While in Oaxaca, México, we visited the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, and I had an opportunity to play a Zanfona (also known as a hurdy-gurdy)!
— Love the heavy sound of the Zanfona en Telar. Take a listen! #instrument #strings #Oaxaca #Mexico #art #ProjectELETRÌCO #videooftheday #videography
“The hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument that produces sound by a crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents—small wedges, typically made of wood—against one or more of the strings to change their pitch.
Like most other acoustic stringed instruments, it has a sound board to make the vibration of the strings audible. Most hurdy-gurdies have multiple drone strings, which give a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in a sound similar to that of bagpipes. For this reason, the hurdy-gurdy is often used interchangeably or along with bagpipes, particularly in Occitan, Catalan, Sardinian, Cajun French and contemporary Asturian, Cantabric, Galician, and Hungarian folk music.” – Wikipedia
