The didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by indigenous aboriginal Australians and still in widespread use today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or drone pipe. Musicologists classify it as a brass aerophone. Spelled "didjeridu" in Australia, and referred to as "didge" for short in colloquial English, the instrument is perhaps best known as yidaki among aboriginal peoples of Australia, from whence this fantastic instrument originates... Many other names for the instrument exist (mago, yigi yigi, etc), and new names are being made all the time! Being such a dynamic instrument, it is perhaps one of the most effective for sound effects. For this reason, names it collects tend to be onomatopoeic for the sounds it produces. For example:
did-ger-i-doo—did-ger-i-doo—did-ger-i-doo—did-ger-i-doo
The design of the didgeridoo is simple, although time-intensive to construct: it's a hollowed-out log, measuring somewhere between 3 and 10 feet, with either a conical or cylindrical shape. According to carbon-dating and cave painting evidence, the didgeridoo is one of the oldest known instruments (hear more about this here). It's essentially a tube – a section of a eucalyptus tree where all but the living sapwood exterior were eaten away by termites.
YIDAKI TRADITIONS
In aboriginal lore, the instrument was discovered by someone picking up a log that had fallen while searching for firewood. Upon seeing the termites and hollowed-out ends they had whittled from the inside, he tapped on the wood to coax the termites to flee, then put his lips to one end and blew out the other end. The termites flew up into the sky and became the milky way, and the yidaki carried its first notes skyward. The art of crafting yidaki in the traditional manner follows this same basic pattern, and it is a ritual group activity involving storytelling, in the spirit of the instrument (learn more about this here).
It takes about a day to make one didgeridoo in the traditional fashion. First, the wood is acquired by wandering the forests and knocking on eucalyptus trees in search of a tell-tale hollow sound. Next, the tree or branch is felled and collected for later inspection. Bark is removed, and the piece of wood is further hollowed out. Once the instrument is playing true to a desired pitch (each instrument is in a fixed tuning), it is taken to the water to be cleaned and then dried. Finishing touches often include painting, as well as applying beeswax to the mouthpiece to create a full seal for playing.
Aboriginal traditions include dances with lively sung storytelling, accompanied by one or more yidaki (didgeridoo) players, along with dancers who are acting out the story in time with the music. In this context, the yidaki is responsible for the sound effects and animal calls, working in conjunction with the pulse of the voice and the motions of the dancers (short sound effect tutorial here).
HOW TO PLAY
When it comes to playing the didgeridoo, the apparent simplicity of the instrument is a touch misleading. Indeed, you could probably find a long packing tube in your closet, check it for spiders, give it a toot and see what fun sounds you can make – you might be surprised! If you try blowing a raspberry or barking like a dog through the tube, you might be able to achieve some sounds remniscent of that classic didgeridoo tone. Or you'll have a good laugh while trying, which makes it a win-win!
Although each didgeridoo is in a fixed pitch (tuned to a single tone, with longer tubes resulting in deeper pitches), the art of playing comes from a mastery of many subtle techniques, and more advanced playing involves circular breathing. If you want to try circular breathing, you need to develop precise breath control for circular pressure, such that you inhale through your nose at the same time as exhaling into the cheeks and then through the mouth (tutorial here). No small feat for the uninitiated, but just about as simple as breathing to seasoned players of the didgeridoo!
Changing the shape and size of the mouth by puffing out one's cheeks, moving the tongue, and changing the tightness of the lips can change the tones produced. Any vocalizations that can be done through the throat (barks, grunts, growls, whistles, shouts) are fair game, and can add interesting acoustic textures to a buzzing drone. The didgeridoo is a bit like a megaphone for throat-singing or ventriliquism, amplifying sounds made that don't require lip motion, since the lips are constantly buzzing for a drone while playing.
THE TIMBRE OF TIMBER
While traditional methods of crafting as well as playing the yidaki continue to exist today in aboriginal communities, the didgeridoo has taken off in popularity around the world and new materials and techniques have come into play. Modern designs rarely rely on termites for the first step of the instrument construction process, with hardwoods being split and rejoined in most cases. Sometimes other materials such as glass, agave, metal, bamboo, PVC, or carbon fibre are used. The smoother the interior bore of the instrument, the less complex the resonant frequencies, and the more harmonically spaced these frequencies are.
A large part of the sound of the instrument comes down to the musician playing. Didgeridoo performances can last as long as the musician can play. For example, Mark Atkins performed using circular breathing for 50 minutes nonstop in the Didgeridoo Concerto of 1994.
Even beyond skill and endurance, the voice of the musician comes into play when evoking vocalisations of animals (such as the dingo and kookaburra), which are added on top of the drone. These vocalisations require strong vocal fold vibrations that at times will interfere with lip vibrations, adding to a complexity of timbre. Sometimes the musician will self-accompany with a rhythmic device, either flicking the wood of the instrument with a fingernail, or using clapsticks (bilma), tapping out precise patterns that have been passed down for generations.
For getting started playing the instrument at home, you'll want to get comfortable with some basics: droning with a buzz by blowing a raspberry with proper relaxed embouchure, creating a proper seal at the mouthpiece, and then shaping the sound using different mouth shapes, tonguing for rhythmic effects, using the diaphragm for short bursts of air, circular breathing, and eventually learning rhythms to play along with songs (walk through a tutorial on this here).
SOME MORE EXAMPLES OF THE INSTRUMENT IN THE WILD
- Ryka Ali plays a eucalyptus yigi yigi (yidaki)
- Performances including song and dance with yidaki
- William Barton performs yidaki with the Australian Youth Orchestra
- French Didg to Didg 2017 performances incorporating beatbox techniques
- Yanni From the Vault performance on yidaki with PVC sticks
Many of these traditions around yidaki do not extend far beyond aboriginal communities, as the instrument is a story-telling device for lived experiences that are sometimes harder to relate back to the industrialized world most of us live in today (although car sounds are achievable enough, as you can hear in this example). Modern adaptations of the instrument have meant that more women play the instrument worldwide (traditionally, it is aboriginal men who play the yidaki), and many play for spiritual reasons, as a sound-healing instrument (traditionally it is an instrument for carrying on oral traditions through collaborative storytelling).
Each musician conveys their own unique voice through the didgeridoo, and can tell their own stories using a diverse range of textures and rhythms. Whether you're playing a cardboard tube or a high-end hand-crafted instrument, you'll forge a connection with the instrument and the music you produce through careful breath work. According to a 2006 study by Puhan and colleagues, people that snore or suffer from obstructive sleep apnea can stand to benefit from playing didgeridoo, by strengthening muscles in the upper airway during circular breathing. That means that you can be making beautiful music, while simultaneously improving your quality of life. That sounds like another win-win!