BEOWULF: Hurdy Gurdy Theremin

This is a short excerpt from the 8th century epic tale of BEOWULF. The instrument I am using to accompany myself is called a hurdygurdy, a popular instrument of medieval Europe. The hurdygurdy in this video was made for me by Alden and Cali Hackmann of Olympic Musical Instruments in Indianola, Washington, and is a fully equipped electroacoustic instrument with a builtin sound console. Hurdygurdy players, like bagpipe players, cannot control the volume of their instruments which makes it difficult to use for accompanying the human voice but the intensity and sheer volume of the instrument also made it ideal for great halls and public places in ancient times. One advantage that it has is that it is a complete instrument, able to play melody, harmony and rhythm. The hurdygurdy in this video is plugged into an RSP Technologies Intelliverb processor which I control with a MIDI Ground Control foot switch. The only other instrument used in this video is a Moog Ethervox theremin. The ori