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Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:06 pm Post subject: The Phrasing of Didger e doo in Wal
Hi Guys
just had some random thoughts about the phrasing and playing of didgeridoo...... I am aware that the first westerners to hear didge was in Western Arnhem Land and the term didgeridoo comes from the playing of did ger idoo down the stick so am I putting 2 and 2 together and making 27 when it comes to this prasing being part of WAL traditional tecniquie and playing.... and does it have any place in ceremony etc today. im pretty sure I remember hearing from an old recording possibly arnhem land pop clasiscs that there is some phrasing on one of the tracks which is along the lines of doo dilliy doo de doo dee doo - did ger idoo didger idoo. doo dilly doo, did ger idoo did ger idoo etc. can any one qualify/quantify this?
The onamonapoeic 'didjeridu'/'didgeridoo' phrasing is an attempt by Westerners to understand the syllables/sounds and corresponding technique. As you rightly pointed out, there are variations from the basic WAL vamp among Bininj. Here, the very definition of 'vamp' might be useful:
The onamonapoeic 'didjeridu'/'didgeridoo' phrasing is an attempt by Westerners to understand the syllables/sounds and corresponding technique. As you rightly pointed out, there are variations from the basic WAL vamp among Bininj. Here, the very definition of 'vamp' might be useful:
A vamp forms the basis for improvisation and provides the structure for any style that uses said vamp.
Sorry jason can you explain what Bininj is not heard the term im assuming its either an area or peoples ?(and I am going to google it) but would it be this?
Does that mean that the phrasing Didgeridoo is litrally a "bastardised" version of a WAL vamp the main part of the question is did didgeridoo as a playing phrase ever exist as a true phrase in WAL playing or is it just as I sespect and Jason your answer kinda confirms my thoughts that it is just a bastardised/westernised phrasing of what was the trad version.
which then opens up another question what would have been the true origiaonal phrasing/vamp that was origionally heared. and are there any records to say where first contact (sounds a bit star trek) made and does this give any clues?
It's a language barrier, first and foremost. Early ethnographic literature attempted to use English phonetic pronunciation to describe loosely what the ear was hearing in the rhythmic patterning- but there's a clear disconnect between the local languages and that of early travelogues. When we describe the vamp as 'di-ta-mo', we have to understand that these are approximations of the tongued glides and PV rather than specific mouthed/spoken syllables- nor does the vamp constitute the entire body of WAL mago playing.
Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 907 Location: Australia
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:28 pm Post subject: Re: The Phrasing of Didger e doo in Wal
stockie wrote:
just had some random thoughts about the phrasing and playing of didgeridoo...... I am aware that the first westerners to hear didge was in Western Arnhem Land and the term didgeridoo comes from the playing of did ger idoo down the stick
The first part is kinda correct with qualification. I wrote somewhere that the word "didgeridoo" comes from non-Indigenous ears hearing the instrument being played probably in the western parts of Arnhem Land, but it could equally be in the north-west region of the Northern Territory around what was then known as Palmerston (now called Darwin, with the name "Palmerston" now used for an outlying municipality about 20 km south-east of Darwin).
There is no concrete 'proof' of this, it is mere conjecture, because the earliest attempts to settle in the Northern Territory were in the NW region of the NT in the early 1800s.
The actual first such attempted settlement was at Fort Dundas on Melville Island in 1824, but since the Tiwi people do not have the didgeridoo as part of their culture, it is not likely that European ears first heard it there although that cannot be entirely ruled out as there is evidence that the Tiwi Islanders had occasional contact with Aboriginal people from the Goulburn Islands and Cobourg Peninsula both of which are didgeridoo-playing areas.
As an aside, in those early days there were no inland routes connecting the south with the north, you had to take a ship from Sydney all the way around the coast of north of Australia to get to Fort Dundas. For those interested in history, there are documents from those early days suggesting that the settlers and convicts had considerable trouble from the Tiwi people, who were anything but friendly. It has become something of local legend now that the Tiwi Islanders were fierce warriors. Letterstick Band from Maningrida even has a song dedicated to them: "Tiwi Warriors"!
When Ford Dundas was abandoned because of various problems (spearings, termites, cyclones etc.), attempts were then made to settle Fort Wellington and Port Essington on the Cobourg Peninsula. The earliest didgeridoo specimens that were collected by Europeans and that are now housed in museums around the world come from the Cobourg Peninsula from the 1830s, 1840s, 1850s etc. period. iDIDJ Australia has 2 such instruments, which were known in the local Aboriginal language as ebroo as indicated in a publication from 1835. The word 'didgeridoo' did not come into effect until Herbert Basedow's book The Australian Aboriginal published in 1925 though there are some reports of the word appearing earlier in newspapers. Basedow actually spells it "didjeridoo" - with a 'j' not a 'g'. Prior to 1925, however, you'd more likely see 'drone pipe' or 'wooden trumpet' in the literature.
Basedow does not explain how the word 'didjeridoo' came about although it is interesting to note that he describes the following:
Quote:
When using the "trumpet", the operator blows into the end having the smaller diameter, with a vibratory motion of the lips, and at the same time sputters into the tube indistinct words which frequently sound like "tidjarudu, tidjarudu, tidjarudu".
Does that answer your question Stockie?
It is not clear in which area Basedow heard this "tidjarudu, tidjarudu, tidjarudu" but it is worth pointing out that he had spent time on the Tiwi Islands in 1913 or earlier as he wrote an article Notes on the Aborigines of Melville and Bathurst Islands in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute published in 1913. And to get to the Tiwi Islands, Basedow would have had to pass through Darwin I presume, and indeed, in his book The Australian Aboriginal he makes mention of a bamboo trumpet used in a Larrekiya (sic) performance, the Larrakia being the original people of the greater Darwin region.
So that's the reason why I think the word 'didgeridoo' originated from European observations in Western Arnhem Land or the NW NT region because the "modern history" of these areas predate that of, say, north-east Arnhem Land. Remember that Port Darwin was established in 1869, and by the 1870s and 1880s the Gold Rush at Pine Creek (and the Australian Overland Telegraph Line) had seen an influx of non-Indigenous people consisting of prospectors/miners, government officials, and the like. In contrast, the "modern history" of north-east Arnhem Land started only in the 1930s, prior to this it was only pearlers, trepangers and traders who had any reason to be in the area. And by the 1930s, 'didjeridoo' was already in use public use.
Anyway, if you like your history, the above might be interesting to you, if not, have a yawn and click onto another subject...
Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 907 Location: Australia
Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:58 am Post subject:
For sure Stockie, Gary Foley says something similar too, look at this YouTube video I have of him for those interested in activism. Dan, have you seen this?
The other thing too... when Basedow made the observation that he didgeridoo player he observed was playing the vocable "tidjarudu, tidjarudu, tidjarudu", to me that vocable suggests an overtone-absent style of play, again pointing to a NW NT or Western Arnhem Land locality.
For sure Stockie, Gary Foley says something similar too, look at this YouTube video I have of him for those interested in activism. Dan, have you seen this?
The other thing too... when Basedow made the observation that he didgeridoo player he observed was playing the vocable "tidjarudu, tidjarudu, tidjarudu", to me that vocable suggests an overtone-absent style of play, again pointing to a NW NT or Western Arnhem Land locality.
Guan
Hi Guan, no I hadn't, but I am looking at it now! Bizarre to see something over a year on!
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