posted 03-14-2001 04:29 PM               

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It's always great for me to read about the achievements of ancient peoples considering that when they weren't developing athletic contests in which to slaughter one another, my ancestors, the Mayans, came up with nothing. That is to say, they came up with the concept of zero, except it's much funnier to say we built the temples, took a break and came up with nothing. At least I think it's funny. OK, back to the 'doo.

I'm more than a little intrigued about this instrument for reasons that have little to do with the termite poop. I'm going to break my vow and watch the opening scenes of Survivor this week to catch a listen. Not that Kevin's impressive description of the sound wasn't enough mind, you. (Ladies and gentlemen, that's why people pay him to do this).

I'm certain, however, that my musical talents would not enable me to do much more with the didgeridoo than the termites did.
I'm curious about a few things, however. Just how well known is the didgeridoo outside of Australia? And, is the 'doo popular with the white Australians or it is still primarily a native instrument?
And, perhaps the question that is on everyone's fingertips: How well does Kevin play the didgeridoo?

posted 03-14-2001 04:30 PM               

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Kevin first mentioned the digeridoo to me several years ago, after he'd returned from some trip or another. At first, it was just a weird noise, but as I've seen it make the occasional appearance in popular culture, I've always thought back to Kev's enthusiasm. Once I heard one, I knew it was a cool sound . . . after reading Kev's article, I'm even more impressed. (And not just because of the termite thing.) We get really impressed when a computer or a machine or something makes some really nifty musical effect, and well we should be - but to be able to make music out of what surrounds you is, I think, even more impressive. It's also indicative of a culture where artistic expression isn't pushed to the side and considered a province of a small sector of society, whether that be the very wealthy or the very weird.

One question I do have - if no one has to blow out any termite poop, why are modern didgeridoos so expensive?

posted 07-17-2002 02:50 PM               

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That's an interesting question, though in the end I think everything gets borrowed sooner or later. After all, a lot of the stylings we associate with modern R&B were borrowed from black southern gospel, to draw a comparison in the sacrilege department. But even then you could argue that southern gospel is an evolution of the songs and hymns used to guide freed slaves along the Underground Railroad. It's hard to tell what, exactly, was borrowed from where. Split Enz and Crowded House have both been known to use a little bit of didgeridoo once in a great while in their music, but as both bands had at least some Australian members, is it any more or less apropos for them to employ it as a motif than it is for Peter Gabriel to do so?

Not sure there's really a clear answer on this one.

Now, as far as ersatz instruments go, I'm all for holding out for the real thing, even if it is expensive. But on the exploitation front, and this kind of goes back to something I wrote a while back in Be Mused, even if the Aborigines aren't "mass-producing" those instruments by modern manufacturing standards, they are producing them specifically for sale and export. If it were an issue of being sacreligious to use or play the didgeridoo outside of its native context, then they would seem to have opened that door themselves.

My God, man. We're a tourist attraction!

posted 07-18-2002 02:27 AM               

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Well, based on Kev's original article, I think the termite element has been phased out regardless of the need to export didgeridoos to us Westerners. Outside of that, though, I think I gotta agree with Earl. For better or for worse, when cultures interact, there's spillover.

What exactly are we defining as disrespect here?

posted 07-18-2002 08:36 AM               

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Of course I've already thrown out that article and I'm so not paying $39 for WSJ online!

I believe the disrespect issue arose from those guys using stuff like PVC instead of wood to build the instruments and possibly the music that they create. I'm going back 2-3 days so the mind's a little fuzzy.

posted 07-19-2002 02:57 AM               

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Gotcha.

This is gonna sound silly, I know, but do you think one way to address the problem would simply be to come up with another name for these faux didgeridoos? That almost seems too simple.