How to make a Quena

You can make a quena out of any kind of tube: bamboo, wood, metal, plastic, clay. The
material has only a little effect on the sound of the instrument.

The inside diameter should be 1.75cm (11/16") plus or minus 0.15cm (1/16"), and the wall
should not be too thick (3/32 to 5/32"). The wall should be straight; either cylindrical or very
slightly conical (tapered, widest end at the mouth).

The most readily available plastic tubing and the most easily worked is the PVC water pipe
from your local hardware or home improvement store. There are two kinds of PVC pipe: cold
water (irrigation) and hot water (180 deg.). (In the store they are identified by "schedule
number", but I don't remember what those are.) The 180 deg pipe has thinner walls, and it's
PVC is (supposedly) less toxic. The inside diameter of the 180 deg. pipe is nominally 3/4",
but in fact is less a(11/16"). The irrigation pipe (73 deg., schedule 40) is in fact 3/4" in diam. I
have made quenas of both using the same hole positions.

The irrigation pipe works OK as a "quena en mi" (that's how my Bolivian friends call the
standard quena whose lowest tone is G), but is more suitable for a quena en re (useful for
Ecuadorian music) or for a quenacho (en si).

Did I say "less toxic"? Yes. There is mounting evidence that polyvinyl chloride (one of the
components of PVC plastic) and other organochlorides (including DDT and PCBs) in our
environment contribute to development of cancers (see Mother Jones MJ94).

Tools

* Tube cutter. The tool for cutting copper pipe -- the kind that you screw down tighter and
tighter as you rotate it around the tube -- works well on bamboo and PVC, too, though you
have to carefully steer it through the first few revolutions to ensure that it doesn't start
spiraling. A hacksaw also works for plastic. A knife is the traditional cutting tool for bamboo.

* Perforator. Drill or a hot metal rod or soldering iron. A power drill can easily split bamboo;
the hot iron is best. Your work will be easier and neater if you have several irons of sizes to
match the holes you need to make. You can use rebar, railroad spikes, whatever. Sharpen the
business end a little so the iron will enter where you point it. You can heat the iron in the
embers of a bonfire or barbecue.

* Round files. Several round or half-round bastard files. Or sandpaper wrapped around a rod,
dowel, or tube. The latter is not very useful for the notch.

* Reamer. The deburrer that comes with the tube cutter works well for keeping the holes
round after you enlarge them with a file or hot metal rod.

* Sandpaper. Fine wet-or-dry sandpaper (for finishing).

* Tuning standard.

Dimensions
The followinig hole positions are patterned after an excellent Peruvian quena that has the
name Roger inscribed at the foot. The measurements (all in cm) of the PVC version are:

inside diam. 1.75

outside diam. 2.2
notch width 0.80
notch depth 0.65

CAPTION: Finger-Hole Position

Location Tone Distance from Notch Covering
back G 17.46 thumb
front F# 19.20 1st finger
E 21.90 2nd finger
D 24.92 3rd finger
C 28.25 4th finger
B 30.55 5th finger
A 33.65 6th finger
end G 39.92 open

The measurements are for the opening that gives the indicated note; so, the measurement for
the low G note is that of the foot hole which is the same as the overall length (15.875"). The
bore is constant; the foot is open (i.e. equal to bore).

First, cut the tube to length. Then form the notch. I always cut the tube a little long and then
trim it to pitch after I've made the notch. Last, mark the positions of the finger holes, and
perforate the tube.

A slight difference of tube diameter doesn't change the position of the holes significantly (we
are not dealing with a high-precision manufacturing process here), but it does affect the
diameter of the holes. You will determine the precise diameter of the holes as you tune the
finished instrument; but, just as a point of reference, here are some quick, rough
measurements of those in my 180 deg. pipe quena (in inches):

G - 3/16
F# - 7/16
E - 7/16
D - 3/8
C - 1/4
B - 15/32
A - 1/4

But note that the hole measurements above are fairly large, as quenas go. And they would be
even larger for an irrigation pipe quena. So, I hope you have fat fingers.
If you use a hot iron to perforate, be sure not to breathe the fumes, especially not those of a
plastic tube. Arrange a work space outdoors in such a way that the breeze carries the fumes
away from you.

Tuning

If you were cautious and conservative, the tube you have just perforated will be generally low
(flat) in pitch. You can raise the pitch of a flat quena in one of two ways (or both):

* Enlarge the holes

* Deepen the notch

Enlarge the Holes

I raised the pitch of my current favorite instrument this way before I had the courage to try the
second way. I bought the instrument from a travelling Peruvian in Costa Rica. I had no pitch
standard with me, and the instrument turned out to be very flat. I used a small drum sander
attached to a Dremel motor tool for the large holes, and a piece of sandpaper wrapped around
any appropriately sized cylinder (usually pen barrels) for the smaller holes.

Start at the foot hole and enlarge it (or shorten the tube) until the low G is in tune. Then
proceed to the lowest finger hole (the one that makes the tone A) and enlarge it until the A is
in tune. Continue similarly up the instrument. Be sure to check both octaves for each hole;
sometimes you have to compromise, making one octave a little sharp and the other a little flat.
The upper octave generally tends to be sharper than the lower.

It's a lot of work to enlarge all the holes, and there's a danger that some holes will end up
being too large to be securely covered by your fingers. This method tends to increase the
volume of the instrument, too. All in all, I am satisfied with the result of applying this method
to my instrument.

Should the holes become monstrously huge you could always put something on the tips of
your fingers to cover the holes. It can be as simple as a peice of paper as long as no air seeps
through the opening. You can get all technical and put small rubber pads like a flute or
clarinet, but that is up to you.

Deepen the Notch

This way, you can raise the pitch a lot with a little work. Many people are afraid of damaging
the notch and ruining the instrument (I was), and indeed you can; so, I would recommend
practicing this only on a spare or otherwise hopeless instrument. Of course, if the notch is
already too shallow, this is the indicated technique. The trick is to file the notch (with
sandpaper and a dowel very similar in diameter to the width of the notch) using a motion
perpendicular to the body of the quena. It doesn't take much filing to raise the pitch a lot. (Did
I already say that? Well, it bears repeating.) Filing perpendicularly dulls the edge that you
blow on, so you have to sharpen it again. This time use a dowel larger that the notch, and use
diagonal strokes on both sides of the blow-edge. Don't oversharpen lest you make a pointy
notch. If by enlarging the notch, you get the pitch right, but the notch becomes too deep, you
can shorten the entire tube by sanding or paring at the notch end.

Quena Fingering Chart

by Loren Stafford 92 Feb 04

thumb -left hand- -right hand-

T 1 2 3 4 5 6
------------------------------------------------------
> O O O O O O |
------------------------------------------------------
An O means to leave the finger hole uncovered.
A hyphen means to half-cover the finger hole.

1st Octave 2nd Octave 3rd Octave

G T 1 2 3 4 5 6 O O O 3 4 O O O O O O 4 5 6

G# T 1 2 3 4 5 - - 1 2 3 4 5 - - 1 2 3 4 5 -

A T 1 2 3 4 5 O T 1 2 3 4 5 O T 1 2 O O 5 6

A# T 1 2 3 4 - O T 1 2 3 4 - O T 1 - O O 5 -

B T 1 2 3 4 O O T 1 2 3 4 O O T 1 O O O 5 O

C T 1 2 3 O O O T 1 2 3 O O O T 1 O 3 4 O 6

C# T 1 2 - O O O T 1 2 - O O O T 1 2 - O O O

D T 1 2 O O O O T 1 2 O O O O - O O 3 O O O

D# T 1 - O O O O T 1 - O O O O T 1 2 0 4 5 6

E T 1 O O O O O T 1 O O O O O O 1 - - 4 O O
T 1 O O 4 5 6

F T - O O O O O T - O O O O O T O 2 3 4 5 O

F# T O O 3 4 O O T O O O 4 5 6
H