Plans for the New Year

his year a real tree stands in place of our “plastic” one. Decorated with well warn Winnie the Pooh and friends, slightly scratched shinny bulbs from our childhoods, interesting decorations made by the precious hands of our kids and yes now even grandkids, it’s not a tree that would be featured in Good House Keeping, but it is the most beautiful tree full of love and memories.  I trust your Christmas was a wistful blend of past, present, and future too. You know that’s what Christmas really is anyway.

    T

    Our families have returned to their homes, most in other states. I have cleaned up after my Christmas cooking spree. Mel and I have tucked the bathroom scales away until spring, and I can finally get back to the shop and start on my next Monarch.  My kit building project was such a success that it ended up under someone’s Christmas tree and I am once again Gurdiless.

    Before I return to my bench though, we are off on an adventure to Ontario, Canada to visit Ben Grossman a very talented musician specializing in the vielle a roué, or Hurdy-gurdy as we call it. Among other things, I am hoping to learn the correct pronunciation of its French name. Mel’s goals are much loftier.

    I am including a picture of our tree. Please notice the tenor gurdy in its case standing next to Santa. Also a picture of proof that I also am at home in the kitchen. It wouldn’t seem like Christmas without a large batch of German cookies!

Best wishes for the New Year.  Let the Hurdy-gurdies sing!

What are your plans for 2011?

Music Lessons for My Monarch

   I would like to tell you all that the reason you haven’t seen any new postings here in a couple weeks is because I have been diligently practicing my Monarch. Actually it is due to the 3 Gurdy bags that I am supposed to have finished shortly, a garden that is demanding it’s winterizing, and a series of Doctor visits. Now I have a new excuse. Tom Lozano, a customer turned good friend, visited us for the week end and fell in love with my Monarch. Since his new gurdy needed to stay with us for another week or two, I offered to loan him mine. He took me up on it and I am hoping he will teach it a few songs for when it comes back home! In the meantime I am packing a Monarch 6 string Kit to ship next week and finishing the last two bags. Oh yes and preparing for Christmas with several of our kids and grand children over Thanksgiving. I promise I will have pictures of me at practice shortly after Thanksgiving!  If any of you  are building a Monarch or are a Gurdy player of any sort, let us know and send a picture if you like. I would love to include it in our Notes. Oh yes, this is our friend Tom and my Monarch.

More From Chicago

    The Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan were just two of the attractions in Chicago September 26 this fall. 14 Hurdy-gurdy players from Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, gathered at the Sherman home near downtown Chicago. While much of Chicago had no idea we were there or even what a Hurdy-gurdy is, their neighbors had no doubts as we filled the air with a variety of traditional and not so traditional Hurdy-gurdy music. Add to this, the near constant tuning, discussions of the challenges of cottoning, rosining, and tangent adjustment, and the inevitable question  “is it better to play by reading music or by ear”?  The general consensus?  Sometimes.  It was agreed that those who play by ear have the advantage and those of us who need the “little black dots”   were encouraged to work on weaning ourselves from them in order to play more easily with the freewheeling changes typical in most gurdy playing.

    There was also discussion of a Gathering next year at a location that would accommodate a larger turn out and possibly allow for a week end gathering rather than one day. We would love to hear from any other players out there.

My Monarch's First "Gathering"

Debut in Chicago

Finally after a bit of stringing help from Mel. OK, actually quite a bit as we were hurrying to get my Monarch ready for the trip to the Sherman’s in Chicago for a Hurdy-Gurdy gathering. It was a wonderful day and around 12-14 players in attendance. Although I have not learned the techniques of playing, it was very helpful to listen and try to mimic those playing. Everyone agreed that learning to tune, cotton & rosin, and then master the crank while hitting the right keys which change depending on which tuning you are using can be quite overwhelming. So for those of you who are just beginning, be encouraged that there are many of us out there and many others who have been there! It really helps if you can find another HG player even within a few hours drive to spend an afternoon with to get you started. You can always feel free to call us and Mel is very good at coaching over the phone or knowing someone nearby who might help. Contact information is on our site; Hurdygurdycrafters.com

Enjoy the Journey!

More to Learn

Finally, the key chest is firmly attached to the gurdy body! I managed to sand the block at the wheel end to fit the arc of the top without scratching the sound board. We have decided that the arc is not large enough to affect the sound but is mostly cosmetic. Thus in the future, the manual will mention this. Oh no, another change I need to make in the builders manual. Building my own Monarch was a good idea but is making more work for me in the long run. I also learned why some builders choose to finish the instrument after parts are in place. Scraping off the finish where parts must be glued on is delicate work but necessary to assure a secure glue joint.

The most time consuming part was locating the right drill bits and making sure the key chest is aligned properly. Sharing the shop with two guys and several orders seems to give the smaller tools legs! I picked up my key chest lid from my brother at Intri-Cut Etchings and was astounded at the way he captured my sketchy idea to continue the monarch theme.

The wheel and shaft are in place and soon she will be humming a tune. Oh yes, I did break my commitment to “do it myself”. Mel was so patient with my questions, I let him drill the holes for the chest attachment. He did a good job and then handed over the drill so I could screw it together.

I'm Back

I'm sure you all wonder where I've gone. "Maybe she is one of those for whom Gurdy building is just a fleeting infatuation? Hardly! Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I will use pictures to tell you how my gurdy building is coming. In the last few weeks we have sold a kit, a Symphony, and a Monarch built. Well this means tweeking and printing the builders manual. My apologies for the areas in the manual already out there. As I use my copy I am discovering spelling errors and word choice inconsistencies which need fixing.

Three HG bags/cases to sew, more mugs to order, and the kit to pack while bugging my husband for the parts while he is chasing his own list! It's been quite an adventure. To Michael, I am going to wait to install the tangents until farther along. In fact until the very last minute, somewhere around page 12 in part 3 of the builders manual. they just seem to get in the way before then. Well here is a picture summary of my days and I will attempt to be more faithful in my blogging in the future.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Whose "To Do" List?

Imagine the young man Abram getting up one morning and checking out his “to do” list. As he wondered where to start, a voice called out to him “Abram, Abram”. It was a voice he would become very familiar with in future years.

“Abram, I want you to pack up all your belongings, leave your people and your father’s household (and your to do list) and go to the land I will show you.” The Voice tells him why he is going and what is in store for him but not where he is going. Genesis 12:4 says “So Abram left as the LORD had told him”. Abram tore up his “to do” list and embraced God’s. Through his obedience, the whole world has been blessed.

This morning as most mornings, I sat on the porch with my coffee, Bible, and notebook. I carefully crafted my “to do” list which was fairly simple since I basically had to just copy yesterday’s list! For those of you following my blog, I took my Gurdy key chest to the Music Funfest in Evart Michigan two weeks ago with the intention of doing the final fitting of the keys while tending our booth. The extremely high humidity and heat did a number on the wood and tightened even the loose keys. The keys would have to wait until we got home. Our return home included visits from family, a wedding, and the need to bag and ship a Hurdy gurdy and two Symphonies. All good, but definitely not on my list!

God is teaching me that it’s good to make a “to do” list, but don’t let it get in the way of His for me! I will have new Gurdy pictures for you soon, or rather In His Time.

Posted by Ann Dorries ann@anndorries.com at 9:40 AM 0 comments Monday, June 28, 2010


A Slight Delay

Like a ham hanging in the smoke house, my gurdy, “The Monarch” has hung in the spray booth for over a week. The time lapse on both it’s construction and my blog entries is due to a couple miss guided adults who decided that they had more right to my Lap Top, Jewelry (all of it except my wedding band and two cheap pair of earrings) and several other items of an electronic nature than we did. I am finally back on line but still trying to get back in the shop. Meanwhile, gurdy hangs waiting for her new coat of finish.

Posted by Ann Dorries ann@anndorries.com at 5:39 PM 1 comments Thursday, June 17, 2010

Keys Fit, Stains Drying

Wow! I thought I would have the keys fit to their respective places by early morning. After 4 1/2 hours, they were finally finished, except for the buttons, tangents, etc. Mel says nothing is ever as easy or quick as you think. Gurdy's body and main parts are sanded and a coat of filler and light stain is drying.

I played HG music while I worked on her. Its kind of like reading or playing Brahms to an unborn child. I hope it will help Gurdy make beautiful music in a few weeks.
Some of you have heard the story of how we met our first Hurdy-gurdy and I would like to thank the special lady who not only was playing it but was gracious enough to give us an intimate introduction to this intriguing instrument. Thanks Judith.

Posted by Ann Dorries ann@anndorries.com at 8:40 PM 0 comments Wednesday, June 16, 2010



Anybody Out There?

Blogging is almost as lonely as building a Hurdy gurdy. Most Gurdy players are sure they are the only ones in the state unless they happen to be fortunate enough to belong to a "group", rare in Michigan and surrounding states, but worth the effort sometimes. Then at other times solitude seems like the best state to live in.

Well, in blogging the only way to find out if anyone is listening/reading is to inject a typo into the copy. Even then you never know since only your best friends will call it to your attention. Thank you for the encouragement friend.

The top and bottom are on and the keys almost fitted to their corresponding spaces. "the keys must be not too loose and not too tight" the inspector says over my shoulder. Who does he think he is anyway? a gurdy builder? I have only had to take one long drive to cope so far.

Posted by Ann Dorries ann@anndorries.com at 5:07 PM 2 comments Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Welcome to our new home

Realizing that my Hurdy-gurdy adventures had nearly drowned out my writers blog, I decided to start a new blog devoted to that unique and wonderful instrument the Hurdy-gurdy! I have attempted to move the material to this site but my woodworking skills far outshine my blogging skills so you may find some things missing from the beginning of the journey. From here on I will stop by at least once a week to catch you up on my building adventures.Your patience and feed back will be much appreciated as we share in the gurdy building. I hope you will share your stories with me and any suggestions you might feel are valuable.

Building a Monarch

The first of February I shared a bit about our Hurdy-gurdy business and promised more later. Well later has arrived but not the way I expected. At that time I intended to regal you all with a bit of Gurdy history and the story of our blind date with it. Maybe later. For now I have a different adventure to share with you, my treasured readers. For some reason after many months of writing a builder’s manual for our Gurdy kit, wrapping and shipping parts, Gurdies, and kits all over the world, last week I decided to build my own Gurdy from one of our kits. We had sold my hurdy-gurdy just before Christmas and since then I have been gurdiless. This makes it impossible to practice my coo (fancy name for the way we Gurdy players turn the crank to get a buzz). Ah, the solution. I will build one myself. Besides what better way to test the accuracy and user friendly aspect of that Manual we labored over!

February 21, 2010
Sunday after church, Mel helped me select a suitable body from our shelf , and laying out my personal copy of the manual, I began my journey. Those of you who know me well will not be surprised if I tell you that I was sure I could have it nearly done in a couple of weeks. Yesterday I assembled the building brace and the three braces that give the body shape and strength. I was constantly reminded of those IQ tests we used to take in school. Which shape looks like another one? Which piece is the mirror of another piece and now how in the world do they go together? Oh I guess I need to turn the page on my manual…

 Tuesday February 23

Today, I sanded, trimmed, sanded, and trimmed some more until the braces fit snugly in their place. I won’t bore you with all the details but suffice it to say it took me most of the day to get them glued in place and then glue in the rest of the bracing called kerfing! Tomorrow I will sand the arch for the top and hopefully glue on the top and bottom. If you have time to stop back tomorrow, I will include a few pictures.

Finally glue is dry on the braces and I even have the holes cut out and the Monarch inserts glued in. We used a small ring of soundboard material glued to the underside to make a ring reinforcement for the sound holes.