Somebody decided they needed to put didgeridoo on an embargo list? :rolleyes:
I got the circular breathing down pat for using the alcohol burner in my chemistry set. The didgeridoo sounds a lot like when you have a thousand frogs doing a mating call in the spring all around you. It numbs your mind if you’re agitated and can’t sleep otherwise.
Oooooo. Can I come play at your house? (Preferrably with no one else there so I can make as much noise as I want and no one will care. 
)
If I had money and space, I’d sooo have an instrument collection.
I do this too. I’m a guy, and a sustained falsetto “hum” using the vocal cords while blowing adds an extra layer to the sound of a didg.
Quote: *Le Ministre de l’au-delà thanks for the tips. I actually read something about the water trick online – but you made me laugh out loud – “You will probably choke more than once, it’s okay, that’s why you’re in the bathtub to do this.” So, uhm, if I choke, it’s ok because I am in a place where I can just go ahead and drown? *
Well, uhm, it’s either that I meant that in the sense that at least in the bathtub, you don’t do a 4oz spit take all over the laptop, the cat, the music stand, the soundboard of the recently rebuilt concert grand piano, etc., etc.
**or **you have cleverly stumbled on my nefarious plot - I make all my students sign life insurance forms with me as the sole beneficiary, they pay the premiums in lieu of lesson fees and then I give them life-endangering exercises as part of their weekly practice routines, thus enabling me to be one of the few singer/musicians in these parts who drives a car younger than he is… (‘Sure, you can take this vintage Les Paul into the shower while it’s still plugged in…’ Cue ominous drone in the double bass and contrabassoon.) ‘The Digeridoo of Death’, the ABC movie of the week.
You may choose whichever option seems more interesting.
Haha! If anyone in this household were bothered by noise, we wouldn’t have the collection we have, now would we? My ex (daughter’s father) was a drummer, he’d start working on a new song and I’d go to sleep – in a one-room apartment. I am just not bothered by noise. Besides that, music – no matter how badly played – is not noise.
Le Ministre de l’au-delà – you know, I’m just sayin’ it’s an easy way to make money, no? Actually, I knew exactly what you meant, but it still gave me a giggle. Guess I am the morbid type, sorry.
when I was growing up, I was mortified when I had to share the fact that my mom played three instruments: Dixieland (i.e., 4-string) banjo, ukelele and accordian. Now I think she’s super cool.
I wish I had all of your cool gear **Litoris ** - have fun with the didge!
Oh definitely get one. Whole minutes of entertainment can be had, for a very low price.
I am the best Jew’s harp player I’ve ever met.* Despite their limitations, you can get a wide variety of tone out of them through moving your tongue around and opening and closing the back of your throat, combined with breathing in and out (the harder you breathe, the more ‘fuzzy’ the vibration becomes). The effect is, coincidentally, a bit like a didgeridoo.
Two of mine are the ‘classic’ D-shaped bluegrass American design, but one of them I bought off a Blue Hmong tribeswoman in the hills of northern Vietnam, and it’s a completely different shape - you only put it on your lips, and the ‘tongue’ is a V-shape cut out of a rolled piece of brass; the whole thing is encased in a little piece of embroidered bamboo, held in with twine and a tiny little seashell. Very unusual, and I’d hate to lose it.
Just make damn sure you get it in the right position on your teeth, because slamming the little twangy bit of metal into your incisors at full whack is fucking painful.
*I’m also the worst, as I’ve never met anyone else who plays one.
It’s not so much as making any sound, as seeing who can make it last the longest or loudest. Some folks can just barely get anything more than a loud wind sound. Others seem to be able to get the sound, but only for as long as they can exhale 1 breath. No one has figured out the breathing technique.
Slight highjack - to recommend an album by a group called Reconciliation. The particular album I have is called ‘Two Stories in One’, and it features a musician playing Irish bronze age horns as well as two Australian Didge players. They’ve also done a piece for ships’ horns in the harbour of St. John’s, NF for the Sound Symposium. There was a film of it that I can’t locate yet, but I’m still googling. Anyway, a great inspirational album for budding Didgeridoo players.
(I used to have an ABS one that I built myself, but I think it’s now part of the drain for the downstairs bathroom sink. I’ll replace it one of these days.)
Wish I had a didgeridoo.
I also wish I had some musical ability.
Oh well . . .
For some excellent Didge playing, I need to tout an album by the (now defunct) Oxford-based group Outback - Baka.
The didgeridoo player, Graham Wiggins, has a PhD in physics and he’s done a lot of research work on the mechanics of the sound. He is widely acknowledged as one of the best - he lived with an aboriginal tribe as an apprentice for a few years, and he has even invented a didgeridoo you can play tunes on.
It’s good, relaxing music with some lovely guitar playing, not too new-agey, but what he can do with the didgeridoo is amazing. Latterly he’s been performing as “Dr Didj” which is a bit OTT trippy for me.
Ok, but what is it anyway? Can you post a link to a good pic? And, what sound does it make? I thought it make that “wobble” sound in the background of “Tie Me Kangaroo Down”, but a knowledgeable DJ claims they literally had a guy bowing a piece of sheet metal to get that sound.
You’re muddling two things up. A didgeridoo is a big tube, traditionally made from a large branch of a tree that has been hollowed out by termites. You puff your cheeks and blow into it with slightly pursed lips, like when you’re going “bbbrbrbrbrbrbr” onto a baby’s stomach to tickle the baby, which creates a vibration that sets up internal harmonics in the tube. To maintain a constant sound, you then have to get your cheeks to force the air down the tube while simultaneously breathing in through your nose. Check the links I posted above for films of of it in action.
The second thing you’re thinking of is a ‘wobble board’, which IIRC is an invention of the Tie Me Kangaroo Down singer, Rolf Harris.
I see two glaring omissions here…
You definitely need an ocarina, so that you can imitate the whistle in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
And if this were my collection (which is nonexistent), I would add a cuíca so I could make that cool squeeky noise that punctuates much samba music.
minor7flat5 – An ocarina is actually on my daughter’s wishlist. My next major purchase will be a playable violin followed by a bodhrán. Since my husband will soon be deployed (most likely to the Middle East) we will be eagerly awaiting his care packages, as he has been instructed to buy any local musical instruments, spices and fabrics he can lay his hands on wherever he goes. We shall see what comes of that.
Jinx – this is a didgeridoo. Mine isn’t as pretty as the one shown there, it’s just plain wood. I may end up decorating mine someday, but for now, it is just wood. Mine is from Bali and is just over 4’ long. The sound is that deep droning sound you always hear in commercials or movies. Sounds like a low hum to me.
jjimm you know what’s hilarious? One of my long-time best friends had a jew’s harp in high school, and he was pretty good at playing it. Talk about an unusual hobby for a high schooler, eh? If you have ever listened to the Violent Femmes – they use one pretty often, too. Kind of funny.
For everyone recommending cd’s – thanks. We actually have a decent collection of world music at the house. We’re weirdos, go figure.
I know I’m a couple of months behind, but I don’t think this really qualifies as a zombie thread. Besides, how many digeridoo threads does the board actually need? 
Anyway, my wife and I were looking at sleep apnea stuff a few weeks ago (I’m a sufferer) and, independently of one another, we both ran across Google ads about sleep apnea and digeridoos. Following that, we learned that there’s a group here in LA that offers free monthly group lessons, and you don’t even need your own instrument! We laughed and joked about it because we thought it was hilarious…and then somehow we ended up at the class this weekend. Just for fun, of course. And we laughed and joked about it and…left the class having purchased a brand new digeridoo.
In the couple of days since, there have been several “You DO realize that we actually own a digeridoo, don’t you?” comments. But it’s FUN, I tell you! The instructor actually tried to teach us all the circular breathing technique by having us take in water and spit it out over the balcony while breathing. I don’t know that anyone actually picked up on it, but he told us it would take a while. Watching him play using circular breathing, however, was rather impressive. I’m looking forward to trying the technique referenced above.
We’re both looking forward to going back next month. I wonder how long it’ll be before we start fighting over digeridoo time. Guess we’ll have to buy a second one down the road. Ours is made of PVC and cost about $100.
Enjoy your new didgi! I have two hand drums, a violin and two African thumb pianos, but
i have the most fun on the didgi. Mine isn’t Australian, it’s Indonesian and cane instead of wood. Still sounds great, though!
A few years ago I spent some time in Doolin, County Clare, Ireland (one of the traditional music centers). At the pub one night there was an ensemble that included, in additional to more “typical” instruments (fiddle, pipes, pennywhistle, etc.) a didgeridoo.
At one point during a really rockin’ set the other instruments shut up and the didgeridoo player went into a ten-minute solo. It was mind-blowing-- everyone was staring in fascination, and he got a standing ovation at the end.
I find it easier to do the circular breathing (and to play in general) if I don’t use the center of my mouth. I turn my head sideways and use only the corner of my lips. That way I only have an opening in my mouth to one side of the part that I’m blowing in rather than two.
So, honestly, what’s to stop me from picking up a 5’ piece of 2 1/2" to 3" pvc pipe and start huffin’ and puffin’ in it? Is there something special about the mouthpiece that I am not realizing (other than the black beeswax, but the didge’s I have seen have had a softer rubbery mouthpiece)? Is it a particular effect of the kinda bentish shape? Something inside I don’t see?
Not that I’m too cheap to come up off of the $40 at the Inner Path store, it’s just that… well… I’m too cheap to come up off of the $40.
Although a didgeridoo would work out nicely with my jaw harp.
Note to Litoris: Add a jaw harp to your collection, they’re hillarious and easy to play.
If you look up “Jaw Harp Solo N8” on youtube you will see me plucking on one. I’d post a link but I can’t at work.
Any thoughts on a homemade didgeridoo though?