Rand Moore > the anonymous pickJanuary 27, 2014 at 2:03am
Hi A.P.
Yeah, I like that! How does it sound? Do you pick/strum it or use a bow?
You'd think thick bamboo would be easier for me to find being in China and all, but I think PVC pipe is more readily available. Will see if I can hunt down some wide diameter bamboo while I'm at it. I'm interested in this instrument as an introduction to bowed instruments and fiddling in general (kind of like canjos and dulcimers are to guitars, these tube fiddles are to true fiddles).
To free ourselves from the need to use traditional building materials, maybe we should create a generic name for this instrument like "tube fiddle" or maybe "cylindrical fiddle". Then we are free to use any kind of materials like PVC pipe or whatever. Here is a preliminary drawing.
I guess I'll be checking out the hardware store to see what I can come up with.
ABS pipe has better resonating qualities than PVC. You can also take a torch to ABS and make it bubbly or soften the pipe and twist it or put a stopper over one end, heat it and make it bulge or flare.
Cleaning agave stalks is relatively easy: the pith scrapes out until you hit wall which is about 1/8 -1/4 inch. The stalk does not have to be cut and glued. The wood is soft and needs finishing to not crack or rot.(Yucca stalk is more solid and does have to be cut).
As I was reading the first bits of this, and looking at the pics, my first thought was, "PVC!" Tuner can be made from an eyelet bolt, end post from a screw. If you use PVC end caps, then you might not need a bridge or nut, since the end caps usually are thicker than the tube itself. Your illustration is damn near perfect. Different size PVC tubes (both lengths and diameters) will probably give different tonal ranges, and could also be played like a diddley bow.
Very neat idea.
Rand Moore > Ron "Oily" SpragueJanuary 27, 2014 at 2:11am
Yeah, different diameter and different length PVC pipe would definitely give us lots of possibilities. I was thinking of this exercise as a chance to experiment with primitive bowed instruments rather than just jumping in and buying a violin to learn fiddling. But, sure this tube fiddle could be played as a tube diddley bow, or add a couple more strings and a diatonic fretboard and I'd feel right at home with a tube dulcimer.
I found another photo that shows how the string was attached. Here's that photo...From the photo, you can see that I was wrong about the string attachment posts... they were NOT attached perpendicular to the length of the sound box, but rather fixed to either end of the sound box in line with the length of the sound box. Now that I can see it in the photo, this makes more sense as it makes tying the string onto the post in a secure fashion much easier. Bits of wood were wedged in under the string to serve as nut and bridge as can be seen in this photo. The four (or five?) sound holes were roughly aligned under the string. The two halves of the hollowed out agave stalk were held in place by 2 or 3 straps of sinew. All of this is pretty obvious from studying the photo. It's not clear how the instrument was tuned, but maybe one of the pegs could be twisted to add tension to the string.
So far I have no information about the thickness of the "walls" of the Apache fiddle, so some experimentation there may be warranted. However, the thickness of the wall may become obvious when you go to hollow out the agave stalk as there may be some natural boundary between the outer stalk and the inner pith.
Thanks Randy yes is was apache. I have read this article. I normally make flutes. I have been making cbgs for a year now. Trying to get help on what the specs would be to make One. And learn to play oh boy
Replies
Interesting instrument and discussion guys!
then there's this
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/the-first-cbg-cylindrical-bambo...
Hi A.P.
Yeah, I like that! How does it sound? Do you pick/strum it or use a bow?
You'd think thick bamboo would be easier for me to find being in China and all, but I think PVC pipe is more readily available. Will see if I can hunt down some wide diameter bamboo while I'm at it. I'm interested in this instrument as an introduction to bowed instruments and fiddling in general (kind of like canjos and dulcimers are to guitars, these tube fiddles are to true fiddles).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhDNe911yBE
To free ourselves from the need to use traditional building materials, maybe we should create a generic name for this instrument like "tube fiddle" or maybe "cylindrical fiddle". Then we are free to use any kind of materials like PVC pipe or whatever. Here is a preliminary drawing.
I guess I'll be checking out the hardware store to see what I can come up with.
ABS pipe has better resonating qualities than PVC. You can also take a torch to ABS and make it bubbly or soften the pipe and twist it or put a stopper over one end, heat it and make it bulge or flare.
Cleaning agave stalks is relatively easy: the pith scrapes out until you hit wall which is about 1/8 -1/4 inch. The stalk does not have to be cut and glued. The wood is soft and needs finishing to not crack or rot.(Yucca stalk is more solid and does have to be cut).
As I was reading the first bits of this, and looking at the pics, my first thought was, "PVC!" Tuner can be made from an eyelet bolt, end post from a screw. If you use PVC end caps, then you might not need a bridge or nut, since the end caps usually are thicker than the tube itself. Your illustration is damn near perfect. Different size PVC tubes (both lengths and diameters) will probably give different tonal ranges, and could also be played like a diddley bow.
Very neat idea.
Yeah, different diameter and different length PVC pipe would definitely give us lots of possibilities. I was thinking of this exercise as a chance to experiment with primitive bowed instruments rather than just jumping in and buying a violin to learn fiddling. But, sure this tube fiddle could be played as a tube diddley bow, or add a couple more strings and a diatonic fretboard and I'd feel right at home with a tube dulcimer.
I found another photo that shows how the string was attached. Here's that photo...
From the photo, you can see that I was wrong about the string attachment posts... they were NOT attached perpendicular to the length of the sound box, but rather fixed to either end of the sound box in line with the length of the sound box. Now that I can see it in the photo, this makes more sense as it makes tying the string onto the post in a secure fashion much easier. Bits of wood were wedged in under the string to serve as nut and bridge as can be seen in this photo. The four (or five?) sound holes were roughly aligned under the string. The two halves of the hollowed out agave stalk were held in place by 2 or 3 straps of sinew. All of this is pretty obvious from studying the photo. It's not clear how the instrument was tuned, but maybe one of the pegs could be twisted to add tension to the string.
So far I have no information about the thickness of the "walls" of the Apache fiddle, so some experimentation there may be warranted. However, the thickness of the wall may become obvious when you go to hollow out the agave stalk as there may be some natural boundary between the outer stalk and the inner pith.
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