• Members of the previous forum can retrieve their temporary password here, (login and check your PM).

didgeridoo questions

Migrated topic.
pinche

pinche

Rising Star
Where is a good place online to get a didgeridoo?From what i have seen so far the real eucalyptus ones are at least $200+.Im not ready to spend that much,ive never had one before.For the cheap ones what is better plastic or bamboo?I just need something to learn on, nothing fancy.
 
Do you live anywhere near the South Western US desert?

I had a hippie friend who used to make them out of fruiting Agave Cactus & sell them in a small artsy-fartsy towns in the mountains.

When an Agave gets old enough, they grow a tall tube up into the air, from 4 to 8 feet high & the seeds fall from it after drying.
My pal used to cut down the tube after they would die & cut it in half, then hollow it out, lacquer the insides & glue the tube back together & lacquer the outside of it to a finish.
Not really difficult at all.
You can tune it by cutting/filing it to raise the pitch. He had a van full of them, cut to resonate at all the different notes.

He made me a great 7' long one in the key of E, to go with most rock & popular music, back when I was in a band.
I can play it pretty good, but I never really perfected the circular breathing thing...bad sinuses.:oops:

Here's a pic:

WS
 

Attachments

  • Bell.jpg
    Bell.jpg
    213.9 KB · Views: 0
  • Digerido.jpg
    Digerido.jpg
    187.7 KB · Views: 0
  • Mouth.jpg
    Mouth.jpg
    154.7 KB · Views: 0
I've got a whole quiver of didg's made from both PVC and wood (oak, pine, maple).

A PVC didg is easy to make and can sound pretty good until you are sure you want to get a wooden one.

If you get a heat gun you can bend it, make a bell, put imprints into the PVC. I've got quite a few I've made myself.

google: Make your own PVC didgeridoo. There are a couple of really good sites on it.

Also, ebay has some good wooden ones for under $50 every now and then. Check teak didgeridoo's.

Stay away from bamboo, unless they are made right they can split easily. PVC will never break. Teak's are cheap and are a good step above PVC in terms of sound.

Also get some beeswax, you'll need it no matter what. Learning to make your own mouthpiece is a good skill to have.

Contact me if you are interested in a low price painted PVC one ($30+) or a mid priced wooden one ($100+) and I'll speak to my friend about making you one to your specs.
 
Ok, first of all, don't buy a didjeridoo online. You just don't know what your're getting. There are somethings that just can't be described correctly, even with audio samples you wouldn't be hearing how you'd play it.

Secondly PVC tubing and gas pipes work great. I know a guy who played didj for 8 years before going to Australia to have his own made and he's pretty damn good and that gas pipe taught him all he need know. He says it sounds a little better than PVC. PVC's good also mind. But just stay away from bamboo. A complete pain in the bum, and they never get the mouth piece right even though they insist on carving them in.
 
I agree with the above poster, but only when buying a top of the line didgeridoo.

I got my teak wood didg online for $15+$10 shipping. $25. It's not the best didg, but for $25 it's a hell of a good deal. I learned a lot on it before I got more didg's. There are simple didg's that I would say it is ok to get online. I would NOT spend more than $100 online for a didg though. Getting a real top of the line didg should be got in person.

And yeah, there is NOTHING wrong with a PVC didg. You can't break 'em, you can't hurt em (unless you are really trying), and there is nothing you can learn on a wooden didg that you can't learn on a PVC one.
 
Yeah, I think a tube made from natural material has a sound with so much more personality.

Making one from plastic, tends to have a very uniform sound to it, the resonation is always exactly the same. To me, they sound....well...like plastic.
When it is made from a natural wood, there are little pockets of air in places inside the cellular makeup of the plant & build ups of more solid/harder areas too, which create different resonances & overtones when held or played differently.
I guess this might also be a reason for a beginner to start with a PVC/etc... one too. Might be easier to learn how to play without all the variations in overtones.

Since a Didgeridoo is a resonator type of instrument & basically makes just one note, all the variation in sounds
that it may have, comes from the harmonics & overtones created from the tube resonating & from sounds made in the body & mouth of the person playing it.
So for the richest overtones & harmonics, you'd want to use a natural source with more of a non-uniform makeup, that is not too dense & not too light.


2-cents...

WS
 
Aegle said:
Warrensaged
exactly, each to there own though :d
Much Peace
Click to expand...

Yup, just my corner...

Oh & definitely get some bee's wax to form the mouth piece with!!
I can't imagine trying to play one of those with the carved mouth piece, I reform mine almost every time I play it & while I'm playing it.
I usually mess with it to fit how my mouth is feeling that day.

I always kind of thought the digges with the carved mouth pieces where like that, mainly because most people take one look at the bee's wax & gross out.
Saying, "ooh, I'm not putting my mouth in that!!":lol:
I've only seen that type of Digg at gift shop type places, where it is probably being sold more as a decoration anyway.

WS
 
Thanks for a the info.I have some pvc laying around so i might make one, until i can get a better one.Where can i get beeswax?Would Lowes or Home Depot have the right kind or is that something you have to order?

Also, what key is best.I just want it for simple droning.Sit around the camp fire with a little aya.:d
 
pinche said:
Thanks for a the info.I have some pvc laying around so i might make one, until i can get a better one.Where can i get beeswax?Would Lowes or Home Depot have the right kind or is that something you have to order?

Also, what key is best.I just want it for simple droning.Sit around the camp fire with a little aya.:d
Click to expand...

we highly encourage you to do some humming/chanting and find your favorite key.
Fun to do in the shower, but the resonance of the room may distort your resonance of your self. (Infinitely divisible)
The cool thing about the voice or length of didj is that it's not set up like a piano, you can move anywhere along the spectrum (rainbow) and some colors are just better than others. (I love purple, but yellow can be annoying)😉
 
SWIMfriend said:
Seeing this thread makes a connection in my mind that I hadn't made before: didgeridoo sounds are reminiscent of throat-singing sounds...
Click to expand...

Yep, jaw harps are related as well (I've never had a knack, but I'll figure it out some day). You can also do a few interesting things with harmonicas as well.
 
SWIMfriend said:
Seeing this thread makes a connection in my mind that I hadn't made before: didgeridoo sounds are reminiscent of throat-singing sounds...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not real familiar with thought singing but it seems a lot like playing the didgeridoo without the tube.😉

WS
 
Back
Top Bottom