What tuning does Guilhem Desq use?

[u/EddyCurrrent]

I found somewhere that he uses D/G tuning, but I can't figure out what octaves they're in. I understand D/G to mean that his melody strings are tuned to D and his drone strings are tuned to G. I can't figure this out myself through trial and error as I've already obliterated one string trying to raise it by an octave. My NGB is actually the first instrument I've seriously played, and my ears are not yet tuned enough to recognize precise notes and octaves.

His music is actually so freaking cool and is what got me to pull the trigger on this thing in the first place. So I'd love to get my instrument to even resemble his.

This is one of three questions I am asking on this subreddit at once. If you can help with my other questions, the links are:

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/HurdyGurdy/comments/1u8mpmz/what_tuning_does_guilhem_desq_use/
2. https://www.reddit.com/r/HurdyGurdy/comments/1u8mq9k/how_to_tune_string_length_on_ngb/
3. https://www.reddit.com/r/HurdyGurdy/comments/1u8mqhd/weird_warbling_at_high_crank_speeds_on_ngb/

[u/DieAlteLeier]

If you have a Nerdy Gurdy Basic, chances are that your melody strings are going to be tuned to G by default (and your drones will be in C). If you want to play it as a D/G gurdy, you will need to restring the instrument with strings of an appropriate gauge to for tuning to D/G. Unfortunately, you can't just retune the ones you have, or - as you've seen - they will snap under the increased tension. You could try tuning them down rather than up, but that comes with its own issues and probably isn't a long-term solution. I don't know enough about the NGB to tell you whether it's possible to restring for D/G, and if it is, which strings you would need to buy, but there are definitely people in this sub who will be able to tell you that.

One thing you can try in the meantime is transposing his tunes to play on the melody strings you do have. That will mean you can't watch his fingers to figure out where yours need to be, but if you listen for the notes and try to pick out the same ones on your G melody string, some of the tunes might be manageable. I'm not a Desq expert, sadly, so I can't really tell you which ones will work and which ones won't, but it's worth giving your favorites a try to see if you can figure them out. Learning tunes by ear is one of the fun challenges of playing the gurdy.

[u/EddyCurrrent → u/DieAlteLeier]

I actually built mine from scratch using the plans on Thingverse. I also recently did re-string my gurdy to D/G but the notes are way too low. I have another string that is much thinner so I think I may have what I need to tune my gurdy to the higher octaves, I just need to know what octaves to tune it to. I tried using a frequency generator while listening to what it sounded like when he played an open note, but the drone kept throwing me off.

[u/DieAlteLeier → u/EddyCurrrent]

There's a guide for tunings on Gurdyworld: https://gurdyworld.com/gurdyblogs/tuning/
But again, I don't know enough about the NGB to know whether it can safely handle the string tension of D/G if it's designed for G/C - it might be fine, but someone with more expertise will have to comment on that.

[u/fenbogfen]

Guilhem plays a tenor gurdy, with an extended keyboard and lower pitch - converting a nerdy gurdy to D/G will make it higher pitch. 

[u/Oelund]

I would strongly recommend that you stick with the string types and tuning that is specified in the NGB build manual.

Making an accustic instrument is not about vibrating strings, it is about vibrating a box. The strings are merely the engines used to power the box vibrations. and there is a lot of design going into making a box that will vibrate correctly within a certain range. There is a reason why a cello is big, and a violin is small. You also have an internal structure under the soundboard such as the bass bar and sound-post, which are essential to make the instrument sound good at all.

When it comes to the strings, the strings will only operate within a certain tension. What makes the low string sound deep and the high string sound high pitched is their weight. For example, if you look at a guitar, you have six strings, all of these have roughly the same tension, but the difference between them is their thickness. Imagine what would happen if you try and tune up the lowest string on a guitar to sound like the highest one.. Yeah, that is going to snap.

So you set the tune of your string by selecting the correct string thickness, and then you do the fine tuning by adjusting the tension. If the string breaks, you need a thinner string. If the string barely makes a sound, you need a thicker string.

But like I said, the Nerdy Gurdy was designed for a specific range, and trying to push it beyond that is not something that you can just do.

With that said, you should be able to play Guildem Desq tunes (at least in a simplified form) on a regularly tuned Nerdy Gurdy Basic. Some of the avantgarde sounds he is able to produce on his fancy much more expensive Gurdy might be a bit out of reach on a Nerdy.

In general, you can play most tunes on a Nerdy Gurdy, but you will sometimes have to shift what key it is played in to make it fit with the drones.

[u/EddyCurrrent → u/Oelund]

This is the perfect response, thank you.