Digi-Gurdy
An affordable electronic MIDI Hurdy Gurdy for practice anywhere.
digigurdy@gmail.com
Overview
(Site updated 02/07/24)
The hurdy-gurdy is an ancient instrument (10th century) with drones and melody strings bowed by a rotating wheel, played by pressing keys which contact them at different points. It has in more recent times featured in TV series such as ‘Black Sails’ and ‘Walking Dead.’ High cost and long wait times can be a major barrier for beginners. Rather like bagpipes, they are noisy. For pipers, practice chanters and e-chanters exist to solve this, while nothing similar is available for the hurdy-gurdy. The Digi-Gurdy has evolved over four years through many design iterations. It has a thriving online community around it, many of whom have fed back into the project. The current version has been designed in collaboration with Jaap Brand of Nerdy Gurdy fame and my software has been massively improved by Basil Lalli, a professional software developer. The body is laser cut for accuracy with internal electronics and crank mechanism, with access panels on the underside. Digi-Gurdys are all electronic devices, with correctly placed keys, that output MIDI via a USB cable to an attached or wirelessly paired, PC, phone or iPad running suitable MIDI player software, for practice anywhere.
Since 2023 I have been additionally fitting an internal audio board and a headphone socket/line-out. This allows you to just turn it on and use it without connecting a phone, PC or iPad. This has proved to be the version everyone wants and so now this has become the standard version for sale. The MIDI features remain for those who want more control of the sound using digital audio software on a PC for example.
If you need to see an overview of how a regular hurdy gurdy works, here is a link: Click Here and another: Click Here
Here is a good video explaining the history of the hurdy gurdy in detail: Click Here
Q: Do you have to be into folk music to play one?
A: You can be of course but there is also a gurdy presence within the rock/metal scene. Here is a rock/metal Spotify playlist all including hurdy gurdys: Click Here
For a lot more detail on any aspect you can think of, please take a look at the ABOUT section.
OK, first things first, what does it sound like?
Here is a better player than I am having a go with it for the first time at Halsway 2023. The crank has since been improved, see next video below. NOTE: The guitar jack was an experiment, it does not come with a guitar jack, it now has a line-out / headphone socket.
Scott Marshall trying out updated version July 2024. Headphone socket connect to an amp here, using the internal audio board to produce the sounds. Crank action in detail. Pitch shifting tuning up and down while playing. String mutes.
How did this project begin?
In 2019 I built a hurdy gurdy from a kit (Nerdy-Gurdy). My inspiration was seeing Nigel Eaton play with Led Zeppelin in 1995 - see video clip below. Having built one, being an electronics hobbyist I decided to build an electronic version as a personal practice device. It has been through many design iterations (see lecture above I gave at EMF Camp in 2022).
Nigel Eaton playing with Page and Plant.
Who is it for?
Once I described this project on the Hackaday website, I was overwhelmed by interest from both beginners and experienced players. I am (still) a beginner, finally having online lessons. Being in tune from the moment you pick it up is very useful. It also remembers previous settings and comes with 4 common tunings as preset options for beginners. Many use it as a silent practice instrument so they do not have to wait for the neighbours to go out !
Is it expensive?
Regular hurdy gurdys are expensive because they are complex instruments, hand crafted by luthiers. A basic playable instrument is around $ 1300 with a middle range version being around $5000. The DigiGurdy is much lower in cost than either of the above. It is however still a hand built instrument (by me) with a hand assembled circuit board made in small numbers and the price is a fair reflection of this. This has grown from a hobby through many design iterations and now I am making it available through this website.
30 minute detailed video of Revision 5 version, February 2024-on, explaining how it works, set up and use.
Quick Start Guide (12 minutes)
Don’t be worried about all this tech. It takes a few minutes to set up the first time. After that the iPad app remembers your previous settings, so next time you just power up the iPad, open the bs-16i app, select the preset you used last time on the Digi-Gurdy menu and go. Filmed in 2023 but all still valid information. NOTE: The bs-16i app is now available on the Google Play store for Android devices as well. Alternatively, if you use the internal audio board (and headphone socket) you simply supply power and start playing.
Instructions For Use
Full instructions for use, how the menus work and what the buttons all do described here: Click Here
The Digi-Gurdy won best hardware prototype category of the MIDI Innovation Awards 2022.
The latest version has a much improved crank action.
– Common tunings are presented as pre-sets on a menu screen by the keybox.
– Custom tunings can be created and saved, including some that might not even be possible on a regular hurdy gurdy.
– Plug it into an iPad, phone or PC and you are ready to go or
– Connect wirelessly using a plug-in MIDI Bluetooth dongle), or
– Plug in headphones or an amp and just play using the built in audio board.
Connected to and being powered by, an iPad.
See note above. They will all be tested with my own iPad. You can also connect to the iPad wirelessly using a plug-in MIDI Bluetooth transmitter (also shown in this image), or just plug in headphones and play.
QUESTIONS?
Whether you’re curious about features, setup and use, or even press, we will happily answer any questions.
Company name: Dingley Innovations Ltd.
Company number: 14301744