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Didgeridoo

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A didgeridoo. This particular instrument is more ornate than most.

The didgeridoo (or didjeridu) is a wind instrument of the Indigenous Australians of northern Australia. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe". Musicologists classify it as an aerophone.

A didgeridoo is usually cylindrical or conical in shape and can measure anywhere from 1 to 2 meters in length, with most instruments measuring around 1.2 meters. Instruments shorter or longer than this are less common. Generally, the longer the instrument, the lower the pitch or key of the instrument. Keys from D to F♯ are the preferred pitch of traditional Aboriginal players.

There are no reliable sources stating the didgeridoo's exact age, though it is commonly claimed to be the world's oldest wind instrument. Archaeological studies of rock art in northern Australia suggests that the Aboriginal people of the Kakadu region of the Northern Territory have been using the didgeridoo for about 1500 years, based on the dating of paintings on cave walls and shelters from this period.

The name

"Didgeridoo" is usually considered to be an onomatopoetic word of Western invention, but it has been said that it may be derived from the Irish words dúdaire or dúidire, meaning variously 'trumpeter; constant smoker, puffer; long-necked person, eavesdropper; hummer, crooner' and dubh, meaning "black" (or duth, meaning "native").[1] It is alleged that upon seeing the instrument played for the first time, a British army Officer turned to his Gaelic aide and asked "What's that?", to which the aide bemusedly replied, "dúdaire dubh," meaning 'black piper.'[citation needed] However, this is unlikely as the Irish word for a black person is actually fear gorm (literally "blue person").

The earliest occurrences of the word in print include the Australian National Dictionary 1919, The Bulletin in 1924 and the writings of Herbert Basedow in 1926. There are numerous names for this instrument among the Aboriginal people of northern Australia, with yirdaki one of the better known words in modern Western society. Yirdaki, also sometimes spelt yidaki, refers to the specific type of instrument made and used by the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land. In Western Arnhem Land, mago is used, although it refers specifically to the local version. Many believe that it is a matter of etiquette to reserve tribal names for tribal instruments, though retailers and businesses have been quick to exploit these special names for generic tourist-oriented instruments

Construction and play

Authentic Aboriginal didgeridoos produced in traditionally-oriented communities in northern Australia are usually made from hardwoods, especially the various eucalyptus species that are endemic to the region. The main trunk of the tree is often harvested, though branches are sometimes used as well. Aboriginal craftsmen spend considerable time searching for a suitable tree to make into a didgeridoo. The difficult part is in finding a tree that has been suitably hollowed out by termites. If the hollow is too big or too small, it will make a poor quality instrument. Sometimes a native bamboo or pandanus are used as well.

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

When a suitable tree is found and cut down, a length of the main trunk or a segment of a branch is removed that will become the didgeridoo. The bark is taken off, the ends trimmed, and some shaping of the exterior then results in a finished instrument. This instrument may be painted or left undecorated. A rim of beeswax may be applied to the mouthpiece end.

Cylindrical plastic pipes are sometimes used to make didgeridoos. They are cheap to buy from a hardware store, are light-weight, and can be easily tuned to any desired key, but they are rated as relatively poor instruments by experienced players.

Didgeridoos are also made from PVC piping. These generally have an 1.5" to 2" inside diameter, 100cm length. The mouthpiece is often made of the traditional beeswax, or duct tape.

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 air out of the mouth using the tongue and cheeks. By use of this technique, a skilled player can replenish the air in his lungs, and with practice can sustain a note for as long as desired. Recordings exist of modern didgeridoo players playing continuously for more than forty minutes (Mark Atkins on Didgeridoo Concerto plays for over 50 minutes continuously), and some currently unsubstantiated claims peg times over one hour.[citation needed]

Physics and operation

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).

Instead, 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 recognisable sound.

Cultural significance

The didgeridoo is sometimes played as a solo instrument for recreational purposes, though more usually it accompanies dancing and singing in ceremonial rituals. For Aboriginal groups of northern Australia, the didgeridoo is an integral part of ceremonial life, as it accompanies singers and dancers in religious rituals. 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 generations upon generations. Only men play the didgeridoo and sing during ceremonial occasions, whilst both men and women may dance. The taboo against women playing the instrument is not absolute; female Aboriginal didgeridoo players did exist, although their playing generally took place in an informal context[citation needed]and was not specifically encouraged.

There are sacred and even secret versions of the didgeridoo in Aboriginal communities in parts of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, and the surrounding areas. These sorts of instruments have specific names and functions and some of these are played like typical didgeridoos whereas others are not.

The modern didgeridoo industry

Most didgeridoos are mass produced in factories or mass harvested in Australian forests, often by non-Aboriginal entrepreneurs but also sometimes by Aboriginal people. There are also didgeridoos that are made from plastic, leather, glass, agave, yucca, bamboo and other materials.

Traditional didgeridoos are made from termite hollowed eucalyptus stems, harvested by the aboriginal didgeridoo maker and decorated by himself or another Aborigine artist, following the tribal traditions. A traditional aboriginal didgeridoo provides great ease on playing "overtone", which is used frequently in traditional playing of north eastern Arnhem Land and others.

Another misunderstanding about the mouthpiece is that the beeswax cover is the standard. Instead, most original aboriginal didgeridoos have a wooden mouthpiece that is attached to the end of the instrument. Beeswax is used to assist closing the mouthpiece completely. In order to close the mouthpiece, any non-toxic substance can be applied. The gum-shaped, thick beeswax mouthpiece is rather a by-product of mass production of the didgeridoo.

Modern innovations

In the 20th century, several "modernised" versions of the didgeridoo have been developed. The didjeribone [2] (also called "slideridoo" or "slidgeridoo"), a sliding didgeridoo made of plastic, was invented in the second half of the 20th century by Australian didgeridoo player Charlie McMahon. It is constructed of two lengths of plastic tube, one of which is slightly narrower in diameter than the other, and which slides inside the wider tube in the manner of a trombone (hence the instrument's name). This allows players to achieve fundamental tones within the compass of a major sixth, ranging from low B♭ to high G.

A keyed didgeridoo (having keys somewhat like those of a saxophone, allowing the performer to play melodically) was developed in the late 20th century by the U.S. didgeridoo player Graham Wiggins (stage name Dr. Didg) and used on his CDs Out of the Woods (1995) (in the track "Sun Tan") and Dust Devils (2002) (in the tracks "T'Boli" and "Sub-Aqua"). Wiggins built the unique and somewhat unwieldy instrument at the physics workshop of Oxford University, from which he earlier obtained his Ph.D.

In the mid to late 1990s, Marko Johnson (a didgeridoo player and teacher from Salt Lake City, Utah) developed the didjbox, a compact instrument that functions along the same principles as a traditional didgeridoo. The didjbox emulates the length of a traditional instrument with a series of baffles that create a "tortuous path" of air. Most of these didjboxes measure between 18 and 24 inches in length. Johnson holds U.S. Patent #6664454 for his creation.

Facts

The spelling "Didjeridoo" was created in 1993 as a name for a by-now-legendary club in Luxembourg. Its owner had just read Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines, the club had been painted in earthen colours, and it was a place for music, so the instrument's name seemed most appropriate. However, neither "Didgeridoo" nor "Didjeridu" appeared to be correct for the club. A blend of both into "Didjeridoo" seemed just perfect. Before 1993, one never encountered this spelling, but it has since gained acceptance.

A 2005 study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that learning and practicing the didgeridoo helped reduce snoring and sleep apnea, as well as daytime sleepiness [3]. This appears to work by strengthening muscles in the upper airway, thus reducing their tendency to collapse during sleep.

Notable didgeridoo players

See also

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