TEDGlobal 2010
Caroline Phillips: Hurdy-gurdy for beginners
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Caroline Phillips cranks out tunes on a seldom-heard folk instrument: the hurdy-gurdy, a.k.a. the wheel fiddle. A searching, Basque melody follows her fun lesson on its unique anatomy and 1,000-year history.
Caroline Phillips - Musician
Caroline Phillips' rich, soprano voice conjures up the far-and-wide cultures of the world, especially the sound and language of the Basque Country. Full bio
Caroline Phillips' rich, soprano voice conjures up the far-and-wide cultures of the world, especially the sound and language of the Basque Country. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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Now, since this is TEDGlobal,
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who can tell me what this is called in French?
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I see you're all up on the history of hurdy-gurdy --
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"vielle à roue."
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And in Spanish, "zanfona."
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And in Italian, "ghironda," okay?
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Hurdy-gurdy, or wheel fiddle.
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So, these are the different kinds and shapes of the hurdy-gurdy.
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The hurdy-gurdy is the only musical instrument
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that uses a crank to turn a wheel
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to rub strings, like the bow of a violin,
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to produce music.
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It has three different kinds of strings.
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The first string is the drone string,
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which plays a continuous sound like the bagpipe.
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The second string is a melody string,
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which is played with a wooden keyboard tuned like a piano.
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And the third string is pretty innovative.
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It's also the only instrument
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that uses this kind of technique.
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It activates what's called the buzzing bridge, or the dog.
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When I turn the crank and I apply pressure,
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it makes a sound like a barking dog.
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So all of this is pretty innovative,
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if you consider
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that the hurdy-gurdy appeared about a thousand years ago
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and it took two people to play it;
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one to turn the crank,
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and another person -- yes -- to play the melody
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by physically pulling up large wooden pegs.
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Luckily, all of this changed a couple of centuries later.
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So, one person could actually play
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and almost -- this is pretty heavy --
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carry the hurdy-gurdy.
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The hurdy-gurdy has been used, historically, through the centuries
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in mostly dance music
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because of the uniqueness of the melody
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combined with the acoustic boombox here.
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And today, the hurdy-gurdy is used in all sorts of music --
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traditional folk music,
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dance, contemporary
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and world music --
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in the U.K., in France, in Spain
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and in Italy.
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And this kind of hurdy-gurdy takes anywhere from three to five years [to order and receive it].
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It's made by specialized luthiers,
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also in Europe.
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And it's very difficult to tune.
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So without further ado, would you like to hear it?
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(Audience: Yes.)
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Caroline Phillips: I didn't hear you. Would you like to hear it? (Audience: Yes!)
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CP: Okay.
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There I go.
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I'd like to sing in Basque,
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which is the language spoken in the Basque Country where I live,
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in the region in France and Spain.
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(Music)
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[Basque]
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(Music)
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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This is a song that I wrote
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based on traditional Basque rhythms.
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And this is a song that has a kind of a Celtic feel.
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(Music)
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Thank you. Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Caroline Phillips - MusicianCaroline Phillips' rich, soprano voice conjures up the far-and-wide cultures of the world, especially the sound and language of the Basque Country.
Why you should listen
Californian-born, French-resident entrepreneur and musician Caroline Phillips is one half of Basque music duo Bidaia, alongside Mixel Ducau. Her searching, Moroccan- and East Indian-inflected vocals are accompanied by the distinctive, folky sounds of the hurdy-gurdy, an unfamiliar and unusual string instrument operated with a crank-turned wheel.
Throughout her years as a professional musician, Phillips has regularly performed in jazz clubs and toured with her one-woman show in the Caribbean and North Africa.
Caroline Phillips | Speaker | TED.com