Do You Didgeridoo?

The diversity of musical forms offered by the native peoples of the world is nothing short of impressive: From the Toltecs of Central and South America, who lull us with their haunting flute melodies, to the pounding drums and rhythmic chants of the Amerindians, to the water drums played by the Baka people of Cameroon, to the Australian Aborigines, who make instruments by blowing termite poop out of tree limbs.

Seriously. One of the most beautiful, haunting sounds carried along frequencies accessible to human ears comes from an instrument which, in its truest form, is created by hungry insects.

I’m talking, of course, about the didgeridoo, also called the didjeridu and, for some reason, the yadiki. Raw, earthy and practically subsonic, the didgeridoo figures centrally in Aboriginal music, and is a strong image in the culture of the Island Continent.

How important is it? When Gatjil Djerrkura was appointed Australia’s senior government officer in charge of federal spending on Aboriginal affairs late in 1996, he needed to convey a sense of outreach in his office, to show the native Australians that he was there in the spirit of togetherness. Thus, he placed a didgeridoo in a prominent spot in the room, visible to all who came in.

A quick description: The didgeridoo is wooden and long, stretching anywhere from two to seven feet, and sometimes bigger. Visitors to a souvenir shop might confuse it with a rainstick, owing to its tubular shape and elaborate markings. The ‘doo, however, is open at either end.

The sound: A deep, throaty waaaaww-waaaaaaaww-wiggy-wiggy-wiggy-waaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww reminiscent of the mating call of some elaborately crested duckbilled dinosaur. For a less onomonopaeic representation of the sound, listen closely the next time you watch the latest Survivor incarnation; that droning sound in the background is a didgeridoo. It’s one of those sounds that you think you haven’t heard, but probably have.

Exactly how or when the instrument came to be is in doubt; many archaeologists put its birthplace in the northern parts of the continent. Its age is quite a bit hazier: Some researchers say it came to be about 1,000 years ago, but others claim the didgeridoo is about 10,000 years old.

This much is known: The didgeridoo is an instrument of convenience. Before the arrival of settlers from the northeast, the native people of Australia had no pack animals (which is surprising, considering the abundance of pocketed fauna lurking just past the underbrush). They were also nomadic, following their food supply wherever it went. Such a combination meant packing light, and leaving a lot of unnecessary items at last season’s camp. Musical instruments were expendable.

Enter the termites.

The outback is littered with termite mounds, and the outback is littered with eucalyptus trees. Currently, the outback is also littered with “Animal Planet� personality Steve Irwin and his relentlessly perky wife Terri, but fortunately this was not the case during the advent of the didgeridoo.

Somehow, ancient Aborigines discovered that if they cleaned the termite droppings out of old eucalyptus limbs, they could blow through the holes created and produce a pleasant sound. Exactly how the ancient Aborigines discovered this is unclear, as is the reason anyone, ancient or otherwise, would choose to put any item recently dripping with termite feces near his or her mouth without the foreknowledge that the result would produce a pleasant sound. But the world of music owes these brave ancient souls a debt, and let it be known to their watchful spirits that the resultant case of killer trench mouth was not for nothing.

So, for the ancient Aborigines, the problem was solved. They could make a few dozen didgeridoos, use them to make pleasant music or to mark important ceremonies, and leave them at the campsite when it came time to move on, secure in the knowledge that there would always be more eucalyptus limbs, and more hungry termites.

Fast forward to the present day. Many artisans, Australian and otherwise, make their own didgeridoos, using methods blissfully free of any contact with the digestive products of family Termopsidae. A bit of searching will find a number of websites selling homemade didgeridoos; more than a bit of money will get you one. Didgeridoos range in cost in the hundreds of dollars, averaging anywhere from $200 to $800.

Playing is relatively easy: Just put your lips together and blow, the same way you’d blow through the mouthpiece of a brass instrument like a trumpet or a French horn. The hard part is maintaining breath control. The didgeridoo is played continuously, with no pauses for gasps of air, so the player needs to be constantly exhaling. This is done by breathing through the nose while blowing through the lips.

Try it. Fill your mouth with air so your cheeks are puffing out Dizzy Gillespie-style. Then release the air slowly through pursed lips while breathing normally through your nose. Now try it while actively blowing the air through pursed lips, as if you’re blowing a raspberry.

It’s tough. The bagpipes are played in a similar manner, and some harmonica players use the same method.

Usually, the didgeridoo produces a sound of the type that might lull you to sleep, its drowsing him occasionally interrupted by short barks and chirps. In native music, it’s often accompanied by chanting and percussive clicking sticks called bilma.

But the didgeridoo also has a strong presence in international sounds and even in modern rock. Outback, an excellent didgeridoo-violin-and-guitar band, uses the ‘doo as percussion, walking the instrument along to funky guitar rhythms and African drums. On the band’s most popular album, Dance the Devil Away, didgeridoo player Graham Wiggins uses the instrument to its full percussive potential and demonstrates the surprising diversity of what is essentially a hollow stick. The didgeridoo has also been used by modern rock bands like Midnight Oil and The Violent Femmes.

Quite a long way from termite food.