Hurdy Gurdy

Working on another project for the portfolio: Hurdy Gurdy. I am trying to make the model as close to the real-world scale as possible.

Done some crank work! All in real-world scale.

It’s a magical instrument

2 Likes

Added Some Keys. Yeah, “some” :smiley:

1 Like

Impressive modelling work.

I’m curious, where are you getting the proper proportions, when making something like this. Do you have a blueprint, or you are just eyeballing it from videos and pictures?

your doing great on the model, i never seen this instrument before in my life or even herd of it, but by the look of the ref img your doing good
nice work

Thank you, Aorta.

I am using a PDF for position. I had used it for taking dimensions early on, but I found out that those dimensions are wrong. The blue print is actually a mess, and I am just eyeballing stuff now. Most of the stuff is done and now I have to see if I can add any organic shape to the tail. I really suck at sculpting. Cannot even make a proper rock. LOL. Also, there are not many good reference pics for the kind of hurdy gurdy I am making (french Lute).

Thank you, alf0!

I never knew this instrument existed. I think it dates back to the 18th Century. I came to know about this instrument from a movie: Zodiac. There is a song at the end: Hurdy Gurdy by Donovan

1 Like

Looks like wood enough.

Love the sounds these instruments make. I assume you’ve seen Patty Gurdy…

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSEOK9G-A2oCyZwdGesCpIg

1 Like

Thank you! The world needs more hurdy-gurdys! Both real and virtual…

Impressed you’re making the inside of the hurdy gurdy as well… would love to see how and if you rig it.

I don’t know if this helps, but there’s a law that determines how frets are laid out on a fretboard, which will also determine where the things attached to the keys go:

Fret 5 is 1/4 of the way up the string,
Fret 7 is 1/3 of the way up the string
Fret 12 is half way along the string (1st octave)
Fret 24 is 3/4 of the way along the string. (2nd octave)

If you are creating a chromatic hurdygurdy (most modern hurdygurdys - both black and white keys in piano terms) then each note is a fret. According to wikipidia some older hurdygurdys use a diatonic scale… I then started researching the diatonic scale… but it all got a little complex. Are you making a chromatic hurdygurdy? that would be simpler.

1 Like

I have seen her videos. They are great.

Thanks for the info, yogyyog! I am modeling a Grand Alto French Hurdy Gurdy, and I don’t think it has any fretboards, as the blueprint doesn’t speak of it. I am sorry, but I really don’t know much about music instruments :frowning:

I would say it is Chromatic,a s it has black and white keys. The modeling part is basically done. I might rig it if I find time for it. Yeah, the inside is done :slight_smile: Will update with some pictures when I am done with some texturing. :slight_smile:

Hurdy gurdys don’t have fretboards, but the little sticks that press against the strings - they will be positioned on the stings like frets - they serve the same purpose - to raise the pitch of the string by making the part that vibrates shorter. On a guitar your finger presses against the fsting, and it is stopped at the fret. On a hurdygurdy (and this is the first time I’ve looked inside one) these little sticks press against the string when you press a string. This is why the keys get steadily narrower down the hurdy gurdys neck.

oh!, yes, yes. The keys get narrower gradually. I took care of that :slight_smile: The blueprint showed the location and narrowness of the keys. Here is the inside.

Some finishing needs to be done.