Lab: Making A Digeridoo The Physics Of Musics (Page 2 of 3) in pdf

2. Take some sandpaper and smooth both ends of the didgeridoo before you move on. If you

plan on decorating your didgeridoo (with paint of permanent markers) you will want to sand the

entire length of the “didge” as well.

3. Decorate your didgeridoo. I have included a couple examples for you to look at.

You may also want to go online and do some more research.

4. Once you have completed decorating your didge, you are now ready to prepare

the “mouthpiece” using some melted wax. CAUTION: Be extremely careful

around the beaker of melted wax………..it’s hot! Slowly dip the end into the

beaker of wax until it leaves a coating about 1½” in length. Give it about 30

seconds and repeat this process until you have built up enough layers to make a

comfortable feeling mouthpiece. When the wax is still warm, you may also be

able to mold it into shape.

5. It is now time to practice. Follow the suggestions below for proper playing

techniques:

The technique of how to play the didgeridoo is unique among wood instruments.

You blow down the tube with loose lips creating a vibration that echoes down

the tube coming out amplified as a drone. Similar to a tuba but even looser and

more relaxed. It is important to stay relaxed, trying too hard will tighten your

muscles which contradicts the need to create loose lips and face. Buzz your lips

while gently pushing air down the tube.

The lip vibration is similar to giving someone a "raspberry". It can help to stick

your bottom lip out a little more than the top lip. To improve the tonal quality of

the drone it is important to try to tighten your lips a little after the drone is started,

this will increase the pitch and really get the didgeridoo going! If you tighten up

too much the drone will abruptly stop and you get a sound we call the "Blow Out". People often

ask us how we can get a didge to play so loud and have such an eerie quality to the drone.

The secret to a good drone is starting loose and tightening up the lips until you almost Blow

Out. If you ride the fine line of playing tightly with almost doing a "Blow Out" you can achieve a

loud and intense drone.

Getting a good drone is critical because the other noises you make while playing a didgeridoo

happen while the drone is going. It takes most people a bit of practice to be able to drone so

don't get frustrated and practice, practice, practice. But, you shouldn't really think of it as

practice because this instrument is fun to learn!

Now try to drone as long as possible with one breath. While learning you will waste a lot of air

discovering how to make the noise. As soon as possible start limiting the amount of air you use

up. You only need enough air to vibrate the lips, this is what creates the noise. The toughest

part of didgeridoo playing is learning to circular breathe. Circular breathing allows a player to

be able to continually blow air down the didgeridoo without ever stopping for breath.

6. If you would like to learn how to circular breath, follow the guidelines below:

Circular Breathing Explained!

While circular breathing is great to know it is NOT a requirement to be able to play and enjoy

this instrument. You can build breathing into rhythms you create when you snatch air between

beats. It is best to master the other techniques of playing first and learn circular breathing last.

Circular breathing is what allows players to perform continuously without stopping for breath.

Many great wind instrument players such as Miles Davis and Kenny G use circular breathing.

Practice these exercises to learn how to circular breathe!

Exercise 1: Fill your mouth with water and push a stream of water out using only your tongue

and cheek muscles. Make sure not to use any pressure from the lungs to help. Stay relaxed

and breathe in and out with your nose while making the stream. Keep trying until it feels very

comfortable. This is a good exercise to do in the shower!

Exercise 2: Get a straw and a cup of water. Twist the end of the straw so that almost no air can

come out. Push air through the straw and into the water creating bubbles. Breathe in and out

with your nose while doing this as in exercise 1. Keep the pressure even and the flow of

bubbles smooth.

Lab: Making A Digeridoo The Physics Of Musics Page 2

Related Articles

Related forms

Related Categories