My ElectroGurdy

My latest project is an "ElectroGurdy." I decided to take what I learned from my first hurdy gurdy project (https://xerocraft.org/projects/160-dans-dulcy-gurdy) and apply it to an electronic instrument.

I used an Arduino Mega, orchestrated by a C++ sketch, written in collaboration with Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT and DeepSeek. The “MozziGuts” sound synthesis library manipulates oscillators tailored to mimic the traditional hurdy gurdy sound. Musical notes are produced by twelve buttons, assigned like the frets on a dulcimer, to play a diatonic scale (D) scale. A rotating wheel with attached magnets coupled with a Hall effect sensor allow me to add echo-like effects in real-time, mimicking the control of a traditional hurdy gurdy's wheel. LED "fairy lights" flash with each note.

Short video at

https://youtu.be/CfFKABX6rSY

Dan Davidson,
dan@dantastic.us
July 21, 2025