The Death Of King Arthur (hurdy-gurdy)

The instrument you see and hear in this video is a “solid-body” alto Artus hurdy-gurdy (aka “vielle à roue”) from the workshop of French luthier, Philippe Mousnier. This instrument is to the traditional hurdy-gurdy what the Stratocaster is to the classical guitar. It has no soundbox but is provided with electromagnetic pickups that allow the player to take advantage of all the devices and FX that can be applied to the electric guitar. Everything you hear in this performance was performed live. There are no overdubs or additions. I used two linked Digitech Whammy pedals, and a Roland PK-5 pedalboard which allow me to play complex harmonies and to change key. In a way, this is not a hurdy-gurdy at all but a new and incredibly versatile instrument.

For a singer, one of the advantages of a solid body is that the unamplified volume output is low. Traditional acoustic gurdies are very loud, so their sound bleeds into the vocal mike and competes with the singer.

The Artus is also provided with a retractable wheel, which lets the player change the timbre and volume output of the strings - something that cannot be done on a traditional hurdy-gurdy. Philippe Mousnier, who made this instrument, has a short YT video explaining how all of this works.

https://youtu.be/2vQURO4Vwz0

The story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is one of the world’s most enduring legends. This video deals only with the death of the King as told by the British poet Alfred Lord Tennyson in his epic poem - LE MORTE D’ARTHUR - which he based on an earlier work by Sir Thomas Malory. I have edited the story in order to keep it under six minutes and avoid putting everybody to sleep.

Sorry about the “popping” on the audio. I was too close to the mike. That’s the problem when you are your own sound engineer! 😀

Видео The Death Of King Arthur (hurdy-gurdy) канала Peter Pringle