iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

There are eBay sellers who might be ignorant, who just don't know, and then there are the scam artists. This guy is a scam artist. You couldn't buy a didgeridoo like this 30 years ago, they only starting making these in Bali several years ago. I wonder who told him that this sort of carved instrument was made in the 1800s? Buyer beware!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANCIENT-DIDGERIDOO_ ... 500wt_1182

Guan

Interesting one Guan.

E-bay is full of that kind of sleazy sellers. It really boils down to the customer who should not be ignorant.
A bit of interest and training might help to tell the real thing from the bogus.


Mahir

One wonders if this might be a legitimate instrument from another part of the region and the seller is only mistakenly labeling it a didjeridu. In David Lindner's "The Didgeridoo Phenomenon" the owner of Sorakai, Indonesia's largest maker of reproduction didjes, mentions several types of large Balinese flutes which are reminiscent of the didjeridu. Perhaps this ebay seller has some large SE Asian or Pacific Island type of horn or flute and he/she mistakenly ID's it as a didj. I've never seen a didj carved like that! It would be interesting to search the globe for analogues to the Australian yidaki or mago- I know the Swiss have the large "Alpenhorn" and I've also seen large horn like instruments from areas in Africa. The above mentioned Balinese flute is over 3.5 feet long, though a bit more slender than most didjeridu. Surely the didj has cousins in other parts of the world and from other periods in time. It sure would be interesting to find a didjeridu like instrument elsewhere on the globe-- after all, boomerangs have appeared in ancient Egypt and the Americas.

Another one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0551778162

I have kindly mailed the seller this is what I have said

"Hi

I have looked at your ad and must mention that this isn't an Authentic Aboriginal Didgeridoo, nor an antique. Actually it looks like an indonesian copy, made of teak not eucalyptus. I'm sure you have posted this in good faith probably based on what you were told when you purchased it yourself but this isn't Aboriginal at all and I wouldn't want you to get into problems selling it as such. Your fellow ebayer "

Paul

Well he hasn't replied to me but it looks like he has changed the description A BIT!!! basically he has just removed the word Aboriginal but presume he still thinks it is antique and made of eucalyptus, which it isn't!!! Well I got the ABORIGINAL removed so suppose should be grateful for that at least. £90 minimum price!!!!!, you can pick these up for a fiver , just hope no-one gets duped.

Paul

Good one Paul, yea we need to be vigilant, this sort of thing is happening all too frequently, the Aboriginal custodians of the instrument can't compete when the playing field is made uneven by false claims and inaccurate advertising!

Keep up the work guys, only by slowly but surely chipping away at this problem can we make a difference, and a difference we have made collectively!

Guan

@ Megalania
Here, in the east of Holland , in a region called Twente, we have a didgeridoo like instrument called the 'Mid-winterhoorn'.
It's made, mostly, from willow in the sandwich technique. It's about 1,2 metres long and played with a separate mouthpiece called a 'happer'.
They are only allowed to be played in wintertime and you can only play the hoornnotes, or toot's.
Out of the several notes a melody, specifik to the owner, farm or village is played. It's also used for communication.
If you take the mouthpiece out you can play it as a didgeridoo.

I am trying to get hold of such an instrument for a while and when I can get one I will post a picture, if you want.
Kind regards,
Michiel

Looks like it has been withdrawn there are no bids on it so it looks like the seller has had second thoughts. A good result.

Paul

And another!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuine-Northern- ... 1e61966374


This is my message to the seller

Hello
Just been looking at you ad and would respectively like to point out that this isn't a genuine Northern Territory Didgeridoo. Firstly it looks like it is made of bamboo (Northern Territory didges would be made from Eucalyptus) and I would suspect from looking at the artwork it is actually an Indonesian copy and not made in Adelaide at all, which anyway is Southern Australia. I am sure you have listed this in good faith but as a fellow ebayer I would not want you to get into trouble for misrepresenting an item for sale. All the best Paul

Paul

Paul,

Some Nothern Territory didgeridoos were/are made out of bamboo. Have a look at the exhibition pages on Guan's site.

I'm not disputing the point that the instrument in question listed on ebay was touristy, only that what you stated is not necessarily true.

Kyle

Hi Kyle

Thanks, I know that this is the case and yes maybe I should have said "generally made of eucalyptus" as the vast majority are. I was just trying to point out how wrong he/she was listing this like that, I didn't want to throw any variables into the equation that could make him/her think that this may still may be a "genuine" didgeridoo.

Appreciate the correction though

Cheers Paul

The ad has been modified to exclude "Genuine Northern Territory" another success!!!!

Paul

Good one Paul. Keep up the good work.!

Mahir

Hey guys,

Just had a look at this and it does indeed look like bamboo. The description is interesting... Adelaide River is in the Top End actually and is a place where vast stands of Bambusa arnhemica grows which is the native bamboo species traditionally used for didgeridoo making in some parts of the Top End. I do have several old specimens as Kyle pointed out, several early- to mid- 1900s examples, and a couple from the 1800s.

I've not seen any proper traditional instruments made in recent times from this bamboo though, however NT Parks and Wildlife do have people applying for and been granted permits to harvest this bamboo for commercial purposes including for didgeridoo making and for culinary uses (bamboo shoots are eaten by some sections of the Asian community). It may well be that non-Aboriginal enterprises are mass harvesting this bamboo for didgeridoo making and they end up as souvenirs aimed at the tourist market.

The eBay listing looks terrible, I wouldn't touch that type of didgeridoo regardless of who made it and where it came from!

On another note, rumour has it (could well be true) that they have eucalyptus plantations in Indonesia from which didgeridoos are made (drilled of course, not termite-eaten). There are plantations of Australian eucalyptus species in different countries where the trees are a valuable resource for pulp (paper making), timber etc. Might be interesting to see if they have eucalyptus plantations in the UK, could be good material for those who make instruments using the split method

Well sorry guys for the silence for a week or so, trying to keep up but can't...

Guan