What is a Didgeridoo and where do they come from? The Didgeridoo The didgeridoo is believed to be the worlds oldest wind instrument, dating back thousands of years. It originates as a musical instrument of the North Australian Aborigine. The didgeridoo is traditionally played accompanied with clap sticks and/or the clapping together of boomerangs in Corroborees (ceremonial dances). Players can also tap out rhythms on the side of the didgeridoo using fingers or sticks. A didgeridoo is traditionally made from one of many species of Eucalyptus branches or saplings. Species of Eucalyptus number in the hundreds but only about a dozen species are used for didgeridoo making. The Eucalyptus is naturally hollowed out by termites whose nests abound in the millions in Australia. It takes at least a year for the termites to hollow a tree out. Harvesting has to be timed so that the wall thickness of the instrument is not too thin or not too thick. It has to be "just right". Making for the perfect instrument!

The varying length of the wood that is sawed off and its thickness and shape will determine which key the instrument will be in. Shorter lengths yield higher pitches where as longer lengths yield lower pitches. Didgeridoos generally range in keys from a high "G" to a low "A". A common "C" didgeridoo will be two steps below middle "C" of a piano. The key of C is one of the easiest keys to learn how to play on the didgeridoo. To hear the different keys click here . Bark is usually stripped from the outside and the termites removed. A rim of beeswax can then be applied to reduce the diameter of a large opening down to more playable sized aperture. About an inch and a quarter, similar to a tuba sized mouthpiece. Wax also creates a good airtight seal for the mouth and makes it more comfortable to play. The instrument can then be decorated with ochre paintings that symbolize a tribes food and/or totems. A Story On How The Didgeridoo Came To Be... Three men were camped out on a cold night in the outback.

One of the men told another to put a log on the fire, because the fire was getting low and it was very cold. So, the other man turned and grabbed a log, which was awfully light to the touch, for it was hollow. As he went to drop it into the fire, he noticed the entire length was covered with termites. He did not know what to do, for he could not throw the branch into the fire, because it would kill the termites, and his friends were telling him to do so because it was so cold. So, he carefully removed all the termites from the outside of the log by scooping them into his hand, and he deposited them inside the hollow branch. Then he raised the branch to his lips and blew the termites into the air. The termites blown into the air became the stars, and the first didgeridoo was created.

Didgeridoo Facts, Didgeridoo History & Aboriginal Music Knowledgebase | Didgeridoo Breath Australia Didgeridoo Facts and Interesting Information Last Updated: 13/11/2013 Above: Sanshi explains the didgeridoo basics, What is a Didgeridoo and how to make the drone sound If you're interested in buying a didgeridoo, make sure you check out our Didgeridoo Buyers Guide video series. Didgeridoo Facts and Interesting Information 1. The Didgeridoo is a wind instrument thought to have originated in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. 2. Researchers have suggested it may be the world's oldest musical instrument, over 40,000 years old. 3. There is a little evidence of the didgeridoo being used as far south as the Alice Springs region of Australia, but traditionally never in the southern three quarters of the country. 4. It has been suggested that the Didgeridoo was an adaptation of traded instruments from India and/or Asia, this is possibly why it was mainly used by coastal tribes of the far North of Australia. 5.

Traditionally didgeridoos were made from eucalyptus tree trunks and limbs hollowed out, while still living, by termites, (a small insect like an ant but a relative of the cockroach) or from bamboo in the far north of Australia. 6. Traditionally the termite hollowed Didgeridoo was cut to an average length of 130 to 160cm and cleaned out with a stick or sapling. 7. Today didgeridoos are made from a large variety of materials such as glass, leather, hemp, ceramic, plastic, solid timbers carved out, logs drilled out, dried/hollowed cactus stems, aluminum and other metals and just about any material which can be formed into a hollow tube! 8. The didgeridoo was traditionally used as an accompaniment along with chants, singers and dancers, often in ceremonies. 9. Today the didgeridoo is heard in almost every style of music, rock, jazz, blues, pop, hip hop, electronic, techno, funk, punk, rap etc. There are truly no limits to the use of this awesome instrument. 10.

In a few aboriginal groups in certain ceremonies men only played the didgeridoo, but in many groups, outside of ceremony, men, women and children played it. 11. In the same way the guitar originating in Europe, is now owned, made and played by people across the world, the Australian didgeridoo is now owned, made and played by many people all around the globe. 12. In the same way guitars and some drums were originally shaped in the form of the female body and were for men to play only in those cultures, men in certain ceremonies often only used the Didgeridoo. Today it would be illegal (and ridiculous) in most countries to even suggest that the guitar, the drums or the Didgeridoo were not to be played anywhere in the world by one sex or another. 13. The word didgeridoo can be spelt many different ways, none of which are Aboriginal names for the instrument. The word "didgeridoo" was a western word given to the instrument around 100 years ago. For more info see 'The Word Didgeridoo'. Was this article helpful?

History of the Didgeridoo Yidaki History of the Didgeridoo Although some believe the Australian Aborigine has been using the didgeridoo for over 40,000 years, the oldest records of Aborigines playing the didgeridoo date back 2000 years in the form of old Northern Territory cave and rock paintings. In the west we have only been playing the didgeridoo for a maximum of 30 years and only in the last ten years or so have we been trying to play traditional Aboriginal style. A growing number of westerners are now discovering the beautiful rich harmonics and subtleties that come from playing West Arnhem Land or North East Arnhem Land style! Just a century ago the didgeridoo had a restricted distribution in Australia. Earlier researchers such as Elkin (1938) reported that the didgeridoo was 'only known in eastern Kimberley and the northern third of the Northern Territory'. With the introduction of missions, roads and infrastructure, the art of making the didgeridoo seemed to then spread across most parts of Australia.

Despite removing indigenous Aboriginals from their land, separating them, damaging their culture, impressing our beliefs on to them (and using violence in non-compliance); despite these our actions, a rich cultural heritage of our human past lives in North Arnhem Land and it is a priceless heirloom that we must do everything to protect. For in this time of social fragmentation in the west, we have much to remember about ourselves and to understand what worked well for different indigenous tribes, who co-existed and thrived for thousands of years before outside interference. In the 1930's to the 1940's Donald Thomson visited Arnhem Land. Donald Thomson was a professor of anthropology at the University of Melbourne and his work remains one of the most important anthropological studies on the Yolngu people and their culture. The large number of artefacts and other items of material culture he collected are now housed at the Melbourne Museum.

In NE Arnhem Land there is an unbroken tradition of crafting and playing the didgeridoo, the vast majority of Yolngu made Yidaki from NE Arnhem Land are made from 'Stringybark' however, sometimes 'Woolybutt' or 'Bloodwood' are used. The trees are naturally hollowed out by termites which burrow in to the ground, lay eggs and the larvae eat up the inside of the eucalyptus tree. An Aboriginal yidaki maker has a sense of the approriate tree which he then tests by removing a small piece of bark and hitting the tree with his finger or a tool to hear if the sound indicates a hollowness. An experienced Yolngu can tell from that sound, how hollow the tree is and where to make the initial cuts for the proposed yidaki. If the tree is not sufficiently hollowed the subject location is remembered and the tree left for another time. Such sensitivity to nature is vastly different from the non-indigenous approach where large sections of forestation are cleared without regard for the environment and readiness of any particular tree.

It is interesting to note that 99.9% of all didgeridoos and yidaki sold on the global market are not indigenously crafted and painted. In West Arnhem Land the didgeridoo is commonly referred to as the mago and was made famous from the 60's by David Blanasi (and some promotion by Rolf Harris). David Blanasi was an exceptional didjeridu player and mago maker who co-founded ' The White Cockatoo ' performing group. David Blanasi travelled and performed extensively throughout the world for 30 years and brought the mago to international prominence for the very first time. Djalu Gurruwiwi is the Custodian of the didgeridoo, a senior member of the Galpu clan in North Arnhem Land and an internationally acclaimed yidaki maker and player. Djalu Gurruwiwi reveals that a didgeridoo made by a traditional owner or custodian has spirit and that spirit is in the instrument itself! A yidaki, mago or didgeridoo made by a non-Indigenous person has no spirit and is merely a musical instrument.

Djalu, goes further and states the same lack of spirit is evident in didgeridoos made by Aboriginal people who don't have the instrument as part of their cultural heritage. Which translates to just because a craftsman is an Aboriginal Australian, it does not necessarily mean they have the right and cultural backing to make an indigenous didgeridoo. There are many other names for the didgeridoo, a fact dependant upon region and clan. In Groote Eylandt the didgeridoo is also called ngarrriralkpwina and in Mornington Island a djibolu. Didgeridoos are now made by different races of people and from various types of material including, hemp, bamboo, cactus, plastic, glass, clay, metal, etc,. The most important issue for the discerning didgeridoo buyer who seeks authenticity and wishes to participate in and support the rich cultural heritage of the 'didgeridoo,' is to buy from a source which guarantees instruments are made by an indigenous Australian Aborigine who has the instrument as part of their cultural heritage!

The British Medical Journal published a study in 2005, which found that practicing the didgeridoo helped reduce snoring as well as daytime sleepiness. The study concluded that using the didgeridoo for just 25 minutes a day helped people with sleep apnoea . The disorder causes the throat to close and breathing to stop, waking the patient, but the didgeridoo sessions helped by strengthening the airways. About 5% of the population has the syndrome, which can cause people to wake up regularly during the night, the team decided to investigate whether playing the Aboriginal didgeridoo wind instrument helped patients after hearing reports that it had solved some sleep-related problems."Our results are the first to show that training the upper airways significantly improves sleep related outcomes." University of Surrey sleep expert Neil Stanley said: "Exercising the airways in such a way is known to help people with this condition." Click here to see the sleep apnea movie and our 10% discount offer! Another good reason to keep up your practice!

The Didgeridoo - Origins & Use Origins & Use Didjiman Home The didgeridoo is probably the world's oldest musical instrument, originating in the world's oldest continuous culture: the indigenous peoples of Australia, whose culture is believed to be at least 40,000 years old. The didgeridoo has apparently been known to indigenous Australians throughout the entire history of their culture. Indeed, some Dreamtime stories mention the didgeridoo in a prominent role. (Dreamtime is the "time before time," that is, the time before the world and the things in it took on their present-day forms, and when the gods were still actively present in the world.) One Dreamtime story explains how a particular god carried his didgeridoo by tying it to his back so that it stuck out behind. When the god later transformed into a bird, the didgeridoo sticking out behind became the bird's long, narrow tail. In another Dreamtime story, three gods get together to play didgeridoo, sing, and dance.

In this story the gods also have bird-forms; Giddabush (a bird also known as the "long-tailed fashion") is the didgeridoo player, the Butcher bird plays clapsticks and sings, and the Piwi bird dances. As they play, dance, and sing, they name (and hence create) all of the things in the world. When they have finished their work of naming things, Giddabush, Butcher bird, and Piwi pass on the didgeridoo, clapsticks, songs, and dances to humans, and the indigenous Australians have in turn passed these things down from generation to generation.

(A more complete version of this story, as told by Bill Harney, can be found in the book Didgeridoo: Ritual Origins and Playing Techniques by Dirk Schellburg, Binkey Kok Publications, Diever, Holland; ISBN 90-74597-13-0.) For more Dreamtime stories, try these links: Crystalink's Dreamtime Given that these Dreamtime stories show the didgeridoo as an essential tool in the creation of the world as well as a device invented directly by the gods, it isn't surprising that the didgeridoo is a sacred instrument. In indigenous Australian culture, the didgeridoo is used in both open and secret religious ceremony. Open ceremonies can be seen or heard by anyone; secret ceremonies are restricted to members of the tribe, and sometimes to specific groups within the tribe. Apart from sacred ceremony, the didgeridoo is also played recreationally as accompaniment to clan songs, entertainment songs, teaching songs and individually-owned songs. Other traditional forms of recreational didgeridoo playing include story-telling and nature studies.

For story-telling and nature studies, the didgeridoo player uses the unique playing characteristics of the didgeridoo (shrieks, coughs, grunts, and so on) to imitate a specific animal or to aurally relate a story, for example, about a hyena drinking from a water-hole, or about hunting a kangaroo. Fortunately for us, the indigenous Australians have been willing to share recreational didgeridoo playing techniques with outsiders by teaching the same playing techniques that uninitiated boys of the tribe may be taught. Didgeridoo music began appearing in a non-traditional context in various Australian bands in the late 1970's and early 1980's, including genre-setting groups such as Yothu Yindi. By the late 1980's and continuing through the 1990's, the didgeridoo spread to Europe and the Americas with sufficient popularity to support several bands featuring didgeridoo sounds blended with European melody instruments such as guitar, flute, violin, and clarinet in a variety of styles.

(The book Didgeridoo: Ritual Origins and Playing Techniques, cited earlier in this text, contains a more specific history of bands using the didgeridoo from the 1970's through the early 1990's.) For a list of the few didgeridoo CDs that this author knows and likes, go to the Discography section. All text & photographs Copyright © 2002-2013 by Matthew Harris Didgeridoo Authenticity | Ididj Australia Didgeridoo Authenticity Introduction The overwhelming predominance of non-authentic didgeridoos in the global market, together with the widespread misrepresentation and mislabeling of instruments by non-Aboriginal craftsmen, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, is of major concern to iDIDJ Australia. Links in this section will bring you to accounts of the sacred origins of the didgeridoo, statements from a number of respected Aboriginal leaders, and an overview of trends in the didgeridoo industry. This promotes understanding of the different types of didgeridoos available.

Examples of authentic instruments are shown as well as a variety of inauthentic instruments commonly found in retail shops.It is hoped this information would go some way towards protecting consumers from unethical retailers and unconscionable non-Indigenous didgeridoo makers. “We go along, making country… Going there, to where the white clouds are rising, our hips swaying… Step by step, we sing as we go, making the country… Shall we sit here? Shall we erect our shade here?” Translation of a sacred song from north-east Arnhem Land, Yolngu language group. Where did the didgeridoo come from? How did it first come into this world? Who were the first people who made and played it? Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land, in Australia’s remote Northern Territory, are recognised as the traditional owners or custodians of the didgeridoo. To the Yolngu people, for instance, there is a body of knowledge relating to the origins of the instrument that stretch far back into the ‘Dreamtime’ – when the world was first created.

In this part of the world there exists deep sacred knowledge that is closely guarded by elders and by those who are vested with the authority to protect and maintain the religious life of the people. Djalu Gurruwiwi , a senior member of the Galpu clan, is one such person. Djalu is fond of reminding didgeridoo players throughout the world of the special place the didgeridoo has in his culture. The didgeridoo is a totem, a symbol of identity and authority, and a musical instrument. In public ceremonies, the didgeridoo is played to accompany singing and the pattern of clapstick beats particular to each clan. In some secret ceremonies, a different sort of didgeridoo is brought out… only initiated men may view this special instrument and its inner secrets are only known by the most senior elders vested with maintaining the law. Transgression of the law carries serious penalties including death by sorcery. When the Ancestral Beings created the land, animals, plants and all other life forms, they also laid down a set of rules and regulations so that human beings could live within a system of law.

The didgeridoo and its origins are part of this law… in this sense, the didgeridoo and its associated mythologies are the foundation blocks for life itself because the didgeridoo and its inner manifestations have their roots in Creation Stories much like the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Djalu is fond of saying that a didgeridoo made by a traditional owner or custodian has spirit. The spirit is in the instrument itself, a genealogy dating back to the first didgeridoo. An instrument made by a non-Indigenous person, on the other hand, has no spirit but is merely a musical instrument like a trumpet or a trombone. The same applies to didgeridoos made by Aboriginal people who do not have the instrument as part of their cultural heritage. Aboriginal Art Culture and Tourism Australia 1. Possibly the world's oldest musical instrument 2. A wind instrument originally found in Arnhem Land, Northern Australia. 3. Is made from limbs and tree trunks hollowed out by termites (insects). 4. Is cut to an average length of 1.3 metres and cleaned out with a stick. or hot coals. 5.

Was used as an accompaniment to chants and songs. 6. Produces a low-pitch, resonant sound with complex rhythmic patterns. 7. In sure tribal groups only played by men but in most groups by men, women and children. 8. Traditional various forms at the didjeridoo where found in Central Australia around Alice Springs. 9. The Didgeridoo is the sound of Australia. 10.If the earth had a voice it would be the sound of the Didgeridoo. HISTORY OF THE WORD DIDGERIDOO Didgeridoo - Also didjeridu, didjiridu and didjerry. 1919 Huon Times (Franklin) 24 January 4/3 The nigger crew is making merry with the Diridgery doo and the eternal ya-ya-ya- ye-ye-ye cry. 1919 Smith's Weekly (Sydney) 5 April 15/1 The Northern Territory Aborigines have an infernal and allegedly musical instrument, composed of two feet of hollow bamboo. It produces but one sound - 'didjerry, didjerry, didjerry' and so on ad infinitum..

When a couple of niggers started grinding their infernal 'didjerry' half the hot night through, the blasphemous manager decided on revenge. 1925 M.TERRY Across Unknown Australia 190 The didjiri-du.. is a long hollow tube, often a tree root about 5 feet long, slightly curved at the lower end. The musician squats on the ground, resting his instrument on the earth. He fits his mouth into the straight or upper end and blows down it in a curious fashion. He produces an intermittent drone. ABORIGINAL NAMES Aboriginal names for the instruments as there are identifiable language groups. Some of its names, more especially those which suggest routes and directions of the spread of this aerophone within Australia, are given below. In T.B. Wilson's Narrative of a Voyage Round the World (1835) there is a drawing of an Aboriginal man of Raffles Bay, Coburg Peninsula, playing the instrument. Several different observers at Raffles Bay described it as being of bamboo and about three feet long. Names obtained (obviously different spellings of the same Aboriginal word) were eboro, ebero and ebroo. WHERE DOES THE WORD DIDGERIDOO COME FROM?

The fact that bamboo didjeridus were quite common among northerly groups in the Northern Territory during the last century is confirmed by the word 'bamboo' which is still used in the lingua franca by some Aborigines when referring to the instrument, though 'didjeridu' may be gaining ground. The suggestion here is that the first didjeridus were of bamboo; and that because of the availability of bamboo in the north-western region of the Northern Territory, the first didjeridu players may well have belonged to that region. Some observations on 'three very curious trumpets' made by R.Etheridge Jr. in 1893 are quoted for consideration in this context as they refer particularly to instruments of bamboo. Etheridge writes that '[the trumpets] are made from bamboo lengths, the diaphragms having been removed, probably by dropping live coals down the tubes. The bamboo, I am informed by Mr Stockdale, grows about the Adelaide River over an area of about one hundred miles by fifty, and reaches to a height of eighty feet, Mr J.H.

Maiden tells me there are two bamboos indigenous in Australia, Bambusa arnhemica and B.moreheadiana, the latter a climbing species and only one or two inches in diameter. WHAT ARE OTHER DIDGERIDOO NAMES? According to Prof Trevor Jones, (Monash University) there are at least 45 different synonyms for the didgeridoo. Some are bambu, bombo, kambu, pampuu, (may reflect didge origins from bamboo), garnbak, illpirra, martba, Jiragi, Yiraki, Yidaki, (seem close dialectically and which means "bamoo" although no longer commonly made from bamboo). TRIBAL GROUP REGION NAME FOR DIDGERIDOO TRIBAL GROUP How a Didgeridoo is Made - Myth and Facts Shopping How a Didgeridoo is Made - Myth and Facts In our 2008 visitor questionnaire we asked people whether and if yes what they tell their friends or audiences about how a didgeridoo is made.

Very rare didgeridoo made from a dead tree Reading through the hundreds of responses we realised that there are obviously many urban legends (or should we say bush legends?) about how a didgeridoo is made. Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge and beliefs about didgeridoo and thus contributed to that resource and especially to those who allow us to look at some of the many myth about how a genuine didgeridoo is made and set the facts straight. Termite Nest engulfs a dead branch MYTH: "A didgeridoo is harvested from a dead eucalyptus tree" FACT: Almost every genuine termite hollowed didgeridoo is made from live trees. You might be interested to know that most of those cut trees will re-shoot and grow again. Wood left in termite nests is often eaten form the outside, making it useless for didgeridoo making MYTH: "A didgeridoo is made from a branch" FACT: While the odd didgeridoo is made from a branch almost all are made from the stem of young eucalyptus trees. You might be interested to know that eucalypt trees will sprout again even when totally cut close to the ground.

MYTH: "You put a tree branch into a termite mound and they will then eat it out" In variants of this myth the log is to be turned and twisted to ensure even hollowing by the termites. FACT: This is another old and very widespread but totally wrong bush myth. We have never heard of anyone actually successfully making a didgeridoo in this way. A genuine didgeridoo is made from trees which are hollowed by termites while they are alive. MYTH: "You bury the didgeridoo under the ground and the termites will hollow it out." FACT: If you bury a tree trunk or branch under the ground and the termites do like it, they will eat the lot. Termites eat only the inside of trees and branches because they are very sensitive to light and need to stay away from sunlight, so underground they can and will eat the whole log. MYTH: "An authentic didgeridoo is made from a eucalyptus branch that has been hollowed out by termites as the branches lay on the ground" FACT: Similar to burying, where the branch touches the ground, it will rot or the outside will be eaten by the termites.

Either way you get holes and a lower quality didgeridoo. MYTH: "Original ones are naturally made by termites eating the inside only of a particular tree", some believe that a 'proper' didgeridoo should be a Bloodwood, yet others believe it must be a Woolybutt or some other Eucalyptus species. FACT: A genuine termite hollowed didgeridoo can be made from many different eucalyptus varieties and also from some other tree species. Eucalyptus is the preferred timber to make a didgeridoo because it is very hard wood giving good resonance and timbre. Some didgeridoo sellers try to spread rumours that only certain species can or should be used to make a didgeridoo or are 'the best to use', which happens to be the species they are trying to sell. We have handled tens of thousands of didgeridoos and for any great didgeridoo made from one particular timber species we can show you one just as good from several other timber species. MYTH: "A didgeridoo usually comes from Arnhem land" FACT: This is like saying that cheese comes from Emmental.

While some didgeridoos are made in Arnhem land, many more didgeridoos are made in other parts of the Northern Territory and even more didgeridoos are made in other states around Australia. A genuine didgeridoo can be found wherever there are termites which is in most areas of Australia. Significant didgeridoo quantities are harvested in WA, NT, QLD, NSW and Victoria. A variant of this myth is that the didgeridoo was invented or first used in Arnhem land. While this is certainly possible, there is simply in-sufficient evidence to make such a categorical statement and some of the oldest known didgeridoo specimens actually came from Far North Queensland. Again such rumours are usually started and/or spread by people who sell Arnhem land didgeridoos and have a commercial interest to make their products look better.

Eucalyptus trees generally regrow, even if totally cut off MYTH: "There is a termite that lives in a small region in the outback that eats the insides of eucalyptus trees" FACT: It is true that termites eat the interior of eucalyptus trees, however many different species of wood eating termites in most areas in Australia create potential didgeridoos. This seems to be another myth spread by people who have a vested interest in you believing that "real" didjes should only come from one small area in Australia (usually where they are harvesting or selling from). MYTH: "During the rainy season termites are flooded out of their earthly dens and forced up into trees, they then eat the wood" FACT: Termites usually do not build their nests in flood-prone country simply because the floods will kill them. Flooding is not the reason termites hollow out didjes. There are different termite species, some of whom do build their nests high in the trees, however most didgeridoos are made by ground dwelling termites. MYTH: "A didgeridoo is made by termites partly eating out logs.

Then hot coals or hot metal bars are used to clean it out, other people believe all of the central hole is burned through the log." FACT: This is a very old and widespread bush myth which is totally wrong. My son spent weeks trying to widen a partly narrow termite hole in a log with coals and hot metal rods and failed. It resulted in the coals igniting the log long before they make or enlarge an existing hole through the centre of it. We have seen tens of thousands of didjes, but never a single didgeridoo that was made this way. Termites cover their tracks to preserve moisture and because they are very sensitive to sun light MYTH: "A didgeridoo is made from Eucalyptus which has been hollowed out by termites eating only the pithy inner core but stopping at the hard wood - which is poisonous to them" MYTH: "usually termites eat the soft wood inside the harder exterior of the tree" FACT: As with all trees the softwood of eucalypts is on the outside and the hardwood on the inside.

Eucalyptus is actually extremely hard timber (which helps to give good sound to a genuine didgeridoo), but termites have no problem with that. There is no natural wood known to be poisonous to termites; there are timbers which are more or less preferred but we have seen termites eating even cypress pine. 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. MYTH: "They are cut to a musical key" FACT: Almost all didgeridoos are not cut to a musical key. In fact most didgeridoos are sold without being tuned. There is still only very few didgeridoo makers who actually tune their didgeridoo and we do not know of any Aboriginal person doing so (while our didgeridoos are harvested and made by Aboriginal people, we do the tuning).

Soldier termites exposed by removing the roof of their tunnel MYTH: "The bark is then stripped and then the didgeridoo is soaked in water to check for holes and cracks which is then filled with bees wax" FACT: Soaking a didgeridoo in water significantly increases the likelihood of it cracking later. Holes and cracks can easily be found by feeling or sealing the mouth over suspect areas and trying to blow or suck air. Traditionally holes and cracks were probably filled with resins rather than beeswax; beeswax is not a reliable long-term solution to fill holes and today's best didgeridoo makers use sawdust and wood glue mixes. MYTH: "Most didgeridoos have simple bands of colour or no colour at all. Dot painting is used to attract tourists to buy some lower grade didgeridoos and was for decoration of rocks and bodies not didgeridoos." FACT: Overall most didgeridoos are probably painted. Some didgeridoos might have simple bands of colour simply because the maker cannot be bothered to paint them any better or in the case of some Aboriginal makers because he is not initiated to paint animals and/or more intricate designs.

I have been told by Aboriginal elders that traditionally a didgeridoo painted for ceremony has very intricate artwork, but they might be burnt or the art washed off after use in secret ceremonies. In any case the type and quality of artwork does not reveal anything about the sound quality of the didj. While it is true that some lower grade didgeridoos are painted with dot or other Aboriginal art (sadly often done by non-indigenous artists), there are certainly also very high quality instruments which are decorated with dot painting. MYTH: "It's the most ancient instrument, originated in the Australian Aboriginal community over 50 000 years ago" FACT: While this could be true, there is no real evidence to suggest that the didgeridoo was used since over 50,000 years. There is evidence that Aboriginal people have lived in Australia since at least forty to fifty thousand years and possibly even 60,000 years, but since didgeridoos are made from wood which does not last very well, especially in termite country, we do not know of a single ancient didgeridoo that was ever excavated.

There are claims that ancient rock paintings depicting didgeridoos are 2000 or even 20000 years old, but we have never seen a photo of any such painting and there is simply not enough evidence to make any definite statement about when the didgeridoo was first used. When asking several Aboriginal elders from FNQ and NT, I was told that the didgeridoo was never depicted in rock art because it is too sacred. You can read some more information about general Didgeridoo making and also about the additional efforts which go into each Didjshop.com didgeridoo. Your SEO optimized title Women and the Didgeridoo... Taboo? Facts dissolve the myth about women playing the didgeridoo A new book to be published by HarperCollins has a chapter on how to play the didgeridoo. It's an activity book for girls. That's cool, unless you're name is Mark Rose, an Australian academic, and you are bent on perpetuating a myth that girls or women should not play the instrument. Furthermore, Rose got himself so worked up while being interviewed by a reporter that he reversed the outcome of the more familiar hex.

The popular conception was that if an aboriginal woman touched or played a didgeridoo she'd become pregnant. Rose advises that women would become infertile. That's a new one! And not just aboriginal women, but all women everywhere that dare to defy the phony taboo. After the story was published, Rose conceded that his remarks were "ill-considered". But the damage and perpetuation of this myth had been done. So where and when did this interpolated rumor start? Having witnessed it myself I feel qualified to answer that... By the early 90s the didgeridoo was becoming popular at souvenir shops in Sydney and Melbourne. Inner city, mixed race "aborigines" would taunt female tourists with the myth to deter sales (because many art gallery and souvenir shop owners were non-aboriginal, seen profiting from aboriginal crafts). Far from didgeridoo country, these embittered men cultivated their own legend about the instrument based entirely on misinformation.

In fact, didgeridoo master and lawman David Blanasi (Beswick) told me in 1999 that the whole "woman have too many baby" story was a "joke" based on the didgeridoo's size and shape. Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land never intended for the joke to be taken seriously. A customer of mine was told by a half-caste fella in Melbourne not to play the didgeridoo because it was a phallic symbol. She quickly retorted, "I didn't realize it would be more acceptable for men to be playing phallic symbols with their mouths." That shut the perverted person up immediately. Another woman was hit in the face by a man in Western Australia for playing the didgeridoo. Yes, physical assault on a woman by a half-caste fella based on a rumor that began as a joke! You never hear stories like this coming from Arnhem Land (in red on the map below) which is the only place in Australia where the didgeridoo is used in traditional ceremony. The recent revelations of this truth has been forged over many years of communication with didgeridoo lawkeepers and embedded cultural authorities.

There are myriad articles and statements by aboriginal men and women of high degree that contradict the myth, but none that back it up. I am disappointed that an educated adult man and a newspaper reporter consider such voodoo newsworthy in the 21st century. That said, many legends begin with some hint at truth. Within traditional ceremony the didgeridoo is only played by men. The sound is used to accompany song and dance, and that's where the context of "men's business" regarding the instrument begins and ends. The myth in question was created and spread by (mostly) self-professed "cultural authorities" living far from Arnhem Land where the instrument has its roots and, more importantly, its lawkeepers. What began as misinformation evolved into a "curse" which fed the Western ideals of noble savages and their magic. It's unjustifiable for any person, aboriginal or not (like Rose) to literally invent a story about the didgeridoo that does not come from its place of origin. Pushing all the contention aside, one only needs to visit Buku Larrngay Mulka, an aboriginal art center in the heart of didgeridoo country.

Many of the finest didgeridoos (called yidaki up there) are decorated by Yolngu women. I've been to Arnhem Land and I've put the question of this taboo to aboriginal didgeridoo masters like David Blanasi and Djalu Gurruwiwi, both lawmen of high degree. According to these absolute authorities there is no law forbidding women to play the didgeridoo. The crafting, painting, and distribution of didgeridoos is a gift from the oldest living culture on the planet for everyone to enjoy, regardless of gender. Worst of all is how so many men and women from Australia's south and west still tell others that women are not allowed to play. And then there's the absolute ridiculousness of saying a woman will get pregnant or barren by touching one. None of that has any cultural relevance at all in didgeridoo country. It's a tall tale founded upon misinformation, not a rule. So, all you didgeridoo sisters, play to your heart's content with joy, and help share the truth. Barry Martin aboriginal sources in Arnhem Land From Aboriginal Lawkeepers!

For genuine and easily accessible information about women playing the didgeridoo (or yidaki), including several video testimonials by aboriginal lawkeepers, visit this link to an aboriginal owned website in Arnhem Land: Yirrkala.com The Didgeridoo, from Arnhem Land to Internet Perfect Beat Publications / Karl Keuenfeld This aims to clarify some misunderstandings of the role of didjeridoo in traditional Aboriginal culture, in particular the popular conception that it is taboo for women to play or even touch a didgeridoo. While it is true that in the traditional didgeridoo accompanied genres of Northern Australia, (e.g. Wangga and Bunggurl) women do not play in public ceremony, in these areas there appears to be few restrictions on women playing in an informal capacity. The area in which there are the strictest restrictions on women playing and touching the didgeridoo appears to be in the south east of Australia, where in fact didgeridoo has only recently been introduced.

My understanding of Aboriginal culture in Australia has been formed as an academic ethnomusicologist, through acquaintance with the ethnomusicological and anthropological literature as well as through personal contact, during classes and fieldwork, with the Aboriginal people in a number of communities in South Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales. It is true that traditionally women have not played the didgeridoo in ceremony. However let us review the evidence for Aboriginal women playing didgeridoo in informal situations. In discussions with women in the Belyuen community near Darwin in 1995. I was told that there was no prohibition on women playing and in fact several of the older women mentioned a women in the Daly River area who used to play the didgeridoo. In a discussion with men from Groote Eylandt, Numbulwar and Gunbalanya it was agreed that there was no explicit Dreaming Law that women should not play didgeridoo, it was more that women did not know how to. From Yirrkala, there are reports that while both boys and girls as young children play with toy instruments, within a few years, girls stop playing the instrument in public.

There are reports that women engage in preparation of didgeridoos for sale to tourists also playing instruments to test their usability. Reports of women playing the didgeridoo are especially common in the Kimberley and Gulf regions the Westerly and Easterly extremes of it's distribution in traditional music. The didgeridoo has only begun to be played in these areas this century where it accompanies genres originally deriving from Arnhem Land (Bunggurl) or the Daly region (Wangga, Lirrga and Gunborrg). The clamour of conflicting voices about the use of didgeridoo by women and by outsiders has drawn attention to the potential for international exploitation and appropriation of traditional music and other Aboriginal cultural property. In addition, the debate has drawn to international attention the fact that there are levels of the sacred and the secret in traditional Aboriginal beliefs, many of them restricted according to gender. Perhaps the didgeridoo in this case is functioning as a false front, standing in for other truly sacred and restricted according to Aboriginal ceremonial life that it can not be named in public.

In this way, the spiritualising of the didgeridoo not only panders to the commercial New Age niche, but also serves as a means of warning non-Aboriginal people to be wary of inquiring too closely into sacred matters. Excerpt from the book: Didjeridu Dreaming by Adrian Parker One commonly held misnomer is that non-Aboriginal women should not play the didgeridoo – that it is taboo to all women. The inhabitants of the Kakadu and Western Arnhem Land, the region where the instrument originated, maintain that it is perfectly O.K. for Western women to play. “It's a Culture thing. Balanda daluk (white women) are not Binninj (Aboriginal). They can play. Different culture.” From am interview with Alex Nganjmirra in 1996. Excerpt from the book: The Didjeridu, from Arnhem Land To The Internet Perfect Beat Publications / Karl Keuenfeld Reports of (Aboriginal) women playing didgeridoo are especially common in the Kimberleys and the Gulf regions, the westerly and easterly extremes of it's distribution in traditional music.

The didgeridoo has only begun to be played in these areas this (20th) century (Alice Moyle, 1974), where it accompanies genres originally derived from Arnhem Land (bunggurl) or the Daly region (wangga, lirrga and gunborrg). For the gulf area, Alice Moyle's recording Aboriginal Sound Instruments (1978), contains a track, recorded at Borroloola in the eastern Northern Territory in 1966, of Jemima Wimalu, a Mara woman from Roper River, playing very accomplished didgeridoo (track 1b side 2 – see notes and transcription in Moyle, 1978: 17 – 18, 48). Elizabeth Mackinlay, an ethnomusicologist working with women from the neighbouring Yantuwa group, reports women playing didgeridoo, adopted recently from Mara people, in both informal and public performances (personal communication, 1996). In Conclusion As the didgeridoo continues to gain popularity around the world it's important that the cultural information we share with others about it are based on fact, not fiction.

For instance, it's a fact that the didgeridoo can be dated as far back as 1,500 to 2,000 years. But how many times have you heard or read that the instrument is the oldest in the world dating back 40,000 years or more? Humbug. The aboriginal people have been in Australia that long, but their culture (including artefacts like the didgeridoo) have evolved over millennia. A whitefella "history" of the didgeridoo is being spun on the back of CD covers by individuals and record companies looking to sell you on the "ancient mystique of the noble savage". Let's not disseminate cultural information from the back of a CD. I would say that Wikipedia's content is much closer to reality. And getting the info as true as possible is one way we can all "pay forward" justice to the aboriginal culture in Australia that is sharing this wonderful instrument with us.

Barry Martin Australian Aboriginal Musical Instruments - The Didjeridu, The Bullroarer And The Gumleaf Australian Aboriginal Musical Instruments The Didjeridu, The Bullroarer And The Gumleaf* *Footnote: Presented at the Stockholm Music Acoustics Conference SMAC03 in August 2003 Neville H. Fletcher Research School of Physical Sciences Australian National University, Canberra 0200 and also School of Physics, University of New South Wales Sydney 2052 ABSTRACT The Australian Aboriginal people developed three musical instruments - the didjeridu, the bullroarer, and the gum-leaf. Most well known is the didjeridu, a simple wooden tube blown with the lips like a trumpet, which gains its sonic flexibility from controllable resonances of the player's vocal tract. The bull-roarer is a simple wooden slat whirled in a circle on the end of a cord so that it rotates about its axis and produces a pulsating low-pitched roar. The gum-leaf, as the name suggests, is a tree leaf, held against the lips and blown so as to act as a vibrating valve with "blown-open" configuration.

Originally intended to imitate bird-calls, the gum-leaf can also be used to play tunes. 1. INTRODUCTION The Australian Aboriginal people have lived in this country, probably for more than 40,000 years, with almost no contact with the outside world. During that time they developed sophisticated tools such as the woomera spear-thrower and the returning boomerang. They also developed three musical instruments - the didjeridu, usually spelt "didgeridoo" in the non-academic literature and actually called a yidaki or yiraki in the Aboriginal language of the region where it originated, the bull-roarer, and the gumleaf. The didjeridu is a simple wooden tube blown with the lips like a trumpet, which gains its sonic flexibility from controllable resonances of the player's vocal tract. The bull-roarer, called by other names in Aboriginal languages, is a simple wooden slat whirled in a circle on the end of a cord so that it rotates about its axis and produces a pulsating low-pitched roar.

The gum-leaf, as the name suggests, is a leaf from a Eucalypt tree, held against the lips and blown so as to act as a vibrating valve with "blown-open" configuration, denoted by (+,-). The sounding pitch is controlled by vocal tract resonances and is typically about an octave above the female singing voice. Originally intended to imitate bird-calls, the gum-leaf can also be used to play tunes. This paper will briefly describe each of these instruments. 2. THE DIDJERIDU The didjeridu originated in Arnhem Land on the northern coastline of central Australia, and has some similarity to bamboo trumpets and even bronze horns developed in other cultures, though it pre-dates most of these by many millennia. The characteristic feature is that the didjeridu, which is a slightly flaring wooden tube about 1.5 metres in length, is simply hollowed out by natural termites ("white ants") from the trunk of one of the small trees of the region. After cutting down, the instrument is cleaned out with a stick, the outside refined by scraping and then painted with traditional designs, and the blowing end smoothed by adding a rim of beeswax. Figure 1.

Spectra of didjeridu sound. (a) an uninflected drone, and (b) a drone with two prominent formant bands. (From [4]) The predominant sound of the didjeridu is a low-pitched drone with frequency around 70Hz, but depending significantly upon the length of the instrument and the flare of its bore. The second mode of the tube, with frequency a little less than 1.5 times that of the fundamental (because of the tube flare) is used sparingly as an accent to the sound, and the main variation comes from production of pronounced formant bands, the frequencies of which can be adjusted by the player over a range from about 1kHz to 3kHz, as shown in Fig. 1. In traditional use, the didjeridu, with clap-sticks for emphasis, accompanies songs or illustrates traditional stories about ancestors and animals [1]. Recently, however, its use has spread into the popular music domain and has had world-wide influence [2]. The acoustics of the didjeridu tube is simple.

Because of the irregular shape and general slight flare, the upper resonances (impedance maxima) are not well aligned with odd harmonics of the fundamental, and the main determinant of quality is the smoothness of the walls, on a sub-millimetre scale, and the absence of cavities. The diameter of the blowing end, typically about 30mm, must also be a convenient match to the lips of the player. The real acoustic interest comes from the techniques by which unusual sounds are made [3]. The prime technique is one involving adjustment of the impedance maxima of the vocal tract, as judged from the vibrating lip valve, since this impedance is effectively in series with the comparable impedance of the didjeridu tube itself. The player achieves this adjustment by raising the tongue to narrow the airway near the lips and further adjusting the spacing between the rear of the tongue and the hard palate [4]. Some further results of research on this subject are presented in a recent paper by Wolfe et. al. [5].

The main reason that these techniques are so effective in the didjeridu, compared with other lip-driven instruments, is that the diameter of the instrument bore near the lips is quite similar to that of the upper vocal tract, and there is no intervening mouthpiece cup to isolate one from the other. The other impressive contribution to didjeridu sound comes from a technique in which vocalisation occurs simultaneously with normal lip-generated drone. There are then two pressure-operated valves, the vocal folds and the lips, acting in series upon the air flow. Because the operation of each valve is nonlinear, since the air flow is essentially governed by a Bernoulli equation, this generates multiple sum and difference frequencies n f1 ± m f2in the sound output [3]. If the player sings a note a musical tenth above the drone, so that f2 = (5/2) f1, then in particular the sub-octave f1 /2 is generated, giving a deep "growl". In addition, the player may insert many other transient sounds to mimic the cries of dingoes or birds, with marked dramatic effect. 3.

THE BULLROARER Since there are no bull-like animals in Australia, this is a misnomer for the Aboriginal instrument, but the actual word used is "secret-sacred" and not shared with non-Aboriginal people. The instrument itself consists of a simple wooden slat, 30 to 40cm in length and 5 to 7cm wide that is whirled around in a circle on the end of a length of cord. The slat rotates under the influence of aerodynamic forces and generates a pulsating sound with a frequency typically around 80Hz. This sound is an important feature of Aboriginal initiation ceremonies. The instrument itself is by no means unique to Australia, and similar sound generators have been used by populations as diverse as those of ancient Egypt and the Inuit of Northern Canada. An Australian instrument is shown in Fig. 2. The aerodynamics of sound generation in the bullroarer has been described in detail elsewhere [6], and only an outline will be given here. Since the quasi-static aerodynamic forces and torques on the slat balance out over a single period of its revolution, the aerodynamic torque driving its rotation depends upon the rate of rotation itself.

There is one rotation-inducing torque term that is linear in slat rotation speed, and also a drag term proportional to the square of the rotation speed, These lead to a threshold rotation rate that must be exceeded to begin the process, and then to an upper limit to the rotation rate. The steady angular rotation rate f of a rectangular slat of width W swung through the air on a string of length L with rotation frequency F can be shown to be approximately f = 1.1 LF/ W - 5 , where f and F are in rotations per second. Each rotation of the slat creates an oscillating flow dipole and, from considerations of symmetry, the dipole oscillation frequency, and thus the radiated sound frequency, is 2f. The radiated acoustic power P is approximately P = 3 (p/c3) H2V6 where H is the length of the slat, p is the density of air, c is the speed of sound in air, and V=2πLF is the speed of the slat through the air. From these two equations we see that wide slats produce sound of lower frequency but that the radiated power is independent of slat width.

Sound frequency is, however, proportional to airspeed and thus to arm rotation rate, and the radiated power is a strong function of this arm rate. For typical conditions, the radiated power is a few milliwatts for an arm rotation rate of 120 r.p.m., which is about as fast as can normally be achieved. Sound radiation is nearly omnidirectional. Because the output power is a strong function of airspeed V, and the arm rotation is normally faster on the down-sweep than on the up, the sound pulsates with a frequency typically between 1 and 2Hz. There is an additional slower pulsation with a period of several seconds that derives from the fact that the slat rotation gradually twists the cord, providing a contrary torque which eventually stops the rotation and re-launches it in the opposite sense. Figure 2. An Australian bullroarer. (From [6]) Figure 3. (a) The pressure waveform of sound from a bullroarer, showing typical pulsations. (b) Frequency analysis of this sound, showing low harmonic development. (From [6]) Analysis of the sound, as in Fig.

3, shows little harmonic development, the second-harmonic peak being about -30dB relative to the fundamental. The peaks are, however, somewhat broadened because of the variable rotational speed of a human arm. 4. THE GUMLEAF The gumleaf is altogether more primitive as a musical instrument, since it consists simply of a leaf, the shape of which is illustrated in Fig. 4(a), from one of the various species of Eucalypt trees growing throughout Australia, held against the lips using the fingers of both hands. It does, however, have a long tradition and culture [7]. In the normal playing configuration, shown in Fig.4(b), the leaf is held tightly against the lower lip and, in a bent shape, lightly against the upper lip [8]. It is stretched rather tightly between the two hands. When air pressure is applied through the mouth, it tends to lift the top of the leaf away from upper lip and allow air to escape, so in this sense the valve can be described as an "outward-swinging door", which is given the symbol (+,-), indicating the effect on the flow of applying pressure from the supply side (+) and from the exhaust side (-).

Its configuration is thus similar to that of the valve constituted by the lips of a brass-instrument player, although these are sometimes (+,+) as in a sliding door, and the opposite of the reed of a clarinet, which is (-,+), as in an inward-swinging door. The acoustic behaviour of valves of each of these types has been examined elsewhere [9,10], and this treatment provides the basis for the present discussion. Although it takes a good deal of trial and error for a beginner to even produce a sound from a gumleaf held as indicated in Fig. 4(b) above, a skilled player can control the pitch with good accuracy over a range of more than an octave and play simple tunes with ease, the pitch range being typically from about 500 to 1000Hz. Interest therefore centres on exactly how this is done. Theory [9] and experiment [10] agree that for a valve with configuration (+,-) to oscillate, the sum of the up-stream and down-stream acoustic impedances must have a negative imaginary component. Since the downstream impedance is essentially zero in this case, this implies that the mouth and vocal tract must present a compliant (capacitive) impedance at the lips.

When this condition is satisfied, the valve will oscillate provided the applied air pressure exceeds a certain threshold and the losses are not too great. The actual oscillation frequency is necessarily higher than the mechanical resonance frequency of the elastically braced leaf, and is further determined by the magnitude of the impedance presented by the mouth to the leaf. If the imaginary part of this impedance is negative and large, corresponding to a small enclosed air volume in the mouth and a narrow passage to the lower vocal tract, then the oscillation frequency of the valve will be much higher than its natural frequency. In many ways, then, the technique for varying the mouth and vocal tract when playing the gumleaf is similar to that used in whistling. Figure 4. (a) The shape of a typical gumleaf from a Eucalypt tree. (b) In normal playing, the leaf is held firmly against the lower lip and rested lightly against the upper lip, and it is the upper edge of the leaf that vibrates. (c) A variant way of holding the leaf that results in a raucous quasi-chaotic sound.

As the gumleaf valve opens and closes, so the pressure in the mouth falls and rises, with a phase advance of about ?/2 relative to the lip opening. Because the airflow through the valve is in turn proportional to its opening area and to the square root of the driving pressure, this nonlinear relationship generates harmonics of the fundamental frequency, and the sound is rich in upper partials and has an incisive quality. There is one other way of playing the gumleaf that is also worthy of mention. The configuration used is shown in Fig. 4(c), with the leaf simply lying parallel to the slot between the lips. As a variant, the leaf is sometimes held vertically between the sides of two opposed thumbs, which are pressed against the lips to create essentially the same configuration. The aerodynamic behaviour is now very different, and laboratory investigations suggest that the leaf, which is essentially flat, moves backwards and forwards in the slot and, at the same time, twists about its longitudinal axis. This motion repeatedly narrows and widens the flow channel at a frequency equal to twice the mechanical oscillation frequency of the leaf and so has a similar effect on the air flow and thus on the emitted sound.

In a larger-scale laboratory experiment the motion could be made simple and regular, but in most playing situations the leaf makes irregular contact with the lips or the thumbs and this upsets the motion. The resulting sound, while having a predominant pitch, is rough and quasi-chaotic. It is useful for special effects, such as imitating the cry of the native sulphur-crested cockatoo [11], but has no obvious musical value. 5. CLAPSTICKS As in most cultures, the Aborigines also used percussive instruments in their ceremonies. Often these were simply two boomerangs clashed together, but they also made special shaped sticks for this purpose. Because the wood used is a fine-grained hardwood, the clapsticks are physically long-lasting and produce a sharp and well defined sound. In their usual form, these sticks are about 200mm in length and 20mm in diameter and are shaped to a long point at each end. One stick is held in each hand and they are struck together at about the mid-point of each. The pointed ends ensure that the fundamental transverse vibration has a high frequency, so that the percussive effect stands out well above the drone of the didjeridu.

6. CONCLUSION Ethnomusicology is a very interesting field, and it is made even more interesting when allied with a study of the acoustics of the musical instruments that were developed by the society under study. The musical instruments of the Australian Aboriginal people have come into world prominence because of the popularity of the didjeridu, both as a tourist item and as a musical instrument. It is only recently that we have begun to have an appreciation of the acoustical subtleties associated with performance on this and other ancient instruments. REFERENCES [1] Jones, T.A., "The didjeridu" Studies in Music (University of Western Australia) 1, 23-55 (1967). [2] Neuenfeld, K. (ed.) The Didjeridu: From Arnhem Land to Internet (John Libbey & Co, Sydney, 1997). [3] Fletcher, N.H. "The didjeridu (didgeridoo)" Acoustics Australia, 24, 1-11 (1996). [4] Fletcher, N., Hollenberg, L., Smith, J., and Wolfe, J.

"The didjeridu and the vocal tract" Musical Sounds from Past Millennia, Proc. ISMA-2001, Perugia, ed. D. Bonsi, D. Gonzales and D. Stanzial, 1 87-90, (2001). [5] Wolfe, J., Tarnopolsky, A.Z., Fletcher, N.H., Hollenberg, L.C.L. and Smith, J., "Some effects of the player's vocal tract and tongue on wind instrument sound" Proc. Stockholm Music Acoustics Conference, SMAC03 (KTH, Stockholm 2003). [6] Fletcher, N.H., Tarnopolsky, A.Z. and Lai, J.C.S., "Rotational aerophones" J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 111, 1189-1196 (2002). [7] Ryan, R., 'A Spiritual Sound, A Lonely Sound': Leaf Music of Southeastern Aboriginal Australians, 1890s-1990s.

PhD thesis, Monash University, Clayton, Australia, 1999. [8] Patten, H. How to Play the Gumleaf, booklet and CD (Currency Press, Strawberry Hills, NSW, Australia 1999). [9] Fletcher, N.H., "Autonomous vibration of simple pressure-controlled valves in gas flows" J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 93, 2172-2180 (1993). [10] Tarnopolsky, A.Z., Fletcher, N.H. and Lai, J.C.S., "Oscillating reed valves - An experimental study" J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 108, 400-406 (2000). [11] Fletcher, N.H., "A class of chaotic bird calls?" J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 108, 821-826 (2000).

Source for this article: Acoustics Australia, Vol 31 Ausgust (2003) No 2 Reprinted with permission of the author Neville Fletcher For more interesting information on physics and musical instrument accoustics check out Read on:

Question: In what country did the didgeridoo originate?
Answer: Australia