By TERRY PUGH
John Arcand started playing fiddle when he was five years old, entertaining visitors at his family’s farm home in the Debden-Big River area.
“In those days there was no television, radio or telephones,” said Arcand, a member of the Order of Canada and widely-acknowledged as the ‘Master of the Metis Fiddle’. “We didn’t even have electricity when I was a kid. The only way you entertained yourself was by playing outside or learning to play the fiddle.”
By age 12, Arcand was playing at local dances and well on his way to becoming one of the most decorated musicians in the country. Along that journey of several decades, Arcand composed and recorded well over 500 original tunes, organized a popular fiddle festival at his former home on an acreage in the RM of Corman Park that ran for a quarter of a century, mentored young musicians with music lessons, and performed for the President of Ireland in 2001 and Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.
In 1984 he began making his own hand-crafted fiddles, much sought-after by musicians across North America. He uses only hard maple from B.C., Ontario and Europe for the instruments.
“You have to use good, hard wood,” said Arcand. “The cheaper woods just don’t resonate. I’m always striving to improve the sound quality of each one I make.”
Now, at age 82, Arcand has retired from teaching and performing, but he’s still building his legacy.
Arcand recently completed his 100th fiddle, and to mark the occasion, he decided to make it something special.
“I wanted to make it stand out,” said Arcand. “Each one of my fiddles is unique. They are all slightly different in their sound and their look. But I wanted this one to really be one-of-a-kind, so I had 22 carat gold inlaid in the designs built into the wood.”
Arcand said it took two years to complete the ‘golden fiddle’ – not because of any extra time on his part, as he’s always devoted long hours to the detailed work involved – but because he had to wait for the goldsmiths to do their bit.
“Most of the time was just waiting,” he said. “Every part I wanted, I had to get the jewellers to make it.”
Arcand said he used 22 carat gold – which is almost pure gold – because any lesser-quality of the precious metal would not be malleable enough to follow the curve of the wood.
“There’s about $10,000 worth of gold in this fiddle,” said Arcand. “That sounds like a lot of gold, but it’s actually not, when you consider that gold is selling for about $4,200 an ounce. Two years ago, it was about half that price.”
Arcand said he built the ‘golden fiddle’ as a way of leaving behind a tangible legacy.
“It’s the only one of its kind anywhere,” he said with a grin. “Nobody in his right mind would spend that kind of money on a fiddle that’s not going to be played by anybody. It’s a museum piece.”