The Didgeridoo is an ethnic Australian Aboriginal musical instrument. The instrument is possibly even more ancient than the jew's harp and tambourine. You can read about it (and listen to it) here: http://overtone.ru/didjeridoo/

It looks something like this:

From the thin side, they blow into it, and from the wide side, there is a buzzing, growling, quacking, croaking, and various other difficult to describe sounds.

For the first time I saw this miracle of primitive technology a couple of years ago in a store with an intricate assortment “White Clouds” when I was choosing a jew's harp. Jew's harp is a separate story, which is beyond the scope of this post. I tried a little bit of air in the didgeridoo displayed in the window, and its bass sound literally shocked me. Since then, I have not left the thought of buying such a stupid contraption and learning to play it, it is not clear the truth - why. The price stopped a little. A simple bamboo didgeridoo costs about 1000 rubles, and a wooden didgeridoo costs about 6-8 thousand rubles.

The aborigines made this instrument from the trunk of eucalyptus, from which the core was gnawed by termites, as well as from bamboo. Modern craftsmen make a didgeridoo out of wood like this: they find a tree of a suitable size and shape, saw (or split) it lengthwise into two halves, and hollow them out from the inside. Then they glue it together, paint it - and you're done. But this is too difficult, and not very necessary for a beginner.

I made my first didgeridoo out of a cardboard tube left over from some roll material. The pipe was quite thin, the edges were uncomfortable, but it turned out to play a little with the main tone (at that moment I did not think about the fact that it was also possible to extract some overtones from it). The people at work, hearing incomprehensible sounds, were perplexed, and one comrade, seeing how I was playing this thing, asked me to “pour the herbs”. 🙂

Of course, eucalyptus gnawed from the inside by termites is a rather rare thing in our area. But here you can easily find other materials of slightly more technogenic properties. In the end, I managed to make several different didgeridoo:

In the article "What to play, comrades?" the website overtone.ru describes what can be used to make a didgeridoo suitable for a beginner. And yet, in the summer, at the Empty Hills festival, I met two musicians with a didgeridoo around the campfire near the harp stage (this is where the most interesting thing happened), one of whom advised me to buy a sewer pipe with a diameter of 4 cm from a hardware store and melt one of the ends of the pipe with the bending of the walls inward so that the diameter is approximately 28-30 mm. After a while, I went to the OBI store for material. A PVC sewer pipe 1 m, 4 cm thick, cost about 40 rubles. The end of the pipe, into which it is supposed to blow, was melted on a gas stove and somehow bent inward. It turned out a little uneven, but quite passable. Then a 30-centimeter pipe of the same diameter turned up in my eyes, lying around after some of the repairs. Without thinking twice, I lengthened the instrument with its help, the sound turned out to be more bass and "juicy", and I liked the result.

Then the pipe underwent minor "improvements", in particular, I slightly widened the outlet, for this I had to heat the pipe with gas and put it on a glass bottle. To prevent PVC from being welded to the glass, I preliminarily greased the bottle with sunflower oil. And yet, I slightly bent and crumpled the pipe - for experiment: maybe it will sound a little different. I have not noticed the difference yet.

The resulting didgeridoo is in the photo on the right:

The edges of the pipe melted a little crookedly:

The bell is slightly widened:

Update 12/14/2010
Here Yaroslav, the creator of the Ukrainian Didgeridoo website, writes that the pipes that I bought are not PVC at all, but actually polypropylene, and they sound worse. I looked at the manufacturers website (Sinikon and Politek) and made sure that this is indeed the case. The gray pipes for internal sewerage are made of polypropylene. And PVC pipes are brown, but they start from a diameter of 110 mm. I was recently in the construction market, and I was not able to immediately find a pipe made of PVC of the diameter I needed. I will look further - maybe it actually sounds completely different, even interesting.

The next experimental instrument was made of cardboard tube from roll material, but with thicker walls and a larger diameter (about 5 cm). Such a pipe was found again in the OBI store, but for free. There was a choice of pipes of different widths from a fairly dense and thick cardboard, I chose the widest one, and it seems in vain. The length of the pipe was 150 cm. The mouthpiece was made of wax. To do this, I bought a large wax candle on the market in a beekeeper's shop for 60 rubles, warmed it up under hot water, and bent half of the candle into a ring, and melted the other half in a water bath in a plastic jar (so as not to stain normal dishes). He impregnated the edge of the pipe with wax, inserted a ring into it, gave it the desired shape so that the inner diameter was about 28-30 mm, and melted wax on the outside so that the ring would hold.

One comrade, looking at this pipe, called it a "joint".

"Jamb" was not very successful. With its length of 150 cm, the sound turned out to be absolutely breathtakingly low-frequency, but to make it puff, you had to exhale too much air into it, and there was not enough breath to play. Circular breathing (with continuous exhalation) I generally did not succeed in using this tube. To achieve an acceptable sound, I cut off 5 cm from the pipe first, then another 10, then another, the sound became higher, but the air flow did not change. The sound was muffled and inexpressive, the overtones were weakly expressed. In addition, I experimented with the diameter of the hole in the mouthpiece, reduced it to 25 mm, and it turned out that with this diameter it became almost impossible to blow a pipe. The wax mouthpiece sticks a little to the lips, and can deform with prolonged play - not a good option.

The reason for the high air consumption is probably the large pipe diameter. Perhaps the structure of the material also plays a role - due to the fact that the walls absorb vibrations, the back pressure decreases slightly. This is a hypothesis that has not been confirmed by practice - for the completeness of the experiment, it is necessary to find somewhere the same cardboard tube 3-4 cm thick.

Cardboard tube - in the photo on the left:

This is what a wax mouthpiece looks like:

To play the didgeridoo at home, to the delight of the neighbors, is not very humane. Plus, you run the risk of being kicked out of your own home by your own wife. And I decided that it was necessary to practice in nature - in the nearest forest. I have long wanted to make a collapsible tool that you can take with you anywhere, or just carry it in a backpack without straining. It is not very convenient to walk in the subway with a long pipe, and I often forgot it in different places (although, when I returned, it was always there). For a prefabricated camping didgeridoo, I bought 5 pipes 30 cm long and 5 cm in diameter. I decided to try what would come out of a larger diameter pipe. For beginners, I strongly recommend 4-centimeter pipes - they are easier to play purely physically.

During the training we were offered "training" plastic didgeridoo of the same diameter, but with a wooden mouthpiece. At first I tried to melt and bend the pipe on fire, but I didn't succeed very well, and as a result I sawed off the melted end and made a mouthpiece out of wood. To do this, you need to cut a round piece from the board with a diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the pipe, press it inside, and drill a hole with a diameter of 28-30 mm in it. Then you need to round off the edges a little (although the shape of the mouthpiece is a very individual thing), sand it, and cover with varnish or oil.

I had several slabs of mahogany “sapele” 2 cm thick lying around, but I didn’t have a crown for a tree of a suitable diameter, so I sawed out an angular workpiece from the tree, screwed a bolt into the center, clamped it in a drill, and began to process it with coarse sandpaper. Experience has shown that it is most effective if you wrap the workpiece around with sandpaper, but the paper heats up very quickly, and in order not to burn your hand, you need to move the sandpaper a little along the axis in the process. After I grinded the workpiece to the desired diameter, I drilled a hole with a 30 mm cutter, it turned out a little crooked, and about 1 mm more. The hole seemed too big to me. For the next experiment, I bought a wood drill with a diameter of 28 mm.

The result is that you saw it assembled in previous posts, in the photo it is in the middle, and when folded it easily fits into a backpack:

The mouthpiece looks like this:

The resulting didgeridoo is a little offbeat, and has slightly more airflow than my first 4cm PVC (but still less than cardboard). The length of the pipe turned out to be about 123 cm, but at the joints it can be slightly moved apart, and the sound will become lower. I was surprised to find that I was a little good at playing it with the middle of my mouth, while on the previous one I could only play with the side of my mouth. Apparently, this is how the shape of the mouthpiece influences, or maybe practice. The mouthpiece still remains a little rough, it will need to be coated with some kind of varnish (it remains only to choose the most environmentally friendly varnish for this) and polished, or soaked in ordinary sunflower oil. Sounds about the same as 4cm, maybe a little more powerful, a little harder to play.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to Peter “Raghu” Nikulin for training, and examples of how to make this musical instrument with your own hands.

12:13 pm - Didgeridoo myths
Recently, having taken up the search for interesting and more or less authoritative information about Yidaki, I discovered that contradictions are encountered at every step. Who says that the thinner the walls of the ridu. all the better. someone says exactly the opposite, as well as about the smoothness of the inner surface, the diameter of the bell and mouthpiece, and about many other vicissitudes of didgeridoo construction and the art of playing. So I decided to just give an example for now, sort of like breaking the myths about the didgeridoo. At the same time, one must always remember that each master has his own techniques and secrets, and if someone says that doing so is the best, then this does not mean that someone will be able to find an option even better than this. So this is the experience of one Ukrainian master from one good Ukrainian site about didgeridoo.

1. relatively plastic didgeridoo
   • the plastic should be thick-walled, from about 2mm. This is necessary so that the vibrating walls do not extinguish air vibrations
   • plastic must be PVC - making something beautiful with a PP pipe is unrealistic (changing the geometry, making a socket)
   • plastic should be 5cm in diameter. length 1-1.5m maximum. I have almost all meter instruments.
2. misconception "Eucalyptus is cool!"

   Please read the texts (there are a lot of them !!!) on the largest and most respected Australian website selling didgeridoo - http://www.didjshop.com. In particular:

   MYTH: “The finest playing didjes are authentic, Aboriginal-crafted didgeridoos”
   FACT: While there are undoubtedly many fine playing didgeridoos made by Aboriginal people, one needs also be aware that there are many poor playing didgeridoos made by Aboriginal people. While we totally support everyone buying a didgeridoo that is made by an Aboriginal person, this is not really an indication of the sound quality of the didgeridoo.

   In the part that describes the physics of instruments - very good tips for those who understand at least a little in physics. In the last 5 years there have been some very good and extensive studies of didgeridoo, mainly from the Department of Applied Physics of the University of New South Wales (www.phys.unsw.edu.au). By the way, there is a lot of information on the acoustics of muses on the department's website. tools, set out in a form that is understandable even to those who are not boom-boom in physics :)

3. to questions about physics, acoustics, wood species, wall thickness

   here, as a physicist, I became completely sad :)

   1. the air column fluctuates. The task of the walls is to keep the "air column shape"
   2. wall effects are as follows:
      • air friction against walls
      • material porosity
      • wall vibrations and sound emission from walls

   The denser the tree and the thicker the wall, the better the resonance, the less energy is lost for porosity, the higher the natural resonant frequency of the tree and the less sound the walls emit
   And here there are two points - wall vibrations and radiation should be minimized as much as possible. It is because of them that the characteristic “hum” of shitty plastic pipes with thin walls appears.
   But with porosity and friction ... Everything is very interesting here :) The fact is that in DJ research, the worst were those with ... porosity and friction were minimal! Yes, initially we studied “non-souvenir” instruments made of eucalyptus, that is, all instruments had a decent sound - this means that the tree is ALREADY solid, and there are no “rags” hanging inside. Not everything is as “simple” as I write, but the point is that if you take a good tool (already a good one) and cover it, for example, from the inside with varnish, reducing porosity, friction, increasing hardness ... You can seriously worsen the tool.
   Original Australian instruments - attention - no varnishes!

   The wall thickness is reduced (by shaving off the barrel!) So that the tool weighs less. Uniform wall thickness (which some advise to pay attention to) - generally a glitch of some kind :) What, according to your termite "evenly" gnaw the trunk from the inside, or aborigines can measure the wall thickness along the entire length of the didgeridoo in order to "where there is a lot" to remove excess ? :) The main thing is that the walls are not too thin, but this is "too" very much depends on the material of the instrument (for example, a fiberglass instrument can have a wall thickness of about 1mm and at the same time sound very loud and resonant).

   Yes, and the last hint - in the same place, on the website, in the study - the tools are better the larger the canal diameter. As a day off (on a bell) - and an ENTRANCE! right after the mouthpiece! The most upscale ones have an inlet diameter of 5 to 8cm ... So think for yourself :)
   The information in this point is not my "speculations", but the conclusions drawn from reading * scientific * articles on the study of acoustics of the didgeridoo. Everyone can read these articles and draw their own conclusions (I gave the links above).
   Yes, and one more thing - “overtones” do not appear on irregularities or channel geometry :) Don't talk nonsense, read a minimum of literature on the same site. Although they are connected with the geometry of the channel, and in the didgeridoo, in a very non-trivial way.

4. about bamboo- based on 4 years of experience in making bamboo flutes
   • misconception "Bamboo is afraid of temperature extremes"
     Bamboo is NOT afraid of temperature extremes! he is afraid of changes in humidity and frost. “Near the battery” the bamboo dries up, in the cold it crackles, regardless of whether it is -1 degrees or -20. A good strapping saves the tool, although cracks appear and they do not appear through and you can simply grease them with glue (under normal conditions they tighten themselves, the glue will hold then).
   • misconception "Bamboo is too flat, perfect from the inside - therefore the sound is worse"
     I have not yet met a single bamboo trunk, which would have a perfectly flat inner surface :) is this probably some kind of elite variety? :) Bamboo always has partitions; they cannot be perfectly removed. And most importantly, this is NOT NECESSARY. Usually the problem with “souvenir” bamboo DJs, on the contrary, is that a lot of partitions remain. Clearing them (but not under "0") will help here. In addition, in the places of the partitions, the bamboo channel ALWAYS decreases, not only on the partition, but also by 2-3 centimeters on both sides of it (very smoothly and imperceptibly to the eye).
     In addition, the bamboo trunk almost always changes in diameter along its length - in its upper part it expands downward, but at the very root it can narrow. Check out the shakuhachi bamboo flutes, which are made from the root portion.
   • misconception "bamboo doesn't sound so powerful because it doesn't have a bell"
     the larger the outlet diameter, the louder the sound. It does not matter whether the channel expands or not - there is a bell or not. The volume depends on the diameter at the outlet - a cylindrical DJ or a bell. Bamboo DJs with a diameter of 8-9cm ... that's Oooo!

This tutorial is for those who want to learn how to play on didgeridoo... We bring to your attention a system of simple exercises, thanks to which you can learn the most important things while playing this amazing and rare instrument - get the main tone and master continuous breathing... If you follow all the recommendations, you will very soon be able to move from the category of beginners to real professionals.

Let's try to teach you how to play the didgeridoo, avoiding the most common mistakes. Let's share some practical advice based on the experience of those who have already mastered this tool. If you are careful, your journey to mastering the didgeridoo will be much shorter and much more productive.

The didgeridoo is played not only with the lips, tongue, cheeks, diaphragm, but also add your own voice. That is why the muscles of the cheeks and diaphragm must be strong. The muscles of the lips, on the other hand, should be relaxed.

How is sound produced in a didgeridoo?

To do this, the lips must be "inserted" into the mouthpiece of the instrument and form a soft vibrating connection. It is through the lips, which must constantly vibrate, that air must be continuously supplied to the didgeridoo. The lips are very important when playing, you need to learn how to control them. The air passes through the vibrating lips and in turn gives rise to the vibration of the didgeridoo. This is how the main tone is formed, and all other actions are designed to create an overall musical picture. Each instrument is unique, as it has its own timbre, as unique as the timbre of the human voice. By adding voice as you play, you can create great music. Train the respiratory system and lips, this is the foundation of playing the didgeridoo. Such workouts are not easy, they are not quite common. So, the muscles of the cheeks are needed by people only in order to keep food in the mouth. The diaphragm, also required for playing the didgeridoo, is only 25 percent active during normal breathing. Relaxing your lips is easy only at first glance. However, there are special exercises to strengthen or relax certain organs.

Getting the pitch

A jet of air is blown into the didgeridoo through relaxed, vibrating lips.

1. Didgeridoo aside from you

   All attention to the lips. It is necessary to slightly release the lower jaw, and open your mouth. The position of the lips is as if you want to say "whoa." In this position, the lips are very relaxed, vibrating from the slightest stream of air. Say "Whoa" a few times, paying attention to the lips. The next stage - together with "whoa" we tighten the muscle under the lower lip. At the same time, the lips do not stop vibrating, they are relaxed. We only need to cut the opening between the lips a little. Strive for automatism in actions and only after that take a didgeridoo. The instrument should be brought to relaxed lips. Now try saying "whoa" inside the didgeridoo. The didgeridoo should hum, sing its main tone. If you can't get the root note out of the didgeridoo, try another action.

2. Didgeridoo stands to the side. You are in front of the mirror

   Let the air travel mentally from inhalation through the nose to exhalation through the lips. Remember to keep your lips relaxed at all times. Breathe like this for a while. Breathe out "whoa" loudly so that your lips "flatten", as it were. This exercise is important for relaxing your mouth. Now try bringing the didgeridoo to your lips. The looser and "flattened" your mouth is embedded in the DJ, the better. Try to make vibrating sounds, but now inside the instrument. Continue the exercise until the didgeridoo buzzes. If there is no sound, then you can try the next action.

3. Didgeridoo stands aside

   Focus on the mouth. You should try to turn it into a so-called "patch", and then pronounce "whoa". If you notice that the sounds of the didgeridoo seem to stall when you play, this means that the lips are not relaxed enough. In this case, you need to repeat the exercise from the beginning.

4. Bringing to the didgeridoo

   The first sound blown out of the didgeridoo is its fundamental tone. We hope you appreciate its divine sound, but it's still a raw sound. He is very weak. It needs to be strengthened and developed.

Tip: do not rush to get the main sound, this indicates your wrong actions when you start playing the instrument. Our goal at this stage is completely different - to learn how to properly "set" the lips and control the diaphragm. We exhale air through relaxed vibrating lips into the didgeridoo. In this case, we need to take a breath, and the didgeridoo should sound. The same should be the case when you exhale - the instrument should sound all the time.

Circulating breathing

1. Correct inhalation and diaphragmatic breathing

   Focus on the wings of the nose. We are trying to deliberately open the wings of the nose to the limit. With this action, the canals of the nose are also opened. We are trying to mentally trace the transition point of the canal from the nose to the pharynx. The desired point is located just below the corners of the eyes. We take a short and quick breath through this point. This inhalation is also called inhalation through the maxillary sinuses. This is the kind of breath that the didgeridoo need. It is important that this breath is very short and strong. This is achieved through constant training.

2. Focus on the belly

   You need to inflate your belly. To do this, take a short and quick breath. The hand should be placed just below the solar plexus. While exhaling, we help to squeeze out the air with our hand. When you exhale, the stomach must be drawn in harder. Repeat this exercise several times. Now remove your hand and repeat the breathing exercise with the diaphragm muscles. This is the kind of breathing a musician needs.

3. Focus on the diaphragm

   It is necessary to make a short and quick inhalation and exhale in the same way. We deliberately shorten the diaphragm. Then you need to take a slow breath and the same slow exhale. Breathe as you trained in previous exercises. Ideally, you need to learn how to alternate short breaths with long ones.
   The next exercise is to breathe with the diaphragm very quickly. This breathing resembles the work of a bellows. First, we breathe according to the following scheme: the stomach is full - inhale, the stomach is pulled in - exhale. The operation of the diaphragm, in this case, resembles a pump. Do it at least seven times.
   Now we breathe more quickly, exhaling through the mouth. The scheme is as follows: inhale - fill the stomach, exhale - hit with the diaphragm. The lips are relaxed to say "frrr" ... Now we breathe slowly - we fill with air, exhale slowly - we slowly contract the diaphragm, exhale through the relaxed lips - with the sound "frrr". This exercise should be done as long as possible.
   Inhaling through the maxillary sinuses, we seem to be filled with air. The exhalation can be fast or slow. In the first case, we push the air out with a blow, a rapid contraction of the diaphragm. In the second case, slowly squeeze out the air with a diaphragm. Do not forget to relax your lips, this is very important. This exercise will strengthen the diaphragm and bring diaphragmatic breathing to automatism.
   If you have this type of breathing difficulty, help yourself with your hand. Place your hand on the navel area and press as you exhale with the speed and strength you need.

4. Focus on the lips

   Let's try to lower the lower jaw a little, while the mouth opens slightly. We inhale through the maxillary sinuses, inflate the stomach. Exhale slowly through relaxed lips with our signature frr sound. Try to make your lips as relaxed as possible. Only after this exercise can the didgeridoo be brought to the lips.
   We easily and shallowly insert our relaxed mouth into the DJ. We take a breath, exhale into an instrument that begins to vibrate, hum, and emit a fundamental tone. By playing the didgeridoo, you can feel the connection with the universe. The inhale-exhale technique is a wave of unity with the world. The main thing is to learn how to breathe correctly, since the technique of playing the didgeridoo requires exactly continuous (but at the same time diaphragmatic) breathing. Continuous or circulating breathing is our continuous exhalation and the basis of playing the didgeridoo.

Continuous breathing

It is important to learn to breathe continuously, which should be delivered through relaxed, vibrating lips. Of course, it is impossible to breathe in and out at the same time. However, you can make a certain amount of air in the cheek space. By pushing the air out with the muscles of your cheeks and tongue, you can take a short, quick breath through your nose. This is the principle of continuous breathing.
Now let's try to master the technique of continuous or circulating breathing..

1. Playing with air in your mouth

   Inflate the cheeks with air and breathe through the nose. Fear not, it's very easy. Now let's try to rinse our mouth with air. At the same time, we breathe through the nose. This exercise helps us discover two independent spaces - the nose and mouth. In carrying out these actions, let's pay attention to the language. When performing breathing exercises, it should be noted that the tongue rests against the palate and separates the spaces of the mouth and nose. Now pronounce the sound "to" and notice how the tongue can easily and quickly touch its root to the palate.
   Let's do another kind of breathing exercises. The scheme is as follows: inhale through the nose, and exhale through the mouth. The lower jaw should be released and the mouth open. Deliberately control the actions of the tongue. At the moment of inhalation through the nose, the tongue touches its root to the palate, and at the moment of exhalation, the tongue falls into the oral cavity and does not touch the palate.
   If we breathe through the nose, then the tongue is "stuck" to the palate all the time. When we breathe through the mouth, the tongue does not touch the palate. The next stage is to breathe like this: we inhale with our mouth, and exhale with our nose. Only on exhalation does the tongue stick to the palate. This exercise helps you learn your tongue, which acts as a switch and separator between your nose and mouth. We cannot breathe in and out at the same time, but we can breathe with our nose and with our mouth, as we have seen. In this case, the connection of the tongue with the nose is as follows: if the inhalation or exhalation is made through the nose, the tongue rests against the palate. When breathing through the mouth, the tongue is loosely positioned in the mouth.
   When playing the didgeridoo, the tongue performs the following actions - at the moment of inhalation, it touches the sky, then descends, “switching” the nose-mouth system to exhale through the mouth. All these actions are done very quickly.
   At the moment of inhalation through the nose, the roll of the cheeks is to squeeze air into the didgeridoo so that it continues to hum at the moment of a short inhalation. Further, air is supplied from the lungs - our usual exhalation through our relaxed lips. Actions with the tongue, cheeks must be done naturally and continuously. If the muscles of the cheeks are developed and obedient, then they can easily squeeze air out of the mouth. We do this exercise: inflate our cheeks with air, and then squeeze it out. At the same time, the lower jaw is lowered, and the lips are relaxed. Now suppose our cheek muscles are unable to squeeze out air on their own.

2. Synchronization

   Attention to the cheeks - inflate them. Now we squeeze out the air with our hands with a fluff-fluff-fluff sound. We do this exercise several times. Now let's try to complicate the exercise. On the third "fluff" we must inhale shortly and quickly through the nose. It is important to synchronize the inhalation with the third fluff. At the same time, the tongue rests against the palate with the root. It is necessary to achieve synchronization of movements. Note that in the first two fluffs, the tongue does not touch the palate. At the moment of inhalation, it touches the sky with its root, and then descends. The last step should be done quickly.

3. Fundamental exercise

   We remove our hands. We count "one-two-three" and simultaneously squeeze the air out with the muscles of the cheeks three times. On the third exhale, we simultaneously take a short breath through the nose. This exercise strengthens the cheek muscles and automates inhalation. It is worth remembering that the inhalation should be through the maxillary sinuses, and the stomach should be filled with air. The lower jaw is slightly released, the mouth is a patch, the lips are relaxed and vibrate.

4. We take didgeridoo

   Insert the didgeridoo into the relaxed lips. Recall that to relax the lips, it is enough to pronounce the sound "whoa" or "frrr". On the third exhalation "fluff" we inhale. If you do everything right, then for every fluff in the didgeridoo there should be some sound. This sound is similar to a roar. If for some reason there is no sound, then the problem is the pinched lips. Relax your lips over and over again. The sound should be smooth and firm.

5. Basic tone and "dances of tongue and cheeks"

   We bring the didgeridoo to our lips and sing our "tu" with one breath. When playing, you can swing your cheek. Let's try to make this movement at the end of "tu". "Tu" - we sound, and we end with "tu" with a blow of the cheek, a splash. At the moment of this blow, you need to take a quick breath through the nose. At the same time, our mouth is loosely and relaxedly placed in the didgeridoo. The scheme is as follows - "tuuu" - at the end of the splash plus inhalation. After that, let's try to continue the main tone. This is how we achieve continuous breathing. The following problem may arise - after a short and quick inhalation, there will be a small stop in the supply of air from the lungs to the didgeridoo. In this case, it's all about the language. It doesn't touch the palate as quickly as we need it. So we have to train him a little.

6. Language training

   This exercise must be performed without the didgeridoo. It is necessary to say "tu-tu-tu-tu" and "ku-ku-ku-ku" as quickly as possible. At the same time, we pay great attention to the language. When pronouncing "tu-tu-tu", the middle part of the tongue touches the palate. With "ku-ku-ku", the tongue touches the palate with its root. It is necessary to pronounce these syllables as quickly as possible, this trains the language. Now we do this: inhale, the main tone "tuu", the wobble of the cheek, a blow on the cheek simultaneously with a short breath-splash and again the main tone. This is how we achieve continuous breathing.

7. Comprehending Continuous Breathing

   When playing the didgeridoo, we take a short breath through the nose, fill with air, and the belly puffs out. At the moment of inhalation, the tongue touches the palate. When you exhale, the diaphragm contracts. Air from the lungs is fed into the didgeridoo through relaxed lips. If the air in the lungs runs out and we need to inhale through our nose, we leave some of the air in our cheeks. We then quickly squeeze air out of our cheeks and simultaneously take a short breath through our nose. We fill with air. Exhale, contracting the diaphragm through the relaxed lips-patch.

8. Breath

   It is recommended to do the exercise without the didgeridoo. The mouth should be open. We do the following exercise at a fast pace - a short breath through the nose, exhale through the mouth. As we exhale, lower the lower jaw and take a short breath through the nose. We inhale and exhale without pauses.

9. Continuous breathing. Second way

   We do this exercise with a tool. The scheme is as follows - Inhale. The main tone is tuu. Breathe in. Now, instead of the drawn-out "tuuu" we pronounce abruptly "that, that, that, that." Simultaneously with the fourth "tu" we reduce the diaphragm. At the same time, we contract the muscles of the cheeks and take a short breath through the nose. We alternate long and short "tu". In this case, it is enough for the muscles of the cheeks to make a slight oscillation.

And finally, the main advice - do not despair if something does not work out right away. Train, do not stop there, and soon you will surprise your fans with a great didgeridoo game.

Didgeridoo

(eng. didjeridoo or English. didgeridoo, original name "yidaki") - a musical wind instrument of the aborigines of Australia. One of the oldest wind instruments in the world.

It is made from a piece of eucalyptus trunk 1-3 meters long, the core of which is eaten away by termites. The mouthpiece can be finished with black beeswax. The instrument itself is often painted or decorated with images of tribal totems.

The game uses the technique of continuous breathing (circular breathing). Playing the didgeridoo accompanies corroboree rituals and promotes trance. The didgeridoo is closely woven into the mythology of the Australian aborigines, symbolizing the image of the Yurlungur rainbow serpent. The uniqueness of the didgeridoo as a musical instrument lies in the fact that it usually sounds on one note (the so-called "drone", or buzz). At the same time, the instrument has a very wide range of timbre. Only the human voice, and partly the organ, can be compared with it.

Since the end of the 20th century, Western musicians (for example, Sophie Lakaz, Jamiroquai) have experimented with didgeridoo.

The virtuosos are distinguished by the agility of the tongue, the control of breathing - especially the technique of cyclic breathing (the performer blows out the air drawn in with his cheeks while inhaling through the nostrils).

Only men are allowed to play this instrument during public ceremonies such as marriages, funerals, celebrations and accompanying clan songs and children's songs.

Traditionally, Aboriginal people send children to the bush with didgeridoo so that nature teaches them how to play.

The sizes of modern tools vary from 70cm to 3m.

Will help Didgeridoo fight asthma and snoring

According to the results of research by Australian scientists, it was found that the symptoms of bronchial asthma are facilitated by playing the didgeridoo and singing.

Research has shown that regular didgeridoo play can improve breathing and overall health recovery.

Robert Ely of the University of South Queensland gave 10 local boys weekly didgeridoo lessons for 6 months and found their breathing improved significantly.

The deep breathing required to play the didgeridoo can be considered responsible for improving health, he said.

The study did not include girls because playing the didgeridoo is an exclusively male activity.

However, Dr. Eli found that after singing lessons, both girls and boys reported an improvement in well-being, and the scientist rightly suggested that a new method may have appeared to reduce the intensity of asthma symptoms.

Note that bronchial asthma is the most common cause of hospitalization in children in large cities. Thus, children in Moscow suffer from asthma twice as often as in other regions of the country.

Asthma, known to include wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath, is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

In Russia, 5-6 million people suffer from bronchial asthma. And if we consider that 5-10% of these patients are children, then we can say that asthma threatens every tenth child.

That is why it is extremely important to learn to recognize asthma even before the child learns to walk, that is, at an early stage, and also to be able to distinguish it from ordinary bronchitis.

Swiss scientists suggested that patients get rid of snoring and normalize sleep by playing the didgeridoo. Playing the didgeridoo improves well-being and prevents deadly respiratory arrest during sleep.

Mystical cat

Recently scientists have completed a study on the incredible vitality of cats. They came to the conclusion that cats have a healing device - this is their ability to purr. These low-frequency vibrations produced by the cat are very beneficial for her and for us.

When I heard this message, I was overwhelmed: it's just a didgeridoo inside a cat!

The didgeridoo hums, the cat purrs, and all these are low frequency vibrations. Against the background of the low frequency of the main sound, higher frequencies are heard, but the frequencies sounding quieter are overtones. The overtones are always 2, 3, 4, etc. times higher than the main tone, they always form a harmonious row of sounds, a kind of monotone chord and create a kind of didgeridoo (and cat) timbre.

At my concerts, which I call meditation concerts, I and the audience are actually the body of some mystical cat. I liked this image so much that I decided to call the concerts “Mystic Cat”, a meditation concert for the didgeridoo and listeners.

At a concert at the East tea club in Moscow in October 2004, I talked about how Aboriginal shamans treat the sick by putting them on the ground and playing the didgeridoo over them. Some experimenters immediately went to bed. They really liked this experiment, and they recommended that I give the opportunity to those who wish to listen while lying down at concerts ...Galina Mishina

The principle of playing the didgeridoo

The general principle is as follows. The first step: through relaxed lips (pretending to be a horse, with the sounds "tpruuu ..") just blow into the snag. Step two: add articulation, tongue movement, or voice. " As far as circular breathing is concerned, in theory it looks like this: “There is a basic sound and the so-called sound without using the lungs (by the mouth). You just need to connect these two sounds together. An important concept here is the division of attention between the nose and the mouth ...

The main tone should be strong and stable (achieved by training).
The muscles of the cheeks should easily squeeze out the air accumulated in the cheeks (achieved by training).
With any movement of the cheeks, tongue, lips, etc., the main tone of the didgeridoo should not be interrupted (achieved by training).

The didgeridoo can be played while sitting, standing or walking. … And enjoy the flow of the amazing music of nature itself.

How to make a didgeridoo out of wood. So you can make your first instrument, we will consider making a small entry-level DJ in home (country, garage) conditions using a minimum of tools I hope someone will come in handy.
Let's get down to DJ productions. First of all, we get out into nature, we walk for a long time, it's good.

First, we need to find a suitable blank. Approximate dimensions: length 1.2 ~ 1.6m; the diameter at the socket is 6-10cm. It is good if it is something of hard wood, for example maple, elm (elm), beech, hornbeam, ash, etc. For the first experiment, you can make a tool from medium-hard or even soft rocks (birch, hazel, alder, willow, poplar, aspen, etc.). It is difficult to handle hard rocks, especially with such a volume of manual work.

The workpiece can be immediately found dry, it is necessaryjust pay attention to the safety of the wood - it can be rotten and rotten, these should be avoided. Another option is drying the workpiece, for soft rocks drying from 1 year, for hard rocks from 2-3 years. Also, the drying time is greatly increased for thick workpieces. During the drying process, both end and longitudinal cracks may appear on the workpiece. The faster the wood dries, the more likely it is to crack. To minimize the number of cracks, it is necessary to cover the ends of the workpiece with paraffin, oil paint, etc. - the goal here is to minimize the release of moisture from the ends. The workpiece in the bark should be stored in an unheated, dry, draft-free room. It's better to take your time here.

The case is ready, now it remains to process it with paints and varnishes. We start naturally with the inner channel. The impregnation of the inner channel should form a moisture-proof surface in order to protect the wood from condensation that forms during play and to have antiseptic properties. Externally, the workpiece is processed after gluing

Gluing. Use wood glue. The ends that will stick together must be cleaned with sandpaper (it is better to pull it on a flat board, again so as not
round off the edges of the surfaces to be glued; do not overdo it with stripping, otherwise you can get large holes in the seam - you can close it up, but it's not good at all. Then everything is simple)), quickly apply glue, quickly and accurately combine the halves and tighten them with clamps (while you can make dents on the tree with the details of the clamps - there is no point in tightening so much, of course it is better to make a cloth, for example, a gasket between the DJ and the clamp), you can immediately see where it turned out if there is little inconsistency in the seam or glue, you can immediately (while the glue is not dry) fix it by adding additional doses of glue. But, if the gap is through, it is better to make a putty from sawdust left over from sanding and glue, and this will heal (if you pour glue into the gap, you can drip the inner channel, and you will not get there). We are waiting for how much is written on the manual for using the glue.
After the glue and all putties have completely dried, sand the outside thoroughly, using at least 4 different grit sizes in order. It is easier to remove the glue that has crawled out of the seam with a knife. Also sand the seams (as far as you can reach with your hand) in the inner channel.