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Hurdy Gurdy or wheel fiddle. It is like playing violin without bowing problems or intonation problems.

November 20, 2007 at 7:24 PM

Now I learned from a comment of Bilbo Prattle a new instrument : The Hurdy Gurdy or wheel fiddle

After 2 minutes Melissa, the Hurdy Gurdy player give some information about this instrument, also called wheel fiddle, because with this violin the bow has become a wheel and like the Swedish Key Violin or nickelharpa a mechanic pulls down the strings on the fingerprint, so you never can play false. And if you play "violin" on the Hurdy Gurdy or wheel fiddle it is like playing violin without bowing problems or intonation problems.

opened Hurdy Gurdy or wheel fiddle
The rotating wheel reminded me of the way a Hammond organ works (a kind of organ often heard in jazz). Except the wheels simulate strings! But the wheels are also analogous to a bow. The wheels have a sawtooth edge and are spinning with the edge pointed at pickups. As far as the pickups know, the sawtooth is a vibrating string.