Musician seeks to patent hurdy gurdy design
From our weekly issue dated July 07, 2010
George Leverett, with a hurdy gurdy of his design. (Photo by Scott Jorgensen, Illinois Valley News)
An O“Brien resident is in the process of obtaining a patent for a component for an obscure musical instrument that has been around for a thousand years.
George Leverett and his wife, Anwyn, started their business, Altar Wind Music, approximately 18 years ago. Although they began making lap dulcimers, they eventually expanded their product line to include harps, psalteries and hurdy gurdys.
The focus of the business during the past few years has been the hurdy gurdys, which are made by some 17 people in the world; including three in the United States.
Hurdy gurdys originated in France; were used in churches before organs came along, and were quite popular among street musicians. The Leveretts have been making hurdy gurdys for about a decade, and have sold them to people in Canada, Australia, France, Ireland, England, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Norway and Finland.
There are more than 90 moving parts on a hurdy gurdy that need to be coordinated just right, George Leverett said.
Last May, he began experimenting with ways to adjust the action on hurdy gurdys. Doing so would enable players to change musical keys more quickly and make it easier to customize the instrument in different climates, as the wood in the hurdy gurdys can shrink and swell with varying amounts of humidity.
“It was an idea I had been flirting with for a while,“ he said.
George developed a wooden plate to solve the problem and started adding it as a standard feature to the hurdy gurdys that he and Anwyn make.
The Leveretts donated one of their hurdy gurdys for a festival held last May in Great Britain. George said that the organizers wrote them and asked about the wooden plate, because they had never seen it in a hurdy gurdy. At that point, he said, he decided to seek a patent.
George filed for the patent in May. It“s an 18-month process, he said, but is going well so far.
As they go through the patent process, the Leveretts continue to seek ways to innovate the hurdy gurdy and their other instruments.
“It feels like there“s room for improvement,“ observed George.
In the meantime, the Leveretts will perform at the Scottish Games in Winston on July 19, 20 and 21. On Feb. 27, the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra in Chicago will use one of their hurdy gurdys for a special presentation.
“We“re super thrilled about it,“ George said.
(Full disclosure: IVN News Editor Scott Jorgensen is happily married to Anwyn“s daughter, Annaka.)
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