Hurdy-gurdy twenty-three different forms, and there is still no standardized design today. The six-stringed French "vielle à roue" is the best known and most common sort. A number of regional forms developed, but outside France the instrument was considered a folk instrument and there were no schools of construction that could have determined a standard form. There are two primary body styles for contemporary instruments: guitar-bodied and lute-backed. Both forms are found in French-speaking areas, while guitar-bodied instruments are the general form elsewhere. The box form of the "simphonia" is also commonly found among players of early music and historical re-enactors.
Kaisatsuko Kaisatsuko The kaisatsuko (Japanese: 回擦胡, literally "wheel-bowed fiddle") is a mechanical experimental musical instrument invented by Yuichi Onoue of Tokyo, Japan. The instrument consists of two strings on a fretless neck. A crank is affixed to a small nylon wheel mounted on the body. The player turns the crank, causing the wheel to spin and "bow" the strings. This concept is similar to that employed by the hurdy-gurdy. Unlike most hurdy-gurdies, Onoue's instrument has no keybox, but is fingered along the neck. This detail is similar to the dulcigurdy, a hurdy-gurdy variant recorded by Michael Praetorius. Besides the Kaisatsuko Onoue