Didgeridoo
Man has always sought to know himself, carefully studying the history of his evolution. Until now, there are a lot of questions about the origin of "reasonable man" - Homo sapiens, and the main mystery in the way of this knowledge are the aborigines - the indigenous people of Australia. This is an ethnographic phenomenon - an isolated group of tribes, which in its physiological and mental development was frozen at the level of the Stone Age and before the advent of the colonists knew neither the wheel nor the writing. Scientists are very carefully studying the religion and culture of the Australian Aborigines. Of great interest are their legends about the creation of the world, religious rites, ritual dances, as well as a primitive, but very interesting musical instrument - didgeridoo, which is especially revered among the tribes, because its sounds are accompanied by sacred ceremonies and various shamanic practices. For Australian aborigines, didgeridoo is a sacral instrument with life-giving power. This is the voice of Nature itself, which drives away evil spirits and, at the same time, a bridge connecting worlds and epochs.
Read the story of the didgeridoo and many interesting facts about this musical instrument on our page.
Sound
The sound of a didgeridoo is like nothing. This is a real touch to the miracle, as the low rumbling tone of the instrument causes mystical associations with the shamans and the voices of the spirits. He permeates a person, acts on him attractively and fascinating.
Aboriginal people are very closely connected with nature, its sounds: the splash of water, the howling of the wind, the rustling of leaves on trees, the voices of birds and animals. The performer with the greatest accuracy, combined with throat intonations, tries to convey the essence of these sounds through the trembling sound of his sacred instrument. The uniqueness of the didgeridoo lies in the fact that on it, sounding only on one note, you can extract a wide range of overtones that decorate the sound. The pitch of the didgeridoo depends on the length and width of the instrument: short and wide - has a higher voice, and a long and narrow sound is much lower. It is quite difficult to play didgeridoo. During performance, well-trained muscles of the face, neck, tongue and diaphragm are involved. In addition, the musician is obliged to master the complex technique of continuous permanent breathing.
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Interesting Facts
- Two identical didgeridoo does not exist, since each tree has its own structure: the shape of branches and trunks. As a result, each instrument is unique in its voice and timbre.
- The tool, in addition to the name didgeridoo, invented by Europeans, has another 45 different names, which he received in different tribes of the indigenous population. Here are some of them - yedaki, bambu, bombo, kamba, pampa, garnbak, illipra, martba, jiraga, yiraki, idak and others.
- Different nations have instruments that are very similar to the didgeridoo, among them it is worth highlighting the trembita, popular with many nations, the Alpine horn and the Tibetan dungchen.
- The buzz in the mouth of the performer on the didgeridoo can reach one hundred decibels, which is equivalent to the rumble of a jackhammer.
- The largest festival of performers on didgeridoo called "Airvault" has been held in France for over 10 years.
- In our country, the first festival didgeridoo was held in St. Petersburg on June 28, 2008. In Russia it is also established to celebrate the Day didgeridoo and it falls on June 28th.
- The Beatles' musicians, during their touring tour of the Australian continent, decided to try playing a didgeridoo. Such music making left a very vivid impression.
- A man - a native, performer on didgeridoo, uses the sound of an instrument to attract the attention of a woman he likes.
- Scientists have proven that because of the training of the respiratory tract, playing the didgeridoo helps to stop snoring, and also contributes to the prevention of lung diseases.
- In the 19th century, at the beginning of colonization, in Australia, there were 600 Aboriginal tribes, each of which had its own territory, language and customs. By the beginning of the 20th century, the aborigines were already recognized as an endangered people, as they accounted for no more than two percent of the total population of the Australian continent.
Design
Initially, didgeridoo is an almost not a man-made musical instrument, in whose creation nature itself takes part. It is a hollow tube with a diameter of 5 to 10 cm and a length of one to three meters, on one side of which is a mouthpiece with a diameter of 3 cm. If previously only eucalyptus and bamboo were used as material for the instrument, today birch is used to make it , maple, alder, ash, elm, as well as cheaper plastic or vinyl. Weight didgeridoo varies from 1.5 to 2.5 kg.
Varieties
Today didgeridoo, attracting more and more attention, has quite a few varieties. Musicians, in order to increase the performance capabilities of their instrument, are constantly trying to modify it. At present, twisted spiral-shaped didzheridu, as well as box-shaped compact boxs, are modeled. In addition, the performers on didgeridoo invented the following models of instruments, which also differ in shape and appearance, among them:
- Didgeridoo Keyed - equipped with a valve system;
- Didgeridoo Multidrone - the tool has a special shape of the mouthpiece and a special structure of the channel;
- Dizheribon - a hybrid of trombone and didgeridoo. The design of the tool allows for a change in the length of the tool during execution, as it includes two tubes, one of which is inserted into the other;
- Didzheridu Flute - the instrument has sound holes that allows you to perform complex melodies.
Application
Didgeridoo is an amazing tool that is gaining increasing popularity. Despite its archaic nature, today it is on a par with the most modern musical instruments of the planet. Didgeridoo is very versatile and its scope is very diverse. Being the musical voice of Australia, the instrument sounds at various national holidays and festivals, besides that it traditionally accompanies the sacral ceremonies of the Australian aborigines. However, didgeridoo is now successfully used not only in the Australian continent, but throughout the world. Its sound adorns the compositions of the most diverse modern musical styles, including rock, jazz, blues, pop, hip hop, techno, funk, punk, rap, indie folk, folk rock, ambient and reggae. In addition to music, the instrument finds another original application: it is successfully used in medicine. Didgeridoo is not only able to cure a person from snoring, but is also a unique, exotic type of vibratory massage, which helps relieve stress by effectively immersing in meditation. Relaxing the muscles, this massage helps with spasms and pains in the joints, triggers the internal processes of self-healing.
Performers
Didgeridoo is a musical instrument that most people could only meet at the end of the last century. However, he quickly became interested in performing musicians who tried not only to master the outlandish instrument, but also experimented with it, using it in various modern musical styles. The following performers made a significant contribution to the development of the instrument, who became famous for both the skillful playing of the didgeridoo and significant transformations - the modification of the instrument, among them: Zalem Delarbr (France), Graham Wiggins (England), Dubravko Lapine (Croatia), Charlie MacMahon (Czech Republic ), Ondrey Smeykal (Czech Republic), William Toren (USA). Among the Russian musicians, the most famous performers on the didgeridu are Svetlana Maksimova, Arkady Shilkloper, Peter Nikulin, Alexey Zakharov, Vadim Subbotin, Alexander Konovalov.
Story
Didgeridoo is a very ancient musical instrument that has been known by Australian natives for more than forty thousand years. Throughout its centuries-old history, it has not changed at all and has remained, to this day, in its original form. The most interesting thing is that nature itself takes an active part in the manufacture of the instrument. In dry times, termites are white ants, eating away the core of eucalyptus trees, forming a cavity in their trunks. Aborigines carefully search for such trees, cut them down, clean, adapt the wax mouthpiece and decorate their tribe’s totem patterns. In addition to eucalyptus, bamboo is also used for the manufacture of didzherida, the internal partitions of which are removed by driving hot coal through the trunk. This plant, growing in the northern territories of Australia, as a material for the tool is inferior to eucalyptus, it can crack from temperature fluctuations, as well as changes in humidity. In addition, bamboo didgeridoo due to the layered structure of wood have a deaf sound, less saturated with overtones.
Didgeridoo for the Australian indigenous people is of very important sacral significance. It symbolizes the image of the Rainbow Serpent Yurlungur, which according to the aboriginal myths played an important role in the creation of the world, and also is the patron saint of the sky, water, fertility and healers. Didgeridoo is an essential attribute of initiation ceremonies, as well as sacred rites through which Aboriginal people communicate with their deities. To the sounds of the instrument, they sing and dance their sacred ritual dance of the Corobori, in which not only the participation of strangers, but just watching him is considered unacceptable. Didgeridoo is played mainly by men who teach this from a very young age. It is true that in some tribes women are allowed to play the instrument, but not during religious rites.
The first colonists, who in the early 19th century began to settle Australia, didn’t pay much attention to the primitive instrument of the indigenous people. Interest in didgeridoo appeared only in the last quarter of the 20th century, and since the 80s the instrument began to spread rapidly throughout the world.
Didgeridoo is an instrument whose magic voice still worries people's hearts and reminds us of a common earthly and spiritual beginning. This instrument, sounding just on one note, today is increasingly revealed to man and penetrates into its modern culture, it makes people unite, share experiences, play together and organize interesting festivals.
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