Playing the Didgeridoo

[Aetherius Rimor]

Decided I wanted to start learning how to play, so I bought a cheap 47 inch bamboo one yesterday.

Practiced half the night, am able to produce the sound (though it's a bit rough, not very clean) and a few effects.

Does anyone have recommended tutorials whether text or video, that I can use to help learn?

Also obviously there is no "sheet music", but it'd be nice to see some examples of what you can do with it. Every time I've heard it, it was mixed in with lots of other music, so hard to tell exactly what it was doing to contribute.

 

[soulfood]

The next step is to get that tone you are making with minimal breath and effort.

Practice doing it as quietly as possible. Most people give up because they blow too hard which makes things very tricky when you want to move onto circular breathing which some people seem to think only freaks can do, but actually the mechanics are very simple and if you want, you can figure it out in one afternoon.

The next time you're in the shower, fill your mouth up with water and practice breathing in through your nose while squeezing water out with your cheeks

Also practice breathing out through your nose the same. The more comfortable you get with getting this all in sync the more comfortable it is when you're playing.

Do it lots!

also look here:

http://www.yirdaki.com/Videos.html

http://www.didgeswedoo.com.au/didgeridoo_lesson.html

There was a really cool site I used to read but can't find it right now.. I'll keep looking

Remember! The didgeridoo is just an extension for your lips. Pretty much any sound you can make with your lips, throat, tongue, cheaks and best of all voice, can be made into didgeridoo magic.

Enjoy

It's the best!

 

[Wax]

You said you bought a cheap bamboo one so it may be extremely hard to do circular breathing with.
You can still play it and have it sound good but if it has a large mouth piece then it won't have good back pressure which is needed for circular breathing.
That's the problem I'm running into with my cheap bamboo didg.
Although it is still a ton of fun to play, I highly recommend playing around with it while tripping.
I played mine while on acid and it felt so amazing like it was calling me home to ancient alien civilizations!

 

[Aetherius Rimor]

The next time you're in the shower, fill your mouth up with water and practice breathing in through your nose while squeezing water out with your cheeks

So I momentarily tried exactly that with just Air, and actually did it for about 2 seconds! That's a good tip.

Yeah I figured out that the softer I blow the more it works (once I get past the initial "whooshing" threshold). Almost counter-intuitive, but going to be practicing for a lot this next month.

Thanks for the links!

You said you bought a cheap bamboo one so it may be extremely hard to do circular breathing with.
You can still play it and have it sound good but if it has a large mouth piece then it won't have good back pressure which is needed for circular breathing.
That's the problem I'm running into with my cheap bamboo didg.
Although it is still a ton of fun to play, I highly recommend playing around with it while tripping.
I played mine while on acid and it felt so amazing like it was calling me home to ancient alien civilizations!

Yeah I intend to get a really nice authentic one, once I've got some practice under my belt to justify the expense. Oh wow, that sounds like an awesome idea....

 

[Aetherius Rimor]

On another note, what is a good company to order a high quality authentic one to be shipped to United States?

 

[soulfood]

I wouldn't order a didj online.

I think more than any other instrument you really have to play one first as there are no 2 alike and their difference really... make a difference.

As for the bamboo thing, a lot of purists will tell you to not indulge anything but euculyptus. I've been playing for just over 5 years and still don't own one. I started off with bamboo which is more than enough to get the basic technique down. If the mouthpiece is too big you can fix it with bees wax.

I'm using a teak didj with a beeswax mouth piece now and it's quite beautiful

I suggest once you get to the stage where you can feel why bamboo isn't doing the job, THEN get something authentic. But if you just go out and get one now, you probably won't know what it is you're looking for.

 

[dreamer042]

I've been sitting here trying to think about how to explain how to play the didge in text here but I just can't do it. There are plenty of informative videos on youtube about basic technique and circular breathing and all that.

as far as a legit source

Didjshop.com - Australian Aboriginal Didgeridoos, Didjeridoo Music, Artefacts

The Didjshop has hundreds of genuine and authentic Australian Aboriginal didjeridoos with individual mp3s and photos of didgeridoos to buy online. This virtual didgeridoo shop also provides a huge range of educational information on didgeridoos, didjeridoos, Australia and Aboriginal culture.

www.didjshop.com

great people extremely high quality products.

I have two didgeridoos one in the key of D and one in the key of F, I very much prefer the one in the key of D.

hope that's somewhat helpful for ya.

 

[englishmelting]

I've been really wanting to get one for a while. What kind of store did you get yours at? Or was it online?

 

[dreamer042]

The one in the key of F I picked up from a little new age shop in a small town while traveling in the pacific northwest. It's a traditional dot painted one.

The one in the key of D I scored from someone who makes them at a music festival in the desert southwest. It's carved into the form of Quetzalcoatl.

I've seen many very nice ones in my local music shops and new age stores so I'd check those kind of places first if you want to buy locally, otherwise I'd go ahead and order from didjshop.

 

[Dorge]

Snorted 2cb once and had a vision while playing of an aboriginal man breathin into my mouth telling me that you only take in as much as you put out, and that goes for your life as well as circular breathing... I started circular breathing and it was amazing. Since then I could play songs with the dij that focused the breath and the song to bring things about, Like a magnifying glass for icaros!

 

[englishmelting]

Snorted 2cb once and had a vision while playing of an aboriginal man breathin into my mouth telling me that you only take in as much as you put out, and that goes for your life as well as circular breathing... I started circular breathing and it was amazing. Since then I could play songs with the dij that focused the breath and the song to bring things about, Like a magnifying glass for icaros!

Thank you for posting this!!!!

 

[Dorge]

De nadda