Oscars -Sting

[doubledown]

Who knows what instrument Sting was playing? I heard it was a Hurdy Gurdy.

 

[Jim Rome]

Mandolin

 

[Speedo]

I thought this was a discussion of the Best Picture-winner in 1973. <grin>

 

[Mrs_Stiffler]

It was a hurdy gurdy or lyre. A mandolin is much smaller and doesn't use a crank. The mandolin is a much more melodic cousin of the ukelele - better wood and strings etc.

 

[The Doctor]

I'm not familiar with the hurdy gurdy but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a lyre. Strangest thing I've ever seen.

 

[Goober Mcfly]

Was it a dulcimer?

http://www.fiddletunes.com/images/dulcimer.jpg

</google>

 

[Mrs_Stiffler]

I think that the original name was lyre, but around the time that the Beatles used it, the common name became hurdy gurdy. It's used in Celtic, Asian, and Indian music, and probably everywhere else. Sting isn't a man who musically can get my blood pumping, but I sure respect his talent.

 

[Goober Mcfly]

I thought a lyre was like a harp.

 

[The Doctor]

It's a Hurdy Gurdy (Hurdy Gurdy) but it doesn't mention anything about the lyre.

What is the history of the hurdy-gurdy?

Here's the short version: Hurdy-gurdies were fairly common though most of Europe from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and has been played by everyone from blind beggars to the nobility. The court of France developed an interest for it in the early 18th century, and their style of instrument has become the "standard" instrument, though strong hurdy-gurdy traditions remain in other European countries. The earliest instrument of this design was the organistrum, played by two people, as shown in stonework and pictorial references as early as the 12 century in northern France and northern Spain.

google is your friend

 

[Mrs_Stiffler]

The lyre doesn't use a crank either does it?

What a wonderful instrument. And thanks for the info Doctor. We are all wiser for your efforts.

 

[jerbear]

Robert Plant used one in one of his music video's.
Gallows Pole I think.

 

[Ophelia Black]

I'm gonna get me one, and a copy a "Hurdy Gurdy For Fuckwits" and play me some of that good stuff!

Yeah Baby!

 

[WhaWhaWha]

"If I heard the Hurdy Gurdy playing I'd think I was talking to the fat lady at the circus, but as it stands, I'm just talking to a ton of bad news named Beaula, Beaula, BEAULA!"

...Kim Cattrall as Miss Honeywell In Porky's 1982

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I saw the phrase Hurdy Gurdy and the line just ... came to me.