The Hurdy Gurdy

I came across this man busking in Prague. The instrument he's playing is called a hurdy gurdy, or wheel fiddle. It's one of the most interesting instruments I've ever seen. I thought he made it, he looks like the kind of guy that would. I didn't discover it was a real instrument until I went to a Hungarian folk show a few weeks later. My medieval history buff of a friend balked at me for not knowing what one was. Of course, he's never heard one and has only seen them in etchings.

It works by turning the crank with the right hand while striking keys with the left. The crank turns a wheel that rubs against many strings, some which produce the drone. The keys manipulate the melody strings, like fingers fretting on a guitar, to produce the higher notes. The overall effect is very similar to the bagpipes. Even the style of play is very close to the bagpipes. The Belvedere in Vienna has a portrait of a general poised victoriously over a battlefield. Through the miracle of audio-guides, the portrait is accompanied by an instrumental folk song, composed for the general, played on the hurdy gurdy. The style is similar to this recording.

As you can hear, if you turn the crank hard it will start to buzz. I initially thought this was poor construction, but after hearing the recording in the Belvedere and reading the wikipedia article, I think it's intentional. It's sort of annoying though.