# What is this thing? (musical instrument seen in Prague) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745 "2008-09-29T18:14:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/1 "2008-09-29T18:14:06Z")
My dad is in Prague and asked me to find out what this instrument is. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hqPlpkXAiMY/hqdefault.jpg "What is this thing?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqPlpkXAiMY) ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/2 "2008-09-29T18:16:52Z")
What is a [hurdy gurdy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy_gurdy), Alex. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/3 "2008-09-29T18:44:11Z")
I figured it’s been answered, but without looking it up or reading the thread: Hurdy Gurdy. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/4 "2008-09-29T20:00:24Z")
Yup. Hurdy Gurdy. Played well, the sound is like a baroque violin with a bagpipe drone to it, and can be positively entrancing. Playing it poorly in public, I understand, is outlawed by the Geneva Conventions for a very good reason. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/5 "2008-09-29T23:25:03Z")
Weird, we both said it sounded like a hurdy gurdy + bagpipes. I guess maybe I’ve only seen hurdy gurdies in cartoons but I’ve never seen one that looked or sounded quite like that. Is it a regional variant? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/6 "2008-09-30T02:02:02Z")
No, it looks, and sounds as best one can tell, like ones I’ve seen in concert. And like the one in the [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy_gurdy). ---
**Author:** ![Figaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Figaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Figaro)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/7 "2008-09-30T12:58:10Z")
Ha! I read the thread title and thought “I bet it’s a hurdy gurdy!” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/8 "2008-09-30T13:17:41Z")
Welp, now “Hurdy Gurdy Man” is stuck in my head for the rest of the day, and that song creeps me out ever since it was used in _Zodiac_. Thanks a lot! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/9 "2008-10-01T00:02:14Z")
> [@Figaro](#): > > Ha! I read the thread title and thought “I bet it’s a hurdy gurdy!” > > 🆒 What a coincidence! I thought the same thing when I read the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/10 "2008-10-01T00:21:35Z")
Damn. From the thread title, I was going to guess “hammered dulcimer,” another popular folk instrument in that region of Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/11 "2008-10-01T06:16:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > … I was going to guess “hammered dulcimer” … I think I met him in a pub in Soho. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-musical-instrument-seen-in-prague/465745/12 "2008-10-01T23:11:08Z")
I had the “Bet it’s a hurdy-gurdy” thought when I read the title, too. Hurdy-gurdies always make me think of the Bastille Day tricentennial. The parade, perhaps better termed a pageant, was televised, and it included a unit of marching hurdy-gurdy players, dressed in uniforms that looked rather Napoleonic, IIRC.