iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Hi there.
I think you've got it wrong there, for 2 reasons :
1 > "Prehistoric techniques" must be the hardest to copy. It must take an awful amount of time, energy and technical knowledge to chose & cut down a hollowed euca' with a flintstone, then another amount of all of them to turn that log into an instrument.
Same goes for making good stone-tools or other "primitive" techniques.
2 > Djalu & mob do not use primitive/prehistoric tools to craft their sticks : steel axe, power-tools, acrylic paintings and modern glue.

I can't see any financial profit in faking 3 Dialu sticks for $160 each. This isn't lucrative until one would produce a higher quantity of copies ...

I just got back from seeing the yidaki. The black and yellow ones were very difficult to get a sustained drone out of. Seemed like something was very wrong acoustically. Either something was wrong with the yidaki or I am just not a good enough player to make them respond. I believe that they were genuine as the seller said Lena(?) Gurruwiwi sold them to him. He also had a whole bunch of Arnhem Land stories and other Yolngu artifacts. He said he never intended on playing the sticks so maybe he didnt get the instument-quality yidaki, but more the aesthetic/ornamental yidaki?

Thanks Ozmadman for the bore pics. They came in handy. The Djalu's I saw today looked as though there wasnt much work done to the bores but then again, that is my interpretation of them.

As for the Vernon stick, it had a very whistle-like sound to it. It was really really high key and the toot was off the map. After shining a torch down the mouth piece, we noticed a constriction in the bore that a 10mm pen-torch couldnt fit into. Maybe this was causing the high-pitched buzzing?

Having said all that, the sticks might be fine when someone more experienced plays them. I know for sure that they arent the yidaki for me and that makes having taken the trip to see them worth it.

Thanks guys for all your feedback on this one

Nick

Hi Nick

At least you saw them and have now put your mind at rest that they may not be the bargain you hoped for. It's possible that the Djalu sticks had air leaks, this would make it difficult to sustain a drone as you described, these could have easily been fixed if that was the case. As for the Vernon it's hard to say whether that could have been remedied as that could have been how it was made or something stuck in there? wouldn't have thought Vernon would have made an instrument with such fine artwork that didn't play well??? May have been a G# with an A toot which would require a bit more grunt to play! Interestingly one of the Djalu's in the pictures I sent you was bought "blind" from Yirrkala years ago now, they were clearing out some sticks cheap and this was amongst them. When it arrived it didn't play well at all, very muffled sound to it and I realised why it was cheap and put it to one side. Some time later I read an article where someone else bought an instrument with the same kind of problem and found a blockage in the bore, Maybe, I thought, this was the problem with mine and sure enough after a good poke around a nice chunk of good ol' Arnhem Land crud fell out and now it plays and toots beautifully as a Djalu should..

Paul

Nothing I said was wrong. Your reason #1 has little relevance to this thread...however...where did I say Djalu & Co. used stone tools to cut & craft a stick...and where did I say they used ochres? Your'e reason #2 is also misdirected...I said a yidaki was a "wonderfully primitive" object...this phrase does not refer to the technique used to produce it. What I really meant by this is counterfeiting a yidaki involves a log, a couple of woodworking tools and paint...it is not the demanding, and highly complex process like faking identification cards, currency, Van Goghs etc. Buy yourself a raw log...buy some acrylic paints and give it a try yourself...I think you will find out it is not as hard as some people here seem to think.

And to nitupspaar...yes, you are correct in theory...but sometimes fakes are offered at bargain prices because the original buyer discovered he/she had a fake. The fake maker is the one who gets the big money at the point of first sale...after that, the fake has entered into circulation and anyone unlucky enough to end up with it is going to price it attractively to get rid of it as quickly as possible. As it could turn out, perhaps there are/were other problem's with the $160 "Djalu's" maybe they are real, but are broken and repaired. Who knows? I don't usually encounter such situations because I exclusively get my sticks straight from Guan.

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I haven't encountered any problems either but whilst Guan has had the majority of my business (12) I have other trad sticks all sourced from reputable others, even got a real gem on ebay a while back, if you like and can play a G#/A toot !!! instrument

Paul

There are some good points you guys have brought up here. Yes they may have had air leaks but I visually checked them both for leaks quite thoroughly. There were no signs of any cracks or holes or worn repairs. Yes there were a couple of smallish lumps of "good 'ol Arnhem Land crud" in the bore of the yellow one. However, it was the yellow one that was the more playable of the two, it also had a "toot" whereas the black one refused to "toot" or overtone no matter what. The general feeling of both of them was as if they had zero back pressure or maybe you just needed to be a total powerhouse of a player to overcome this?

Vernon's one played easily but it just didnt sound good to me. Way too high key for my taste.

Maybe the sticks were the error part of a trial and error process and were discarded at some point? Does this happen? Or is it true that every single yidaki that comes out of Arnhem Land is an absolute cracker of an instrument?

Nick

At the end of the day, this all goes to prove that it's best to play sticks before you buy if at all possible. If not, then it's good to buy from folk that you trust and that have a good idea of the sort of thing you're after!

Kyle

Interesting thread that has evolved! The 3 sticks are Gurruwiwis sticks and the price is a reflection of their quality. As with most families in the Gove area, the Gurruwiwis also do suffer financial hardships... they're not swimming in mountains of cash and there's no savings in bank accounts. Whatever money is available is spent or shared with extended family, there are always needs and always mouths to feed that is for sure.

Lena has a licence and she drives and those yirdaki would have been brought to one of the pubs to sell to mine workers or visitors. Yolngu usually do canvas paintings to sell in this way, its quick money and it means the ability to buy groceries or whatever they might need. Its not inconceivable to get a yirdaki for $50 or $100 in this way, it wouldn't be a great instrument but to those who buy they're probably not that concerned about musical quality but just want something from the local area to remind them of their time in Gove?

As an aside, it is never easy to tell if a stick is "genuine" unless one is present at time of crafting. Friends and family who visit Djalu inevitably help out with crafting, its all part of the process of Djalu introducing them to the art of yirdaki in all its forms including the creation of the instruments, its an immersion process rather than a mere watch-and-learn process. I still prefer to go out with Djalu and observe him select and cut down trees, to see which trees he cuts and which he decides to keep, to observe him as to continues searching for the perfect specimen or specimens and the delight on his face when he gets the right one. I help with carrying the logs back to the truck, sometimes I help with the axe and the chopping when I see Djalu is getting tired, other than that I like to leave as much work and crafting to Djalu and don't like to get personally involved in the crafting process.

I'd encourage everyone who is a fan of Djalu to visit him at least once in a lifetime and to do it sooner rather than later.

G