Video: Dark Ballad of a Warrior on Hurdy-Gurdy

I've found that some medieval instruments can be rather... shrill. So it's with real delight that I discovered the hurdy-gurdy, which when played well - as here - is a true joy to listen to.

This video is by Andrey Vinogradov. He's got a good number of videos on his channel if you like what you hear.

Video: Organistrum

Last week's hurdy-gurdy post had me uncover another medieval instrument, the organistrum. This was an early version of the hurdy-gurdy, played by two people, one who turned the crank while the other pulled keys upwards to change the pitch of the melody strings. This is the instrument being played by the figures above Christ's head in the portal of glory (central doorway) of the West facade at the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Photo by Jessica Strider.

I wasn't able to find a video describing its use in English, so here's one uploaded by tzenobite showing what it sounds like. And if you'd like to learn about it in French, here's a video by Groupe OC.

Video: Hurdy-Gurdy

A few weeks ago a friend of mine sent me a link to a video explaining how to play a hurdy-gurdy, an old medieval instrument. I wondered why more fantasy books didn't include older instruments, and low and behold, the Sanctuary duology I'm currently reading by Carol Berg mentions one!

These two videos briefly go over the mechanics of a hurdy-gurdy and demonstrate how they're played.