Stringed instruments bowed by a wheel cranked by hand have been around for centuries, and come in many shapes and sizes. Inspired by 16th century instruments, mechanical model maker UGears has created ...

Twenty-seven years ago, in search of a hurdy-gurdy master, Donald Heller wandered into a music shop in Budapest. There, he saw a beautiful maiden, an ancient-looking stringed instrument in her lap, ...

The hurdy-gurdy is one of Europe's oldest musical instruments. A kind of mechanical violin, it uses keys and a crank, along with melody and drone strings. Some call it the medieval synthesizer, and a ...

An error has occurred. Please try again. With a The Portland Press Herald subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month. It looks like you do not have any active ...

The only difference was, bagpipes usually sound like a polyphonic assembly while this sound seems like a lone voice shrewdly culled from such an assembly, singled out, groomed up and presented to us ...

Donovan is well-known as one of the most influential folk-rock musicians of all time, but his 1968 album, The Hurdy Gurdy Man, might have played a pivotal role in one of the greatest heavy rock bands ...

Future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones worked on Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” Donovan explained that Jimi Hendrix was originally supposed to work on the song. Subsequently, Donovan ...