iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Hi All,
Guan encouraged me to put up some sound samples, so here they are ...






I would welcome your comments ... maybe someone likes to put up some of his stuff, too?

Cheers, Ambros

Oh my, you're a good player Ambros! I'd just like to encourage everyone to practise and play, and to record yourself to share with everyone here. It is amazing how far traditional playing and interest have progressed in the West over the past years. I'm going to focus on the Groote style soon, something to challenge myself with, hope others will join in with trying out this difficult style.

Guan

Hi All,

here's a little Elijah dhirrl inspired clip in the key of G .

Hey Ambros, this is most impressive! How did you go about learning to play this well?

Hi Dave,

thank you for the compliment ! Well, I have started playing yirdaki about one and a half years ago, so I am not really self confident about my skills ... It would be great, If more sound samples would be posted.

My Brother got me in touch with the didge and we went to get me a teak stick. I didn't know what to play besides the basic drone, so I searched the internet and got to ididj. I listened to all the Youtube clips on Guans channel and tried to learn traditional style. Then I ordered a copy of the "Hard Tongue Didgeridoo" CD and a Yirdaki from Guan and got totally addicted. Since then I play almost every day for about half an hour or an hour.
I learnt the basics with the Hard Tongue CD - (the dith-dhu-dhirrl-stuff and use of passive voice. Breathing came of its own volition).

Later I wanted to learn more mouth sounds and bought Jeremy Cloakes "Balanda Yidaki Dhukarr" CD (which I find very useful for diversity) and some more good Yirdaki from Guan .

I always try to imitate the stuff all the excellent guys play on the ididj Youtube channel - or at least the bits and pieces I can sound out and figure out. The forum here is also a priceless treasure of kowledge to me. The most important thing I think is to listen carefully and to just play often. Then you get a strong diaphragm for the rhythm and tight chops for the sound.

What i'm trying to do now is to use always passive voice in the right pitch and have the tongue quite in front of my mouth between my teeth - this gives a good Dhirrl and lets me play faster. And I have my lips placed on the mouthpiece in the position which makes the toot, so that the 'dup' comes easier. Maybe later I will be able to learn some songs ...

Well this is even more impressive because you've relied on just recorded materials, good ears and motivation! A copy of the hard tongue CD should be arriving in my letter box any day now so I'm also getting excited

Hi
Been inspired to post something impromptu I recorded today. Djalu Eb/F yidaki

Cheers Paul

Crikey, that's a fast tongue you've got there Paul! Love the 'tups' - I gotta work on these more :-# How are you approaching passive voice? (I get confused over this, since my vocal cords want to naturally vibrate below the pitch of the instrument, not a 5th to 12th above it!).

Hi Dave

No-one can be more confused about passive voice than me!!! I have no musical knowledge at all and have no idea what people are talking about when they mention 5th or 12th etc. All I do is try to play what sounds right but I do know that I am not using my voice as much as I should so I am going to try to concentrate on that aspect a bit more. I have quite a deep voice naturally so not sure If I am getting it right. I never play with anyone(all my practice is at home on my own). What happens is I get so involved in trying to get the tonguings right that I often forget to add my voice to playing or I start off trying to use my voice and then it stops a few notes in, usually after a couple of Dhirrls!! It would be nice if someone could explain in very simple terms about octaves, keys and all the n'ths above etc as it would be nice to have at least some clue.

All the best, practice is the key! (no pun intended)

Hi there !
I've got some notions in music, though this hint about 12th or 8th above the drone always got me confused...
Indeed, how can one exactly know the pitch of his voice inside a didj, furthermore if the didj key is not the same as the voice ?!!?
What I can suggest though is a more practical exercise to get to a good PV pitch :
Without droning the didj, just sing in it the different keys.
To make this smooth with all the # and b and quarter-tones and all, just imitate the sound of a Formula1 passing next to you :
nnnnnnnnNNNNNIIIIIIAAAAAAARRrrrwwwwwww !
Normally, you'll get at least one full octave there.
Don't focus too much on the terms (octave, pitch, key, 5th, 8th...) just imitate the sound of a F1 in your didj
Now do the same but slowly, then very slowly...
You'll note that at some points your voice seems to be muffled while at others it seems to go straight out of the tube !
Now do it again WITH the drone. Making slow F1 noise in PV.
You've still got muffled pitches and straight-out pitches.
And you even got a third category : trembling pitches !
To my mind, THIS is the right pitch !
When the didj's key and the PV pitch nearly match and are on a kind of hazardous equilibrium.
This creates the tremble, the "groan" that is characteristic to trad' style.
I may be wrong though, but this is how I do it and how I like the sound.
Anyway, Aboriginal people don't talk about 5th or 12th so even if this theory is true it doesn't make too much sense for that instrument played trad' to my mind...

Hi Paul - sounds exactly like me! My wife is a pro classical musician so I'll get her to explain all this stuff (with no hangover) and I'll try to write a summary and maybe attach some sound files where you can hear the 5th, 10th, 12th etc played in relation to a drone using a synth-didj (please forgive this act of despicable treachery!!!).

But...

Francis has come up with a great idea that is easy to understand and totally practical - must go try right now! I'm aware that an end-blown pipe like the didj will have a set of frequencies it likes to vibrate at, but because didjes can be complex shapes internally these don't necessarily come at the fixed intervals of modern western music. This F1 singing down the tube technique will sweep through a whole load of frequencies and identify those to which the didj responds well (you could say sings back!) without the need for a tuner, calculation of intervals etc. 'Trembling pitches' and 'hazardous equilibrium' are also known as beat frequencies... simple, elegant and brilliant!!!!

Just posted a new thread with a colourful attempt at nailing PV pitches - this can be used in conjunction with a tuner, keyboard, guitar, harmonica, flute, banjo, piano etc. I'll try to post some sound sample tones for those without the benefit of a pitched instrument; though this could be your excuse to go round the neighbours with a 6 pack and strike up a beautiful friendship

Been a bit quiet here lately and in view of the above comments I have knocked up a couple of vids of me attempting to play Quincey Matjaki style!!! tough task I know!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHVEeRG1D1s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRURzJvUxic

Hi
A couple more files relating to the video(Guans) below

"Quincey Matjaki Wunungmurra, among the best didgeridoo playing you'll hear in the world! "

Hi Paul,

sounds good!
Did you manage to sound out the mouth sounds of the basic vamp of this Matjaki clip?
It sounds like a "dith doo dhirl" with strange silent "dhirl" or "um dhirl lo" or "di da ro" ?
I'm trying my luck with this clip too, but it's so damned hard just to dig what he is playing
Matjaki has such a odd twangy lispingly sound ... he seems to have his tongue always in front of his mouth between his teeth.