I would like to make a Navajo fiddle. Does anyone have any ideas on it

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Do you mean an Apache Fiddle? Wikipedia has an article on the Apache Fiddle at this link.

Elsewhere I found this blurb...

The Mescalero Apache fiddle is made from the hollowed stalk of the agave cactus, native to Southwestern deserts. Three carved sections of the one-stringed fiddle are held together with sinew wrappings and metal spikes. Native Americans began playing European fiddles by the 1800s. As a result they developed their own repertoire called "Waila," a hybrid of European polka, waltzes, and Mexican influences that has become an important local tradition among the Tohono O'dham Native Americans of southern Arizona.

More info on the Apache Fiddle...

The website of the Smithsonian Museum of American History has about 25 hits for articles relating to the Apache Fiddle, well worth a search thru if you are interested in building such an instrument. Just click on this link and it should get you started. Here's a photo of one made in 1989, which is more refined than the early ones.

In the pic above, the tuning peg is extra long. I blew up and sharpened the photo, and in this particular instance it appears that the string is tied high on the peg, and is not fretted with the fingers; the tube looks to be merely held in the hand. Perhaps there is some variability in how these are made / played...yep, the next coupla photos down in this thread show that. Neat.
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

There`s a guy on facebook that made one similar out of a large piece of bamboo, it sounds really good

I doubt there are many builders of this instrument around, save for maybe a few Apaches in Arizona. I'd do some research, collect as many photos as I could and see if I could come up with approximate specs and try to build a similar instrument based on those. The first photo shows how it would be held and so you can figure out the approximate length of the instrument. The instrument is not fretted. So, to learn to play it, I'd go ahead and build a test model and mark where the frets would be so you can more easily find the notes. Use your favorite fret position calculator and enter the size of the VSL you come up with. Like a fiddle, playing it will involve some fretting with one hand while bowing with the other (in place of picking or strumming). So, if you have access to a fiddle or violin, it might be a go idea to experiment with how it plays with one string before building one. I'd say go ahead and experiment and see what works best. You will likely be building a number of these instruments before you build a really good one. But that's how we all learn, even with CBG building. Good luck in finding agave cactus stalks.

Hey! I have a didge that I don't use due to a lip issue....gonna hack it up, string it and see what transpires....

Hi Marcus,

Welcome to the discussion.

If, by "didge", you mean an Australian "didgeridoo", then it should be cut into several lengths to make several such instruments. Seems the Apache fiddle varied in length from 11.5" to 17.5". Most were made if agave cactus stalks, but one is described as having been made of yucca flower stalk, and another described as being made of "wood". So, I guess any of those materials are allowable.

The diameter of the Apache fiddle (which is usually described as "cylindrical", although a few have a slightly flared end at the top) varies from about 2.5" to 3.5" (and maybe 4" on the "flared end"). The general construction technique involves cutting a length of agave cactus stalk in half lengthwise and hollowing out the pith from the center except for about 3/4" from the top and bottom ends of the stalk. Then 4 holes are drilled in the top half in a line under where the single horsehair string will go. The two halves are then placed back together again and held together with straps of sinew, usually in three places (near either end and in the middle). The instrument is often decorated with shallow groves carved into the body and painted. These are usually simple geometric patterns painted in red and black colors.

The method of attaching the string remains unclear. In most instance the string is described as being horse hair, but in one description it is described as being a piece of sinew. In this instance, the sinew was tied between two pegs at either end of the cylindrical body. The peg was "driven into the pith" at either end of the upper half of the two part cylindrical body. From this I assume the pegs are mounted perpendicularly to the body. The description also says that short lengths of round wood are used for the nut and bridge.

The bow is described as being in the shape of an Indian hunting bow with horse hair as the string. The length of these bow varied greatly from 8.75" to 18", so I guess you should make a few different bow lengths and pick the length of bow you prefer.

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.

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.

Rand,

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.

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