G tuning): Keyboard D4-D6; first chanterelle D5, second chanterelle, trompette and mouche D4 (the mouche sometimes A), petit bourdon D3, gros bourdon D2.¹³
• Alto keyboard, 2.5 octaves (Traunecker): Joel Traunecker (maker) builds an alto keyboard of two and a half octaves, open strings in G one octave below a classic soprano vielle; he says it equals a classic keyboard with its top half-octave removed and an octave added below. G3 is my reading of 'one octave below' the soprano's G4; C#6 is G3 plus 30 semitones (my calculation). He also describes tenor keyboards of three octaves.¹⁵

The sound

Wheel-driven strings drive a soundboard and a hollow body. A loose bridge under one drone string, the chien ("dog"; the festival blog below calls the buzzing bridge the "trompette"), buzzes against the soundboard when the wheel speeds up, giving a percussive buzz; a control peg (the tirant) sets how much, from "sec" to "gras".^14,11

Where the sound goes

No measurement. The body and soundboard radiate and the buzzing bridge adds noise from the soundboard. Players place mics by string group: one engineer's advice (via a forum post) is a warm large condenser 4-5 ft in front, moved until drone, chien and chanterelles balance, since up close the chien or a chanterelle can jump out; a stage player puts a clip mic on the lid above the chanterelles and wants a second mic on the drones; a maker aims his clip above the bridge, toward the drones rather than the chien.^14,3,12,7

About the range

Most modern instruments have 24 keys spanning two chromatic octaves on the melody strings. A French vielle in G/C: keyboard G4-G6, the two chanterelles (melody strings) and the mouche on G4, the trompette (the string that buzzes on the chien) on C5, petit bourdon C3 and gros bourdon G2, so G2-G6 in all; a vielle in D runs D4-D6 with drones on D3 and D2. A study site, not a maker; drone and trompette tunings vary (Hilsmann gives a trompette on C3 as an example). Alto keyboards of two and a half octaves sit an octave lower, from about G3 (Traunecker; the top note, about C#6, is my calculation).^14,13,8,15

Recording it

• Distant: a U 67, U 47 or TLM 170 about 4-5 ft in front; a Rode NT2 1 m above the instrument; forum suggestions of ribbons (Beyer M160 close; AEA R92 or N22 close with an R84 further back), MD 441/431 dynamics at 2-3 ft, or a close dynamic for the mechanical noise blended with a condenser further off.
• Stereo: Lasse Lammert recorded M/S with a Beyer M160 as the mid at about 40 cm and an AKG C414 as the side; a renaissance-music session put a pair of AKG C451 above the instrument to damp key noise, then preferred a wider pair of Beyer M201 dynamics as "warmer, clearer and more honest"; a C414 or a pair of small condensers backed off only in a good room.
• Two close mics: one near the bridge at the front, one over the player's right shoulder pointing down at the chien.^3,1,2,4,5

Mics i

1. AKG C414 2 sourcesMain pair or array, close
2. beyerdynamic M 160 2 sourcesClose

On stage

• Clip-on mics follow the player: Shure Beta 98 on the lid above the chanterelles, Audio-Technica ATM35/ATM350, a JTS CX-508 clipped on the tailpiece; forum mentions of the DPA 4099 (snippet only). A Ticket Fairy festival blog suggests a clip-on near the sound holes or bridge, or a hypercardioid small condenser 30-60 cm away on a boom for a still player.
• Pickups: makers build them in. Hilsmann fits Schertler STAT pickups per string group (chanterelles, trompettes, drones; STAT-CS for the sympathetic strings) into a 3- or 4-channel preamp with separate outputs; Weichselbaumer offers a 5-channel system with 3-4 mics and 2 magnetic pickups (snippet only); a luthier glues two piezos on the first brace. One maker's electromagnetic pickup takes one string only, without the wolf notes a piezo or mic picks up from the whole body. Players report a Schertler on the bridge working well and an AKG C411 or Shadow SH711 piezo on stage. A band rider puts the vielle on a DI.
• With a loud band, players advise against air mics (feedback and bleed) and for a piezo.^{12,7,9,11,8,16,10,17,6,18}

Problems to watch

Crank and key noise; the buzz spiking; drone strings feeding back with stage monitors. Key noise is worst on a close or small-condenser pair; the chien or a chanterelle jumps out on a close mic; an SM57 is warned against for vielle in the studio and a lavalier "pas vraiment top"; air mics feed back next to a metal band.^{11,5,3,1,12,6}