iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Hi All, I'm a pretty new didge player and I'm looking for some advice to hopefully improve my technique

At this point I don't even own a real didge, I made one out of 1 1/2 inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe. My mouthpiece is made out of beeswax so it's at least a little bit authentic haha!

Well here's my problem, I have circular breathing down and I can play basic rhythms and can incorporate yelps and the occasional overtone (when I work hard at it)

However I simply am having the hardest time getting clear harmonics out of the instrument. I realize PVC didges are not known for their amazing acoustic qualities but whenever I pull in my cheeks in to try to attempt harmonics, they always come out sort of muffled, my tongue is clear and there's no saliva in that would be getting in the way or anything yet I'm convinced I'm not doing something right.

Can anyone help me with this? I don't have a video camera so I don't really have a way of showing you what's going on, but it seems like everyone here is pretty knowledgable and will be able to help me

thanks!

Clear harmonics come through good control of your lips' muscles, which comes through lots of training
As a matter of fact, pvc didjes are quite good for harmonics, its bore being smooth as plastic !
What could help is narrowing a bit your beeswax mouthpiece... not too much but a little.
If your mouthpiece have been made by successively plunging one end of the pvc pipe into melted liquid beeswax and if it looks like a big yellow tyre, this may also reduce your lips' accuracy... try to create the mouthpiece by modeling soft beeswax (not hard nor liquid, in-between, heat it by rubbing it into your palms or using a hairdryer) with your fingers into a circle and stick that circle on the pipe.

Thanks for the advice, I narrowed my mouthpiece a little bit and it's helping slightly.

However when you do the cheeks-in drone, are you supposed to keep a little bit of air in the front of your mouth and push with your diaphragm? Whenever I do this the harmonics become incredibly clear, but I'm not sure if that's the correct technique.

High harmonics are fetched by both narrowing your body-aircolumn and accelerating your lips' movement.
Cheeks-in indeed narrow your personal air-column, as well as placing your tongue just behind the teeth.
I'd advise you to use your tongue to push the air rather than the diaphragm to fetch higher harmonics, hence reducing again your air-column (stops at tip of tongue rather than doooown the diaph').
Accelerate lips movement by both narrowing your lips' "flipping aperture" (from left to right, by either reducing mouthpiece, or/and using your lip muscles > SMILE !), and pushing air harder (diaph' or tongue or else).
Unless you want to replicate a particular technique, there are no "correct" or "wrong" techniques when playing Didjeridu !
Your body is the instrument, feel it, listen to it, and enjoy

Brass wind players encounter a similar conundrum. I played trumpet for approximately 12 years so I have a bit of an advantage. While Dizzy Gillespie trademarked full cheeks of air when he played, being in a concert band or marching band, you will constantly get scolded for doing this and instead told to "work on your embouchre" which essentially means strengthening the muscles in your face to narrow the geometry of your vocal tract.

The tip given in a previous post to smile is a great one. You might try the following exercise...

Play a drone with your cheeks full of air and move your tongue back and forth in your mouth which alters the shape of your vocal tract coupled to the didge and produce harmonics. You will hear harmonics but they seem to be muffled.

Now, tighten up your entire face in a smile (watching someone like Larry Winiwini Gurruwiri - on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc5elPPHXf8 ) you will see what I mean. Repeat the same exercise moving your tongue to create harmonics and they will be distinctly clearer.

Pay close attention to the mouthpiece opening and shape as well. When I build my didges I heat up a piece of beeswax in the microwave for 60 seconds at a time on a paper towel. Usually 1 or two heats gets it just right for "forming the snake" which is to create a long thin piece of beeswax that you can begin pressing around the rim of your PVC didge. I usually make the junction between the ends a long point that can blend the two ends into a continuous ring and avoid abrupt cut off ends which can leak if joined. I then begin forming the mouthpiece by molding the outer edge of it inward to a sharper edge which your lips will come into contact with. Mine are all around 3 cm in the blowing diameter. Too small and you'll be blowing overtones all the time or unable to drone. Too big and you won't be able to blow overtones at all and may actually get a sub tone to the drone. The surface which comes into contact with your lips is then much smaller than the "tire" you might have at this point. The smaller surface gives you the ability to utilize your embouchre not only to get clean harmonics but also to blow overtones as well.

Hope you're having fun and keep with it - more practice will only improve your skills and PVC is good to learn on - my first home made didges were PVC and you can learn a lot of the basic techniques.

Cheers,
Kevin

Even better, no wax at all, that's why the majority of Mandapul are made from chosen trees that can provide a solid mouthpiece not requiring wax. I prefer no wax (not 100% possible) and a mouthpiece of between 27 and 30 mm..

Paul