When the weather is nice, it’s common to see musicians at the Fisherman’s Bastion. There aren’t just guitarists strumming away, drummers playing a soulful beat or even singers performing.

 

A hurdy gurdy musician can be spotted on the scene.

 

Most hurdy gurdies have multiple drone strings, which give a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in sounds similar to that of bagpipes. For this reason, the hurdy gurdy is often used along with bagpipes, particularly in French and Hungarian folk music. The instrument might have existed as early as the 1100s and was very common across Europe in the 1600s.

 

The hurdy gurdy’s eccentric melodies and history must be why Máté Radics, a mechanical engineering student in Budapest, has been playing the hurdy gurdy for 15 years.

 

We spotted Radics while we were walking around the Fisherman’s Bastion and started to watch him perform. Soon enough, there were more than 20 people listening. As we gathered around, he explained how the hurdy gurdy worked.

 

“There’s obviously a wheel, and since there is rosin applied to the surface of the wheel, the strings resonate from friction,” Radics said. “There are three operational strings. This fourth one is just pre-stretched in case any of the other ones snap.”

 

After going over the general overview of the instrument, he went on to explain the three operational strings.

 

“The first string is the melody string,” Radics said. “I play the melodies by pressing the buttons, which push the little bags against the string adjusting its length,”

 

The second string is the rhythm string.

 

Radics said, “You might see the suspension of this string is a bit looser than the others. So when I pull the crank harder, it makes the string elevate, creating a buzzing sound. The third string is the bass string, which completes the harmony of the instrument.”

 

After describing what the strings do, Radics rosined the wheel and began to play all the strings together.

 

“As you can see, we have a full orchestra in one instrument," Radics said. "We have melody, rhythm and bass. With all three sounds together, it sounds like this...”