Nerdy Gurdy Linotte build and play

[@StyriaMe]

Very nice built. Not lot's of Linonettes yet to hear on youtube.

[@catielakemusic]

I loved hearing Thunderstruck played on it. I'm going to have to learn to play that when my DigiGurdy arrives around March/April! ❤

[@songhetang2961]

Ha ha, it’s fun to break into thunderstruck spontaneously! Enjoy the DigiGurdy 🙂

[@samfumi9200]

Great video! i built mine a few months ago but I'm having a hard time tuning it as it is my first ever instrument. I feel like your video will help me a lot, especially the end. Thanks!

[@songhetang2961]

Thanks so much for the nice feedback. All the best with setting yours up. I had to focus pretty hard for a few sessions to get mine playable and am still making the odd adjustment as I go. It definitely helps to watch plenty of videos of working instruments up close and indeed, I didn’t see many videos of Linottes, making it hard to know whst to expect. There’s also plenty of help over at the nerdy gurdy builders group on Facebook. Best wishes!

[@donaldsutherland244]

Bought one, it's on the way. Thank you for posting!

[@BarMitMir]

Great Video! So much interesting stuff, especially the slideshow.

[@seandolan8502]

First one that sounds so good. Most dont

[@songhetang2961]

Thanks Sean. That means a lot to me, and definitely testimony to it being a great kit and great design. I’ve installed Jaap’s capo on the trumpettes now and I’m slowly improving my coup technique, learning how rosin effects the tone and building a second Linotte in D tuning with a flight sounddeck pickup and transducer. Will make a comparison video when done! Are you a hurdy gurdy pkayer? Or thinking about it?

[@modelenginerding6996]

@@songhetang2961 I'm looking at building one in D. Will the standard kit body and wheel accommodate that? Sounds amazing!

[@songhetang2961]

@@modelenginerding6996 , you’ll need to get the correct strings, but Jaap can help with that. I finished a video of my new D/G today to post soon, so if you check again in a week or so, you should be able to hear how it sounds 🙂

[@modelenginerding6996]

@@songhetang2961 Looking forward to it!

[@flamingomtn]

WONDERFUL job! Thanks so much for making this video!

[@LochlainnMacLock]

great video! you've inspired me to make my own build! ❤

[@garetteasdale7064]

thats one impressive instrument paul.

[@Bezio.]

Yeeah, it turned out very well!

[@Srtw163]

Where do I find this instrument? From where I search this ? How could I get this instrument? It's so beautiful warm sound ❤ In our country we don't get this types of instrument Love from Indian

[@songhetang2961]

Search for ‘Nerdy Gurdy Linotte’. Glad you enjoy the sound 😊. Hope you can build one and enjoy yourself. India has worlds and worlds of music of great beauty! I believe many Indian melodies will sound good on on the Hurdy Gurdy….. like this one…. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jn6seaqfmrxlZrMsi=B1vbYPoGftGRZVB9 All the best from U.K.!

[@Srtw163]

I really appreciate thanks a lots🤝

[@Srtw163]

Nerdy Gurdy linotte?? Is Instagram ID?? Website??

[@songhetang2961]

@@Srtw163 , you can find them here. www.nerdygurdy.nl They release 5-10 units per week on Sunday evening at 2030 hrs local time (Netherlands). Best wishes

[@atramentous_7]

Very nice. I just started building mine - what are the first two songs you played on it? I'd love to learn those

[@songhetang2961]

@@atramentous_7 , thanks! The first tune known as ‘Breton An Dro’. There’s a lovely video of it on Elektrovolt (Jimi Helinga). The other tune I only know as ‘Prelude’, and learned it by ear when I played in a Ceilidh band. Good luck! 💚

[@McSpicyYT]

I am building the 3/4 size version of this. I hope it will have the same or similar tone to yours and not sound too small or shallow. Any tips?

[@songhetang2961]

Hope you enjoy building your 3/4 Linotte 😊, and hope you are pleased with the tone. No two Linottes are identical sounding at same siz. For the two I built, #1 is awesome for higher pitches and #2 has a resonance making mid ranges sweeter but high notes less loud. Though I didn’t try a 3/4, my guess will be that it will excel at higher pitches and be less full for the bourdons if at same pitch as the full size Linotte. Thinking about that, I’m now interested to build one and compare!

[@McSpicyYT]

@@songhetang2961 ty for the input. Im at the painting and sanding stage. I wonder if the polyurethane coat im gonna put on it will effect the tone at all. Or even if the paint will. Just trying to maximize the resonance but also don't know what affects resonance other than size.

[@songhetang2961]

@@McSpicyYT , good luck with the paint job. If done well and not super thick it oughtn’t be a big effect. For the back and sides there will probably be minimal difference. The top plate is the one doing the most vibrating / sound creation, so a thicker coat on that adding mass and increasing the damping would perhaps change the tone a bit

[@the_Hermanoid]

Beautiful color. Can you tell me what stain you used?

[@songhetang2961]

Thanks 😊 I used a furniture stain test kit, (‘furniture clinic’) then a coat of wax. Ten bucks for ten colours in little test pots. One 25 ml pot more than enough for each shade

[@the_Hermanoid]

Thanks for the reply. One more query: The third song you play is obviously Thunderstruck. What are the first two?

[@songhetang2961]

I learnt the first two by ear and so don’t really know their names. A bit embarrassing! I am awful at remembering song names, but I always remember melodies! The first is an ‘An Dro’ I heard on ‘elektrovolt’s’ KZbin channel and I only know the second as ‘prelude’ (I know it from doing rhythm guitar accompaniment for it a few years back at a Ceilidh…..I actually have a written score for it from the band but it only says ‘prelude’! …..there is a video of this on my channel). Best wishes!

[@andrewm3529]

@@songhetang2961 Any chance you can share the score for prelude?

[@songhetang2961]

Are you on the hurdy gurdy community page or the nerdy gurdy builders page? It’s on a scrap of paper so I can post a picture there…

[@howardmaryon]

Well played!

[@nowMrLoL]

good job!👍

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

Pretty good for having only played it for a month. Other instrument experience?

[@songhetang2961]

Thanks! Piano, violin, guitar, whistles, ocarinas, drums, anything that makes music. Jack of all trades, master of none! The piano experience has been a big help. Pianists might sound even more awesome if the instrument was left hand cranked.

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

@@songhetang2961 I was thinking about that, but then -- unless you ran the driveshaft from the left end of the instrument to a wheel most of the way to the right -- the keys for the high notes would be on the left and the keys for the low notes would be on the left, which might throw some people off.

[@songhetang2961]

That’s indeed the spanner in the works, and probably explains the conventions. Even though I would sound 100x better playing with my right hand, i definitely would not want to play the notes backwards, though I did learn to do that with my left hand, as this happens when trading piano for guitar / violin. The nice thing with the latter is that fingers 1 and 2 are the strong ones, whereas with gurdy / piano, they are the weak ones.

[@flamingomtn]

@@songhetang2961 That's what I always tell people who want to order a left-handed kit. I feel like the instrument is already left-handed.

[@alvarobyrne]

cohen-tannoudji

[@RedTideRTS]

How long was the process from build to first playable note?

[@songhetang2961]

I built it over 4 weekends when off the day job. Spent much time thinking about it before acting. There are lots of steps where waiting half a day / a day for glue to cure necessary. It was another 2 weekends to establish optimal playing conditions. I build scientific instruments for a living and have played musical instruments my whole life, so that will have helped 🙂

[@RedTideRTS]

@@songhetang2961 thanks for the response. Great video!

[@WolfieboyMachi]

How low can it be tuned?

[@songhetang2961]

The lowest chanter is G3 and the lowest Borden is G2. If you wanted lower than that, I’m not sure - you can probably drop by a note or two, but there’s then adjustments to make to ensure the strings run against the wheel with the right pressure. It’s pretty well engineered to work as it says on the tin. The clearance of the chanter (melody) strings and the key tangents is tight but precise. Lower notes / looser strings might buzz against the tangents. This means that a heavier string / higher tension might work, but one would need to experiment.

[@WolfieboyMachi]

@@songhetang2961 Thanks for the reply (and sorry for being late, only saw it just now) I appreciate it. I by far prefer the lower tuned gurdies, but even so, I've decided that I like even the standard NG sound enough that I wanna build one.