Digeri-Who?

[Spaniard]

Slow day at work so I thought I would share another hobby of mine which is playing the digeridoo.

The degeridoo is an Aboriginal Instrument that dates back to being the oldest woodwind instrument on the planet estimated at about 40,000 years old.

These are some of my favorite youtube videos...I would post some of myself but the only video recorder I have is my camera and the sound quality is horrible.

Hopefully you'll enjoy these. These are contemporary playing styles and differ dramatically from the traditional playing styles of the various aboriginal tribes.

YouTube - Ondrej Smeykal Playing a Chad Butler Didgeridoo

YouTube - Jake Duncan In-didj-in-us 2008 Performance

YouTube - Mike Jackson plays "Control Freak" didgeridoo solo

Questions or comments welcome

[RoyalGuardian]

I love Digeridoos!!! they are very hard to play! awesome hobby!

[snakecharmer3638]

Very cool. It sounds kind of like beat-boxing. Is the sound made by only blowing or like a kazoo type blowing where you also kind of make the sound but the instrument enhances the sounds coming from your throat?

[Spaniard]

Very cool. It sounds kind of like beat-boxing. Is the sound made by only blowing or like a kazoo type blowing where you also kind of make the sound but the instrument enhances the sounds coming from your throat?

There are many techniques to get the various different sounds out of the digeridoo. The basic "drone" is produced with loose flapping lips and the digeridoo amplifies the vibration of the lips. The percussion type noises are produce with the tounge while maintaining the drone. If you say Taka-Taka-Takati you'll get an idea of how the tongue effects rhythm.

The cool thing about the digeridoo is that there is no set way to play it aside from the basic drone. Lots of experimentation and practice leads to some cool sounds being produced.

[bc30629]

O wow I have been looking for some help repairing a didge lately. My gf brought one home from austraila but cracked it on the way home. There are just some slight cracks up the side but they are enough to let air through and ruin the instruments ability to resonate the vibrations. Anyone know how to work with wood or didge's to repair this? I was thinking about filling with wood putty and then painting on a few coats of primer. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Spaniard]

The best solution would be to use saw dust and wood glue. You make a paste with it and apply it to the crack. You'll want to use an exacto knife or something to make sure the crack is clean and smooth. Apply the paste and then sand it when its dry. The advantage to using this is that the wood/glue paste will expand and contract naturally with the wood.

With that said I used epoxy to seal one of my didj cracks and its worked fine ever since.

[simplechamp]

Don't you have to learn how to do circular breathing to play those? Like you are simultaneously breathing in and out?

[Spaniard]

You don't have to know how to circular breath in order to play but its certainly not as fun until you do.

What happens is you puff up your cheeks with air and then use the muscles in your cheeks to push the air out and maintain the drone, at the same time you take a breath in through your nose.

Its one of those things that can be hard to learn but once you finally get the hang of it you think its easy.

[littleindiangirl]

That's kick ass!! I love the sound those thingies make, and I admit while I like the more modern beat boxing type, I am rather partial to the traditional.

[Spaniard]

What kind of traditional style?

This kind...

YouTube - Didgeridoo - Jeremy Donovan, Aboriginal Artist

Or this kind...

YouTube - Turbo-charged Quincey Matjaki on supersonic F yirdaki

I would love to learn the style played in the 2nd video but its very very hard to learn. Especially without being taught directly from a tribe. I hope to one day be able to travel down to Australia and learn directly from the source.