I am reminded of this by something ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shalmestere wrote today, as well as by a recent post by someone on a board I belong to who is fond of writing badly spelled, erroneous generalizations on topics about which he has clearly not bothered to do any homework whatsoever.
When I acquired my student model hurdy gurdy several years ago, it came equipped with a rubber band that stretched across the tangents on the inside of the instrument, presumably to make the tangents spring back into place after a key was played. That rubber band broke a lot, usually while the instrument was in transit. It was more trouble than it was worth. It wasn't even necessary! The instrument maker uses this very image from the Cantigas de Santa Maria manuscript on his website. Note if you will the position of the keys on the instruments. That's right, they're on the bottom, not the front side. So, if one plays the modern reproduction instrument with the top lid tilted away from one's body at 45 degrees or more from horizontal, the tangents will drop back into place of their own accord without the aid of a cheesy 20th century rubber band. Never mind the fact that someone had conceived of a stringed instrument that could be bowed by turning a flywheel to produce a great deal of sound with very little effort. They knew about gravity in 13th century Spain. Imagine!
Our ancestors were not morons.
They did not routinely eat spoiled food.
They did not go into battle in armor that was too heavy to move in. They did not carry weapons which were ineffective.
They did not wear clothing that was incompatible with their climate or lifestyle.
They didn't have "no technology." They had different technology.
shalmestere wrote today, as well as by a recent post by someone on a board I belong to who is fond of writing badly spelled, erroneous generalizations on topics about which he has clearly not bothered to do any homework whatsoever. When I acquired my student model hurdy gurdy several years ago, it came equipped with a rubber band that stretched across the tangents on the inside of the instrument, presumably to make the tangents spring back into place after a key was played. That rubber band broke a lot, usually while the instrument was in transit. It was more trouble than it was worth. It wasn't even necessary! The instrument maker uses this very image from the Cantigas de Santa Maria manuscript on his website. Note if you will the position of the keys on the instruments. That's right, they're on the bottom, not the front side. So, if one plays the modern reproduction instrument with the top lid tilted away from one's body at 45 degrees or more from horizontal, the tangents will drop back into place of their own accord without the aid of a cheesy 20th century rubber band. Never mind the fact that someone had conceived of a stringed instrument that could be bowed by turning a flywheel to produce a great deal of sound with very little effort. They knew about gravity in 13th century Spain. Imagine!
Our ancestors were not morons.
They did not routinely eat spoiled food.
They did not go into battle in armor that was too heavy to move in. They did not carry weapons which were ineffective.
They did not wear clothing that was incompatible with their climate or lifestyle.
They didn't have "no technology." They had different technology.
