Hurdy-gurdy Hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument that produces sound by a hand 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 and hollow cavity to make the vibration of the strings audible. Most hurdy-gurdies have multiple drone strings, which give a constant pitch accompaniment
Hurdy-gurdy rolls, and more recently by electronic modules. The French call the barrel organ the "Orgue de Barbarie" ("Barbary organ"), while the Germans and Dutch say "Drehorgel" and "draaiorgel" ("turned organ"), instead of "Drehleier" ("turning lyre"). In Czech, the barrel organ is called "Flašinet". A person who plays the hurdy-gurdy is called a hurdy-gurdyist, or (particularly for players of French instruments) viellist. In France, a player is called un sonneur de vielle (literally: ""a sounder of vielle""), un vielleux or un vielleur. Because of the prominence of the French tradition, many instrument and performance terms used in English are commonly taken