iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

There was the Wandering Didj project some time ago, Brandi has a website about it:

http://www.brandichase.com/didjeridu/wander.htm

If you don't know already, Brandi is recovering from a major health issue, read about it in her blog and send her all the good vibes you can summon up:

http://lymphoblaster.blogspot.com/2010/ ... think.html

Anyway, this post is about whether there might be interest in the continuation of the Wandering Didj project, with the blue bamboo as the instrument of choice?

I have already recorded 5 guys playing it.














Guan

Having held and played the blue bamboo myself I would say yes immediately. Quite a risk you're taking with such an instrument though!

Hi Kyle,

I have thought about the risk, because the last Wandering Didj went - let's say permanent walkabout - and never came back. Someone in Canada decided to keep it! Along the way, the instrument was also modified, with the mouthpiece enlarged.

So with this one, maybe a kind of down-deposit as surety from each participant which is fully refundable when the instrument has been passed on to the next person in the exact condition it was received? And maybe limit the project to subscribers of this forum (anyone new can join of course) and playing style when recording oneself must be traditionally-oriented?

Just an idea anyway. When the first Wandering Didj project started, few didgeridoo players around the world had played an authentic yidaki or mago. The situation is very different now, I'd say the majority of us here own at least 1 authentic traditional stick?

What say others?

Guan

It's interesting, i would say a big yes too!
The limitation is a good idea, i think.

John

Hi Guan,
I did not know about the project at all and it is surely a bright idea.
Also choosing an instrument that can be played both in NEAL and in WAL is a nice one. But I thought you loved this stick too much to part with it. Surprised to see you running a risk on that one. Maybe not so suited to play as a Mago but, an instrument from Djalu would be good, considering his reputation worlwide (as long as the instrument is not so heavy).

That sounds like a wonderful idea and a great demonstration of generosity and trust Guan.
I would be happy to have it pass by here and would be willing to pay a deposit and to accept
whatever terms may be attached to that.
Maybe those terms etc could include the possibility of taking the instrument to others living in my area and getting
recordings from them also, the instrument remaining always in my possession until passing it onto the next person. Another
useful restriction should be a time limit, say a couple of weeks, per person?
It would be then wonderful to have available this archive of players all around the world playing the same instrument - getting back in particular to old discussions of the impact in particular of human language on playing style and timbre.
Martin

Hi,
Yes, good idea... but there maybe should be an underlying theme or message to all this ?
... or is there already and I've missed it ? (then it should be "over-lying" !)
Something about Yolngu culture, a reference to your "Philanthropy" page or other.
Then edit all videos into one video-clip dispatching the catchy message.
???
Only my thoughts...

Hi Francis,

With the first Wandering Didj, the "theme" was as follows:



See here:

http://www.brandichase.com/didjeridu/wa ... /wguan.htm

Like I said, at that time, 1998, few people outside of Arnhem Land had played an authentic yidaki or mago so it was my desire to get something out into the world, a kinda traveling diplomat. But how times have changed!

With this current project, I'm still interested in seeing/hearing the sonic outcome of individual playing styles on the same instrument. That to me is already a huge thing. Take the 4 examples above: Mirrwatnga, Arnold, Dharrapuy and Darryl. We could write pages and pages of comments and analysis just comparing the different sounds that we hear the 4 players create. And now with video being so mainstream, we can also see what they are doing and learn from that, how their lips are held, the little twitches in the cheek muscles, where the breath is taken etc. etc.

And this being an old instrument, it also gives people an opportunity to play something that they probably wouldn't get another chance to for the rest of their lives. The instrument itself has so much (his)tory behind it, touching on things like ethnobotany, culture, language, European colonisation of Australia, Indigenous creativity and use of Western material goods, etc.

What other "themes" or elements to this project that people think are important should be discussed, like the first project, it is a collaborative thing, I just come up with the idea, and the instrument, and it is up to the rest of us to shape the story and the concept.

Guan

Well I'm in too !

Count me in too.

I'd like to join, too!

looking forward to join too!

I would be up for it as well.

Cool! Other than expressing interest in participating, let's also start the discussion about what we want to achieve with this project. Should we try to fund-raise for an Indigenous organisation as well? ie. for every 1 km (?) that the instrument travels, we fund-raise from the public $1 (?). Just an idea.

I think everyone who participates should video-record themselves playing the instrument for 30 seconds to 1 minute, no more than that. And trad-style, either WAL or NEAL or a combination of both. Technique is what we're focussing on.

Also, I was thinking that perhaps we should invite some well-known didgeridoo players to join in this project, those whom we admire. They might be awesome contemporary players and we're just curious how they might sound playing the "blue bamboo"?

Etc. etc.

Guan

+1
In this set of rules, maybe front-shooting should be mentionned, at approx equal distance as existing videos, and if possible with a cool natural background typical from the country/region of the player.
Then not only would we hear different styles, see different people, but also admire different landscapes from all over the world !
A kind of "Where the Hell is the Blue Bamboo" video ?