Didgeridoo

Didgeridoo

A, B and C: Three didgeridoos that were crafted and decorated by traditional custodians of the instrument D: Typical non-traditional Aboriginal didgeridoo made for tourist trade with non-traditional decorations E: A didgeridoo made by non-Aboriginals in Australia, not decorated
Brass instrument
Other names	didjeridu, yiḏaki, mandapul
Classification	Wind Brass Aerophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	423.121.11 (End-blown straight tubular natural trumpet without mouthpiece)
Playing range
Written range:
Related instruments
Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Cornet, Bugle, Natural trumpet, Post horn, Roman tuba, Bucina, Shofar, Conch, Lur, Baritone horn, Bronze Age Irish Horn

Didgeridoo and clapstick players performing at Nightcliff, Northern Territory

The didgeridoo (/ˌdɪdʒəriˈduː/; also known as a didjeridu) is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia potentially within the last 1,500 years 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.^[1]

There are no reliable sources stating the didgeridoo's exact age. Archaeological studies of rock art in Northern Australia suggest that the people of the Kakadu region of the Northern Territory have been using the didgeridoo for less than 1,000 years, based on the dating of paintings on cave walls and shelters from this period.^[2] A clear rock painting in Ginga Wardelirrhmeng, on the northern edge of the Arnhem Land plateau, from the freshwater period^[3] (that had begun 1500 years ago)^[4] shows a didgeridoo player and two songmen participating in an Ubarr Ceremony.^[5]

A modern didgeridoo is usually cylindrical or conical, and can measure anywhere from 1 to 3 m (3 to 10 ft) long. Most are around 1.2 m (4 ft) long. Generally, the longer the instrument, the lower its pitch or key. However, flared instruments play a higher pitch than unflared instruments of the same length.

Names and etymology[edit]

There are numerous names for the instrument among the Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia, none of which closely resemble the word "didgeridoo" (see below). Many didgeridoo enthusiasts and some scholars advocate reserving local names for traditional instruments, and this practice has been endorsed by some Aboriginal community organisations.^[6] However, in everyday conversation, bilingual Aboriginal people will often use the word "didgeridoo" interchangeably with the instrument's name in their own language.

"Didgeridoo" is considered to be an onomatopoetic word of Western invention. The earliest occurrences of the word in print include a 1908 edition of the Hamilton Spectator,^[7] a 1914 edition of The Northern Territory Times and Gazette,^[8] and a 1919 issue of Smith's Weekly where it was referred to as an "infernal didjerry" which "produced but one sound – (phonic) didjerry, didjerry, didjerry and so on ad infinitum".^[9]

A rival explanation, that didgeridoo is a corruption of the Irish language (Gaelic) phrase dúdaire dubh or dúidire dúth, is controversial.^[10] Dúdaire/dúidire is a noun that may mean, depending on the context, "trumpeter", "hummer", "crooner", "long-necked person", "puffer", "eavesdropper", or "chain smoker", while dubh means "black" and dúth means "native".

Yiḏaki (sometimes spelt yirdaki) is one of the most commonly used names, although – strictly speaking – it refers to a specific type of instrument made and used by the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land. However, since the passing, in early 2011, of a Manggalili-clan man whose name sounds similar to yiḏaki, Yolngu themselves now use the synonym mandapul to refer to the instrument, out of respect for the deceased.

There are numerous other, regional names for the didgeridoo. The following are some of the more common of these.^[11]

Construction[edit]

A wax mouthpiece can soften during play, forming a better seal.

Authentic Aboriginal didgeridoos are produced in traditionally oriented communities in Northern Australia or by makers who travel to Central and Northern Australia to collect the raw materials. They are usually made from hardwoods, especially the various eucalyptus species that are endemic to the region.^[12] Generally the main trunk of the tree is harvested, though a substantial branch may be used instead. Aboriginal didgeridoo craftsmen hunt for suitably hollow live trees in areas with obvious termite activity. Termites attack these living eucalyptus trees, removing only the dead heartwood of the tree, as the living sapwood contains a chemical that repels the insects.^[13] Various techniques are employed to find trees with a suitable hollow, including knowledge of landscape and termite activity patterns, and a kind of tap or knock test, in which the bark of the tree is peeled back, and a fingernail or the blunt end of a tool, such as an axe is knocked against the wood to determine if the hollow produces the right resonance.^[14]

Once a suitably hollow tree is found, it is cut down and cleaned out, the bark is taken off, the ends trimmed, and the exterior is shaped; this results in a finished instrument. This instrument may be painted or left undecorated. A rim of beeswax may be applied to the mouthpiece end. Traditional instruments made by Aboriginal craftsmen in Arnhem Land are sometimes fitted with a "sugarbag" mouthpiece. This black beeswax comes from wild bees and has a distinctive aroma.

Non-traditional didgeridoos can also be made from PVC piping, non-native hard woods (typically split, hollowed and rejoined), glass, fiberglass, metal, agave, clay, hemp (in the form of a bioplastic named zelfo), and even carbon fibre. These didges typically have an upper inside diameter of around 1.25" down to a bell end of anywhere between two and eight inches and have a length corresponding to the desired key. The mouthpiece can be constructed of beeswax, hardwood or simply sanded and sized by the craftsman. In PVC, an appropriately sized rubber stopper with a hole cut into it is equally acceptable, or to finely sand and buff the end of the pipe to create a comfortable mouthpiece.

Modern didgeridoo designs are distinct from the traditional Australian Aboriginal didgeridoo, and are innovations recognized by musicologists.^[15][16] Didgeridoo design innovation started in the late 20th century using non-traditional materials and non-traditional shapes.

Decoration[edit]

Many didgeridoos are painted using traditional or modern paints by either their maker or a dedicated artist; however, it is not essential that the instrument be decorated. It is also common to retain the natural wood grain with minimal or no decoration. Some modern makers deliberately avoid decoration if they are not of Indigenous Australian descent, or leave the instrument blank for an Indigenous Australian artist to decorate it at a later stage.

Playing the didgeridoo[edit]

An Aboriginal man playing the didgeridoo

The didgeridoo is played with continuously vibrating lips to produce the drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. This requires breathing in through the nose whilst simultaneously expelling stored air out of the mouth using the tongue and cheeks. By use of this technique, a skilled player can replenish the air in their lungs, and with practice can sustain a note for as long as desired. Recordings exist of modern didgeridoo players playing continuously for more than 40 minutes; Mark Atkins on Didgeridoo Concerto (1994) plays for over 50 minutes continuously.

Fellow of the British Society Anthony Baines wrote that the didgeridoo functions "...as an aural kaleidoscope of timbres"^[17] and that "the extremely difficult virtuoso techniques developed by expert performers find no parallel elsewhere."^[17]

More modern approaches to playing the didgeridoo are starting to show up in performances and lessons around the World. One of these techniques involves combining beatboxing with playing the didgeridoo. It was featured on the British children's TV series Blue Peter.^[18]

Physics and operation[edit]

Didgeridoo street player in Spain

A termite-bored didgeridoo has an irregular shape that, overall, usually increases in diameter towards the lower end. This shape means that its resonances occur at frequencies that are not harmonically spaced in frequency. This contrasts with the harmonic spacing of the resonances in a cylindrical plastic pipe, whose resonant frequencies fall in the ratio 1:3:5 etc. The second resonance of a didgeridoo (the note sounded by overblowing) is usually around an 11th higher than the fundamental frequency (a frequency ratio somewhat less than 3:1).

The vibration produced by the player's lips has harmonics, i.e., it has frequency components falling exactly in the ratio 1:2:3 etc. However, the non-harmonic spacing of the instrument's resonances means that the harmonics of the fundamental note are not systematically assisted by instrument resonances, as is usually the case for Western wind instruments (e.g., in a clarinet, the 1st 3rd and 5th harmonics of the reed are assisted by resonances of the bore, at least for notes in the low range).

Sufficiently strong resonances of the vocal tract can strongly influence the timbre of the instrument. At some frequencies, whose values depend on the position of the player's tongue, resonances of the vocal tract inhibit the oscillatory flow of air into the instrument. Bands of frequencies that are not thus inhibited produce formants in the output sound. These formants, and especially their variation during the inhalation and exhalation phases of circular breathing, give the instrument its readily recognizable sound.

Other variations in the didgeridoo's sound can be made by adding vocalizations to the drone. Most of the vocalizations are related to sounds emitted by Australian animals, such as the dingo or the kookaburra. To produce these sounds, the players simply have to use their vocal folds to produce the sounds of the animals whilst continuing to blow air through the instrument. The results range from very high-pitched sounds to much lower guttural vibrations. Adding vocalizations increases the complexity of the playing.

Cultural significance[edit]

An Indigenous Australian man playing a didgeridoo

Musician playing a Travel or Reticulated Didgeridoo

Traditionally and originally, the didgeridoo was primarily played as an accompaniment to ceremonial dancing and singing. However, it was also common for didgeridoos to be played for solo or recreational purposes outside of ceremonial gatherings. For surviving Aboriginal groups of northern Australia, the didgeridoo is still an integral part of ceremonial life, as it accompanies singers and dancers in cultural ceremonies that continue. Today, the majority of didgeridoo playing is for recreational purposes in both Indigenous Australian communities and elsewhere around the world.

Pair sticks, sometimes called clapsticks or bilma, establish the beat for the songs during ceremonies. The rhythm of the didgeridoo and the beat of the clapsticks are precise, and these patterns have been handed down for many generations. In the Wangga genre, the song-man starts with vocals and then introduces blima to the accompaniment of didgeridoo.^[19]

Sex-based prohibition[edit]

Traditionally, only men play the didgeridoo and sing during ceremonial occasions, although both men and women may dance. Female didgeridoo players do exist, but their playing takes place in an informal context and is not specifically encouraged by Aboriginal elders. Linda Barwick, an ethnomusicologist, says that though traditionally women have not played the didgeridoo in ceremony, in informal situations there is no prohibition in the Dreaming Law.^[20] For example, Jemima Wimalu, a Mara woman from the Roper River is very proficient at playing the didgeridoo and is featured on the record Aboriginal Sound Instruments released in 1978. In 1995, musicologist Steve Knopoff observed Yirrkala women performing djatpangarri songs that are traditionally performed by men and in 1996, ethnomusicologist Elizabeth MacKinley reported women of the Yanyuwa group giving public performances. In 2008, however, publisher Harper Collins apologized for its book The Daring Book for Girls, which openly encouraged girls to play the instrument after Aboriginal academics described such encouragement as "extreme cultural insensitivity" and "an extreme faux pas ... part of a general ignorance that mainstream Australia has about Aboriginal culture."^[2][21][22]

While there is no prohibition in the area of the didgeridoo's origin, such restrictions have been applied by other Indigenous communities. The didgeridoo was introduced to the Kimberleys almost a century ago but it is only in the last decade that Aboriginal men have shown adverse reactions to women playing the instrument and prohibitions are especially evident in the South East of Australia. The belief that women are prohibited from playing is widespread among non-Aboriginal people and is also common among Aboriginal communities in Southern Australia; some ethnomusicologists believe that the dissemination of the Taboo belief and other misconceptions is a result of commercial agendas and marketing. Tourists generally rely on shop employees for information when purchasing a didgeridoo. Additionally, the majority of commercial didgeridoo recordings available are distributed by multinational recording companies and feature non-Aboriginals playing a New Age style of music with liner notes promoting the instrument's spirituality which misleads consumers about the didgeridoo's secular role in traditional Aboriginal culture.^[2]

The Taboo belief is particularly strong among many Indigenous groups in the South East of Australia, where it is forbidden and considered "cultural theft" for non-Indigenous women, and especially performers of New Age music regardless of sex, to play or even touch a didgeridoo.^[2]

In popular culture[edit]

A protester at Occupy Wall Street playing the instrument, September 2011

Play media

The instrument at Occupy Eugene

The didgeridoo also became a role playing instrument in the experimental and avant-garde music scene. Industrial music bands like Test Department generated sounds from this instrument and used them in their industrial performances, linking ecology to industry, influenced by ethnic music and culture.

It is very often used in the music project Naakhum which combines Extreme Metal and Ethnic music.

The acid jazz band Jamiroquai were known for their didgeridoo player Wallis Buchanan. In the early days of the band, many songs explored the theme of ecology and those of native cultures marginalized by colonisation. A notable song featuring a didgeridoo is the band's first single "When You Gonna Learn", which features prominent didgeridoo playing in both the introduction and solo sections. When Wallis Buchanan left the band in 1999, the band chose not to replace him, and simply abandoned the use of the instrument in their music.

The instrument is commonly used by ambient artist Steve Roach as a complement to his produced soundscapes, in both live and recorded formats. It features prominently in his collaborative work Australia: Sound of the Earth (with Australian Aboriginal artist David Hudson and cellist Sarah Hopkins) as well as Dreamtime Return.

It is used in the Indian song "Jaane Kyon" from the film Dil Chahta Hai.

Chris Brooks, lead singer of the New Zealand hard rock band Like a Storm uses the didgeridoo in some of the band's songs including "Love the Way You Hate Me" from their album Chaos Theory: Part 1.

Kate Bush made extensive use of the didgeridoo (played by Australian musician Rolf Harris) on her album The Dreaming, which was written and recorded after a holiday in Australia.

Health benefits[edit]

A 2005 study in the British Medical Journal found that learning and practising the didgeridoo helped reduce snoring and obstructive sleep apnea by strengthening muscles in the upper airway, thus reducing their tendency to collapse during sleep. In the study, intervention subjects were trained in and practiced didgeridoo playing, including circular breathing and other techniques. Control subjects were asked not to play the instrument. Subjects were surveyed before and after the study period to assess the effects of intervention.^[23] A small 2010 study noted improvements in the asthma management of Aboriginal teens when incorporating didgeridoo playing.^[24]

See also[edit]

• Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts
• Alphorn
• Erke
• Indigenous Australian music
• List of didgeridoo players

Selected bibliography[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Didgeridoo (category)

• iDIDJ Australian Didgeridoo Cultural Hub
• The Didjeridu W3 Server
• The physics of the didj
• Didgeridoo acoustics from the University of New South Wales
• Database of audio recordings of traditional Arnhem Land music, samples included, many with didgeridoo
• The Didjeridu: A Guide By Joe Cheal – General info on the didgeridoo, with citations and references
• BioloDidje (translations available)
• Yidakiwuy Dhawu Miwatjngurunydja comprehensive site by traditional owners of the instrument