If you have ever watched the television show “Survivor” or a “Foster’s” commercial you have probably heard that annoying but rather interesting noise in the background music. The instrument that is capable of making such a strange noise is called a didgeridoo. The didgeridoo is a strange type of trumpet that is used by the Aboriginal people of northern Australia. It is used just as we use our musical instruments for singing and dancing or ceremony and entertainment. It is thought to be one of the oldest instruments still used around the world today. It’s recorded history goes back nearly 1500 years but it is probable that it has been around much longer.
The way it is created is what brings man to believe that it has been around a while. “The didgeridoo is made from irregular eucalyptus tree branches or trunks, such as the stringy bark and the, about 3. 25-5 feet long and has a conical bore that is hollowed by termites” (What is 1).
Then it is completely sealed and the mouthpiece, made of beeswax, is molded on.
Some of the designers will paint different tribal symbols and colors (usually bright colors) all along the sides of the horn to give it a more native look. The pitch of the didgeridoo depends on the length and shape it is made into. It is supposed to replicate the sounds of earth or nature. “The Aborigines would go out into nature and listen to these sounds and would try to play these sounds with as much accuracy as possible with the didgeridoo” (1).
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The didgeridoo is not usually played by itself when being performed in front of an audience. Most of the time “two or more stick beating players will be involved, but there will never be more than one didgeridoo player” (What is 1).
Normally it is used as background music to a singer, to add to the imagination of the audience. The actual playing of the didgeridoo is done through the mouthpiece on the smaller end. “Players or, ‘pullers’ as they are called, produce the fundamental note by loosely vibrating his or her lips against the mouthpiece” (Moore).
The player must develop a technique called circular breathing where he or she inhales through the nose, stores air in their cheeks, and exhales through their mouth without stopping the air flow through the horn. The word didgeridoo comes from the word bamboo. Most researchers believe that the first ones were made from bamboo sticks although they are now made from eucalyptus trees.
“According to Prof. Trevor Jones there are at least 45 different synonyms for the didgeridoo” (What is 1).
Most of the Aborigine tribes came up with their own name for it. Some of the names are, , , and. It is considered a male instrument in the Aboriginal society, however females are allowed to play it in some areas of northern Australia.
They may play it for entertainment but never for ceremonies. In some areas the women are not allowed to touch a didgeridoo, because the people in the tribes think that this could curse them in some way. Of course this belief is not enforced globally so there are plenty of young women learning to play it today. To non-aboriginal men and women the didgeridoo is seen as just another historical instrument and does not have near the symbolism it does to the Aborigines. There are two main traditional styles of playing the didgeridoo. They are overtone-present and overtone-absent.
The overtone-present is native to northeastern Australia and overtone-absent comes from the northwestern region. Most of the players today have different styles of playing. The more contemporary players seem to explore the instrument more by using more vocal effects and anything they can to make it have a unique sound. They try to play their music with more beat and than older, traditional pullers. There is also a difference in how a person could play it sitting down.
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Throughout Australian history a racist attitude towards Aboriginals has been a significant issue. From the moment the early settlers arrived on our shores and colonized, the Aboriginals have been fighting for the survival of their culture. The Aboriginals haven been take in and dominated to bring them in line with an idealistic European society. These themes have been put forward by Jack Davis in ...
There is the A-type player who “holds the distal end near the ground move it slightly side to side” (What is 1).
Or the B-type who lets the end rest on the ground or in a box or bucket. Reference Page Moore, Kenneth j. “Didjeridu.” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2004.
CD-ROM. 7 Feb. 2005.” What is a Didgeridoo.” Information. Aboriginal Art. 2004. 7 Feb.
2005. aboriginal art. com. au / didgeridoo .
