I will try to do a quick clip today Strumelia.

Helen, I love to hear of all these musical adventures of yours! Wewant a little beginner sample vid of you playing a few simple tones on your didge.... soon! No need for perfection...we just want to see you starting out on it!

--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990

My didgeridoo arrived in one piece and I was thrilled to get a drone out of it straight away (quite similar to the tuba playing I did many years ago). I am getting good variation in tone but struggling with getting my voice into some animal sounds but it is coming very slowly. The beginners dvd I got with it is great and I got a month of free online lessons too, they will cover circular breathing in about ten days time. The great thing about playing a didg is that u need to be relaxed to get a good drone and the warm up exercises help with that. It is amazing to feel the connection the didg gives u with long ago. Its the oldest woodwind instrument in the world. I have a double Native American flute on its way from High Spirits (on special for Oct ) and it drones too. So with dulcimer, didg and double NAF, I am surrounded by drones. Great for me, maybe not so great for my neighbours. No John Henry, bagpipes are not next.......lol.

Thanks guys, my biggest fear is that all I will manage to do is blow my dental plate thru it at a hundred miles an hour ...lol. I am hoping that my brass instrument, harmonica and NAF experience might help in some way. It comes with a tuition video and a month of free online lessons....that cover lots of stuff, including circular breathing. Sadly there is no Friends of the Didgeridoo site.

Helen, I hope you will post a video for us when you can... Sounds like tons of fun!


--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990

Look on youtube - there are loads of videos of people playing didges while simultaneously playing other instruments. It looked to me fairly easy to make a stand to hold the didge in a comfortable position so you can just press your mouth to it when you want to play.

Hardest part of course is learning to play. It's easy enough to make it sound, and put rhythm into it too. But conquering the circular breathing is a nightmare. I've got to say I failed !

Helen, that would be a tall order! I can see doing something with a foot, but given the clumsiness of holding a didgeridoo, I don't know how doing anything else with the hands would be manageable. There IS a travel didgeridoo made of a square block that could possibly be mounted to a stand...hmmmm...

I am not sure on the pitch of the beginners model. I think u need to spend a lot more to pick a key. I did see an adjustable acrylic Didge that could play in three different keys depending on how it was adjusted. But acrylic just doesn't seem right to me. I have seen a guy perform with two. I know the length affects the pitch. Shorter ones have a higher pitch than longer ones. This company sell small, medium and large. Mine is a medium with a beeswax mouth piece.but given my coordination is barely dealing with me playing dulcimer and a foot tambourine on Old Joe Clark, I dont like my chances of managing dulcimer and Didge. There's a challenge for John Keane. I bet he can do it.

My mind is already working on some sort of a 'holder' which might allow the playing of your didge at the same time a dulcimer................... Do you have a choice of 'keys' ? This is a truth; I used to play in a pub session wherea

guy often turned up with THREE, and they were all different !

look forward to you posting soon???

John

That's great! I love my didgeridoos (or didgeridi?)!

After receiving my lovely Scheitholdt last month I have been strumming up a storm. As an aussie I have always enjoyed listening to Didgeridoo playing (an instrument of the indigenous Australians). Recently I found an Aussie website www.didgeridoobreath.com -they sell all sorts of didges and ship them all over the world. They even have special beginner packages that include a medium Didge and a lesson dvd plus a month of free online lessons for $99 plus shipping. I ordered a starter package that will be here in a week. So there could be some interesting noises coming from my house soon. Wish me luck.
updated by @helen-seiler: 03/02/19 07:43:45PM