It Has a Nice Ring to It

The t’fer is a percussion instrument that adds rhythmic and tonal accents to Cajun music. You can think of it as the Cajun triangle. T’fer means “little iron” and if you pronounce it like “tea fair,” that will get you close enough. Brandy Guidry Aubé, a member of the team at St. Martin Parish Tourism, is one of only a handful of people keeping this traditional art alive. I visited her at her workshop in Breaux Bridge, where she walked me through the process of making one.

Aubé holds a striker in her right hand and a t’fer in her left hand

How did you get into making t’fers?

I’ve been doing metalwork for over twenty years. One day I was approached by a friend of mine who is a Cajun musician, who asked if I could make t’fers. I said, “I don’t, but I could learn.” So that’s exactly what I did, through trial and error. I did some blacksmithing in the past, so I taught myself how to make t’fers. I just practiced and honed in on the process.

Aubé uses an acetylene torch to heat specific areas of the steel

What do you make them from?

Years ago, t’fers were made out of tines from hay rakes. Hay rakes used to be a pretty common thing to be able to find. I make mine out of cold-rolled steel, mostly because that resource has dried up around these parts. I also get a more consistent sound, because I order from the same steel supplier. I use three-eighth-inch cold-rolled steel. Thirty-two inches is the magic length for the t’fer, and nine inches for the striker. When you’re working with hay tines, you really don’t know what kind of stresses the metal has been under all those years. You could have micro-fractures that eventually, with all the hitting, cause them to fall apart. There have been stories about hay tine t’fers that have broken from being played. They also sound different. Some have a deep ring. Some have a high-pitched ring. With cold-rolled steel I’m able to get a consistent ring.

The heated steel is drawn out into a tapered shape by hammering

What kind of equipment do you use?

I don’t use a forge, just because I’m going to be heating up very specific areas of the steel. A forge would heat up a larger area, and I don’t necessarily need that. So I use an acetylene torch, and I use a gas block on it, which helps to save on gas. And I made a jig to give the t’fer a consistent shape. It’s basically a form that holds the t’fer in place where I can heat the steel and bend it into the shape I want. I drew my triangle in CAD, then I laid the paper onto the steel, placed my rounding elements on the paper to line them up, and then I welded them onto the jig.

The steel is drawn out, scrolled and curled

Do you know anyone else who makes these?

There’s only one person I know making t’fers on a production level. He’s up in Massachusetts. I met him at a maker camp in the Catskill Mountains, and he used to come down here for festivals and fiddle camps. He still makes his out of hay tines, because he’s got a lot of hay rakes in the area where he lives. He drives the back roads and collects them. But I decided there was a hole in the market. Nobody’s making t’fers anymore. So I decided to start making them.

Aubé uses a custom-made jig to give the t’fer a consistent shape

Who are your customers?

I ship them around the country and even out of the country. Cajun music is popular all around the world. I just shipped one to Sweden. I shipped some to France and some to Africa.

What do you look for in a finished product?

I want it to be a nice, symmetric shape, and I want a consistent sound. One time I got hot-rolled steel mixed in with the cold-rolled steel, and it made a dull, clunky sound. You want a bright sound.

The t’fer before being blackened, waxed and buffed

How do you finish the t’fer once you’ve shaped it?

I put it in an acid bath to take off the mill scale that forms when the steel is heated. I blacken it with a blackening chemical, then I wax it and buff it out and package it up. My t’fers come with a little canvas bag so you can keep your striker and your t’fer together.

How much are they, and where can people purchase them?

They’re sixty five dollars, and people can purchase them from my website.