Chiff and Fipple Forums

I would like to add digeridoo to the Irish group i'm playing in (which obviously isn't traditional), but it seems most digeridoos are in C#. I did find one in D.
having no experience with these, I wanted to check with you guys to see what I should look for, or stay away from. with a little research, i was thinking something like a $30 Meinl synthetic 'doo.
i know there are quite a few of you from down under so...

I'm not from the land down under. I'm not an expert on the didgeridoo but I've made a few and enjoy them, as do my children. This all started years ago after meeting the boys from the group "Brother". You should try to make your own. It's actually quite straightforward. Little is required in the way of tools to make a working instrument.

So I'll start by saying that the traditions of the didgeridoo are apparently deep and go well beyond my ability to grasp them. I respect them. I learned a lot in my readings on the instrument and the culture of the people.

So I dabbled in making instruments in various keys to act primarily as drones and to add a percussive qualities to my own music back in the 90's - newagie, folk-rockish stuff. I've gotten well away from that now but here's what I learned.

The tube is important to the degree that it has to support the key you want to make - bore to length to pitch kind of thing. Any hollow tube like PVC pipe, poly tube, etc. will work. I like to use 1.25" PVC pipe, YMMV. The mouthpiece is most important since it is going to support the sound generation. But beeswax is easy to form and re-form. You can also purchase synthetic mouthpieces for a couple dollars on eBay. You can make tuneable instruments too or a slide didg as well. Google, Google Google and you'll learn enough to get started. Here's one site you'll use. Success will come quickly.

Feadoggie

thanks for the advice, although i know the 3 things i'm good at in life, and subcontract to everything else. i ordered the Meinl, and i'll update this post with a quick review when it gets here.
for someone handy, making one would be cool though!

Use restraint.

s1m0n wrote:Use restraint.

As in: tie the didge player to that chair in the corner ...

dsp, you might want to PM/mail user ClarinetCat in Pennsylvania, who IIRC was very actively involved with didgeridoos before falling prey to ITM.

Of course, dragging a didge into Irish, trad or not, will mark you as a particular sort of fellow. So caveat tooter.

So this guy walks into a session with a didge, (add your punchline here)



Waiting in suspense...

Steve

So this guy walks into a session with a didge...well, it could happen.

Steve Bliven wrote:So this guy walks into a session with a didge, (add your punchline here)

And leaves in a hurry, walking funny and the didge not seeing much daylight.

MTGuru wrote:

s1m0n wrote:Use restraint.

As in: tie the didge player to that chair in the corner ...
....................

All together now:

Tie the didge player down sport
Tie the didge player down
Tie the didge player down sport
Tie the didge player down

(Do you need ABC's for the tune?)

dspmusik wrote:thanks for the advice, although i know the 3 things i'm good at in life, and subcontract to everything else. i ordered the Meinl, and i'll update this post with a quick review when it gets here.
for someone handy, making one would be cool though!

So, what 3 things are you good at? Just curious. Never mind the other people who mock. They are just jealous and do not understand those who follow the beat of a different drummer.

Seriously though, if your playing of the Didge adds to the music, I cannot see why you should not join in. I may be a heretic, but I believe that it is the openness and skills of the players at a session that make it special, not the restriction to some set of 'authentic' or 'acceptable' instruments......

Can you do a jig on a didge? Just curious??

I used to host a session. Still going but I've moved. It was somewhat closed. The fiddle player had a friend who is an amazing jazz guitarist so we invited him to play to put a new twist on things. He's somewhat eccentric and introverted. After a few weeks, he asks if he could bring his didge. Sure, I says. He's somewhat sensitive as well and I wanted to support him. Our session was set up with mikes and all dat jazz. He'd break out the didge every now and then. The patrons would go wild and it was always the highlight of the night for me. The tone, vibration, and rhythm combined with reverb, delay and octaver and ripping reels , was incredible!

I wouldn't show up at a session with a didge out of the blue though. But if you asked or pre-arranged, I'm sure it would be welcomed at a session. If only for the novelty of it. It was fun to see the scepticism on the faces of the players and patrons when we'd set up da didge and watch their faces turn smiles.

Music is universal. Good luck with the didge. I look forward to reading about your updates!

DrPhill wrote:Seriously though, if your playing of the Didge adds to the music...

Much depends on what it adds.

In a group/band, do what you like. If you market yourselves as trad then the didge may raise a few eyebrows, but if not marketed as trad then if it were my band I would do what the hell I liked. No reason you can't accompany Irish tunes with a didge, or any other instrument.

On the other hand, if I ever felt tempted to introduce a didge into an ITM session I would try to talk myself out of it. If I still couldn't resist then I'd make sure I wore running shoes...

dspmusik wrote:I would like to add digeridoo to the Irish group i'm playing in (which obviously isn't traditional), but it seems most digeridoos are in C#. I did find one in D.
having no experience with these, I wanted to check with you guys to see what I should look for, or stay away from. with a little research, i was thinking something like a $30 Meinl synthetic 'doo.
i know there are quite a few of you from down under so...

I'm from Downunder, have played didges for years and used to play didge in a band from 1996-2001. They come in all keys and D is a very common one as it is a good length for a didge and goes well with a lot of other instruments (I made all my didges and they're all in D).
Wooden didges have quite varied tones depending on the type and shape of wood and the path that the termites bore through it. The bell can also change the tone too so some makes flare it and others deliberately leave it straight (I have left the end on my didges). Also, there are two types of mouthpieces, either they are moulded out of bees wax (possibly rolled in charcoal for strength) or if the piece of wood allows they are carved out of the wood itself (my favourite didge has a wooden mouthpiece). The most beautiful didge tones definitely come from natural wooden didges as their bores create unique paths for the air.
Synthetic didges having perfectly straight bores have a very "pure" sound with a very pronounced mids and trebles. Like any plastic instrument they need little to no maintenance. The generally amplify well.
Finally, knowing that you have already purchased a Meinl didge already. You may want to consider a Slide didge or Didgeribone in the future. I would go perfectly well with ITM as you can change the pitch.
http://www.slidedidge.com/
http://www.didjeribone.net/
I have no affiliation with either company.