iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Here's a useful vid showing mouth sounds as well as mago accompaniment. It helps to see rather than just listen... you can pick up lots of cues from movements in the lips, cheeks, jaw, throat. Listen closely to the breathing because this is important too, in order to get timing and rhythmic patternings right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g66QGUIP9kI

Guan

Been said before and will be said again.........These videos are a real treat - Very special indeed. Thank you Guan/Darryl for taking the time to record them and for willingly sharing this information with us.

Thanks buddy! I'm glad it is useful to you!

Just something to think about... with the 'di-ta-mor' vamp, notice how with Darryl's mouth sounds his lips extend on the 'mor' part. This is important. On the 'di' part, the oral cavity is at its minimum, the cheeks are squeezed in, and the tongued glide produces a nice inflection of the fundamental note. The 'mor' part is when the oral cavity is at its maximum, when cheeks are puffed out. Think of the oral cavity as a column of air not too different to the didgeridoo and it starts to makes sense. Just as a short didgeridoo produces a high pitch, so too does a 'collapsed' oral cavity when the cheeks are squeezed in. In contrast, when a didgeridoo is long it produces a low tone, same like when the cheeks are extended resulting in an elongated vibrating air chamber within the oral cavity.

Hope that makes sense!

Guan

Another part of the equation is controlling the vocal cords so the vocal 'hums' come through nicely, with the higher vocal parts adding accents.

When learning it from Daryl, the gesture that raised the hand from the stomach under was done. It might have been told to use the diaphragm more.

What videos!! One must count the blessings that these are here. A few years ago this was something dreamed of, so see and hear someone explaining and playing the didgeridoo. You do so well in the videos, Guan. Thank you Darryl!!
Vern

And a wee bit more here at the National Geographic site: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... ridoo.html

Hi Vern,

actually once chould be careful when relating these scientific studies to particulars of Arnhem Land playing. They are not done on Mago style instruments, and probably not yidaki either, and are not done with Arnhem Land Players. If anything these studies have a clear interpretation in the context of a more western style playing on larger bore western style instruments.
If you carefully read the study then this becomes clear.

Now, if these results may nevertheless have some bearing on trad playing in Arnhem land is possible but has not been studied.

In that context, i think that Guan's words about what to watch and study in these videos is extremely enlightening.

cheers,
Martin.