iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Here's another great one of 'The Bomb' at Heathrow Airport.

Here's the caption that came with this image:



Interesting spelling of David's name- haven't seen that one yet!

Hi Jason,

I think the 'D' should have been a 'B'. Bulanaiji corrupted to Dulanaiji kinda thing.

The headdress is something particularly to Blanasi's mob and to that general region I reckon. The only other place I know that uses headdresses of a similar nature is in the Kimberley where they are known as ilma. See pic below of an Aboriginal dance group competing at an NT Eisteddfod. Could that possibly be Djoli Laiwanga in the headdress?

The mago pictured with Blanasi is remarkable for the dotting effect. I've got a similar mago and could not really work out where it might be from... I was thinking perhaps Port Keats area, perhaps Maningrida area. The instrument is a nice old one with good signs of usage. You can see where a clapstick has been tapped against the side of the instrument, as well as wear at the mouthpiece and bell ends. See pics below.

Hi Guan:



It certainly could be! I wasn't familiar with such headdresses outside of Tiwi country, so it's nice to learn a thing or two

I agree- the stippling on both the mago in the photo as well as the one in your collection is quite striking. Lovely looking piece you have there, too- I haven't seen many mago with an appropriately sized raw mouthpiece, but I know they're out there. A Ambrose Cameron mago in my own collection has such a natural mouthpiece- and I believe a couple of Darryl's recent instruments were the same?

Jason

Hi Jason,

Whether there is wax or not on a mago's mouthpiece isn't an issue. Most of the ones I have - old and new - are waxed. And the best sounding ones are usually waxed too. If a mouthpiece is unwaxed and suitably sized (around 30 mm inner diameter), it usually (but not always) means that the bore is too constricted for WAL style. It is strange, but I've seen mago makers with a harvested log with what I think is a perfect sized mouthpiece, but they'll then scrape and gouge out wood at the mouthpiece end and then later apply sugarbag beeswax to the mouthpiece for comfort!

Definitely a good point, Guan. Makes those 'perfect' ones all the more special!