How about introductions? Tell us everything! 🙃

[David75]

Welcome Léana, Romain, Lauren, Martial and Guillaume

[David75]

Hey Martial
I’m from Charquemont which is about 1h from Besançon
When the weather’s nice we could think about meeting up^^
David

[Martial]

Hey @David75 yeah that can definitely be done with pleasure

[joel.housset]

Hello Hub!

Welcome again to this very pleasant forum; no insults, vulgarity or other pointless spam!
I’m a fan of Djay Ridoux, your autocorrect is a joker, but Ridoo is the name of the dog in Fran6co’s comic strip « the call of the didgeridoo ».
Happy playing!

[guillaume]

Yes absolutely! We’ll keep each other posted, that could be cool for April!

[Dévi]

Welcome to you

[Wearenotdeadsir00]

Hey everyone!
Here’s my little personal intro:
My name is Teva, I’m 26, I’m from New Caledonia and I’m currently living near the Swiss border with Geneva.
As I explained in a previous post, my father worked in the mines and had to move around for work, and with geographical and commercial proximity helping out, I ended up living in various remote parts of Australia (Straya for those in the know) for varying lengths of time during my early childhood. My nanny was Aboriginal and lived on the reserve, so as a kid I quickly got to share games with the other children there.
Blowing into a yidaki was part of that. It was the first encounter, and then as I grew up it stayed a childhood memory but nothing more. (I didn’t live in the traditional yidaki region but in Southern Australia). After going back to study in Caledonia I decided to return to live in Australia. 3 years to explore the whole place while making the most of each spot. That’s where I met people from Arnhem Land and where my taste for this instrument came from.
I’ll admit I have quite a traditionalist personal view of this instrument but I’m just like them, happy to see it flourishing around the world because it means continuity.
As for my instruments, my very first yidaki was given to me in Arnhem Land, a stringy bark classic about 1.60m long. I then found my second one during a hunting trip still in the far north, I just had to saw the trunk to get it.
Since I came to France this year I’ve made a PVC slide in three parts so I can move around and do a bit of bush with it easily.
That’s all I have.
For the rest, whenever I get the chance to escape into the Alpine forests long enough I like to make one on the spot with what I have available in the woods. I try out several techniques to get a playable instrument, the little bugs that eat the wood not being present here. And all of it has to be done with minimal gear of course (axe, knife, pot).
I abandon these instruments afterwards or just burn them.
I do it because the instrument chosen in a specific place gives a voice to that place and that’s how we communicate with it—it’s unique and must remain in its place.
The yidaki is traditionally often used just once or painted for an occasion then washed and forgotten. Like I said, it’s a very personal vision I have and I respect all the aspects this practice can take for each person. Maybe one day I’ll try to make a video explaining the making but technology’s not really my thing haha.
Anyway I hope it’s not too long or too confusing to read. Happy playing everyone and may it bring you what you ask of it.

[Geraldine]

Welcome Teva! Thanks for sharing a bit of your story

@Wearenotdeadsir00

I then abandon these instruments or simply burn them.
I do this because the instrument chosen at a specific place gives a voice at that place and that’s how we communicate, it is unique and must remain in its place.

Your vision of things is beautiful and quite interesting. It’s always enriching to read what each person carries within them and how they transpose that into their daily life and practice.
It would be awesome if you could show us how you make your passage instruments
Happy didge breathing to you too!

[Elisabeth_Blanc]

Hello @Wearenotdeadsir00.

Thanks for sharing your story with us. You’ve really gotten around and had some experiences in Australia that must have left an impression on you.

If you ever feel like explaining to us how you manage to make a Didgeridoo on the spot in the Alps with an axe, knife and a saucepan, I reckon a lot of us would be really interested in that.

Let us hear your 2 yidakis as well.

[desassemblageatelier]

hi there
i’m completely new and i’d like to learn to play the didgeridoo, so i just made one with a PVC tube and beeswax,… and i’d like to progress in this new learning journey have a good day claudeB

[Philippe_Bechu]

Welcome Claude

[simon]

Hello @Wearenotdeadsir00, welcome among us. Thanks too for sharing part of your story, which is sure to pique people’s curiosity.

Hello @desassemblageatelier, the thing with a PVC didgeridoo with a beeswax mouthpiece, that’s the call of the didgeridoo right there

[Geraldine]

Hey @desassemblageatelier! Welcome to the community A PVC tube and some beeswax will do the trick to get started practicing! Happy blowing!

[Christophe_E]

Hello and welcome Claude,
Thanks for that brief introduction, feel free to navigate the site and read the articles on Gauthier’s blog, especially the first ones — there’s quite a bit of basic information there.
There are also free courses available for circular breathing.

[Karl]

Hey Claude .
Welcome to the forum!! You’re in the right place .
The Wakademy friends have already said it all .
You should be able to find a « good » didgeridoo to get started in music stores, but with lockdown these days, it might be a bit tricky.
PVC and beeswax otherwise

[Elisabeth]

Welcome Teva @Wearenotdeadsir00 and Claude @desassemblageatelier

[Antoine.Bertholus]

Hello everyone,

My name is Antoine, I’m 29 years old (14 days to go), I currently live in Réunion (but locked down in the high Pyrenees at the moment).
The didgeridoo for me has been a slow process, without any breakthrough… just simple curiosity at first.
I can’t quite remember when I got interested in it… oh yes! A memory comes back to me: it was when I heard Augustina Mosca playing on the street in La Rochelle! I was blown away.
Then (or before that, I can’t remember hihi), my uncle had some didgeridoos. He had learned circular breathing with a straw and had made one at the Aboriginal’s dream.
So he introduced me to the straw and then gradually, I moved to his didge.
Then traveling a lot for my studies and staying curious without any extreme drive to play, I spent several years practicing whenever I went to my aunt’s place in La Rochelle.
Then in Guadeloupe in 2015, I felt the urge to go a bit further. So I grabbed a 4.5 cm plumbing PVC pipe lol to practice with. I waited until 2017 I think for my second Aboriginal’s dream to confirm my desire to really play. So I bought my first didge in agave (wood I had already played on the year before)… Back in Paris, I played it in bursts but nothing very serious.
Aside note, I remember around that time a weekend of WARN in the Perche that you gave me some advice Gauthier back then. And 1st result, I no longer play on the side!!!

I learned a huge amount by myself with a few videos here and there, which means I’ve perhaps found my own style (no influence) but I’m struggling to evolve within my style. Classic problem lol. At first I saw the didge as a « therapeutic » instrument: meant to do me good.
But since I left for Réunion (last year) I’ve started playing it much more. Then I wanted to play it for others, starting to play for meditations and sound journeys.

Now whenever I can’t bring it with me, I miss it!! When I play it, it carries me toward a state of meditation or trance: the notion of time lost, light head and empty mind. As if it were the continuation of my body. But it’s funny because sometimes it annoys me. Sometimes, I can’t see myself playing because I feel it’s not what I need at that moment.

I’d like now to refine my technique because as we know you can love it without technique but if you acquire technique you can love it even more. So, it took me time but that’s why I’m finally here

Well, being locked down far from my didge I’m missing out on the opportunity of the time that’s been given to us… hope I can find a solution

here goes

Warm regards,

Antoine

[Karl]

Thanks for introducing yourself, Antoine .
Welcome to our community.

To make the most of your time here, you can explore the forum and get your bearings.
It’s very lively, welcoming and full of good intentions, you’ll see .

With a bit of luck, you might find other players around you (here or in Réunion — either through the forum or through the app ).

For the rest, you can practice without a didgeridoo. Have a look over here for example:

Exercises without didgeridoo

Tu peux TOUT bosser !!! Et apparemment ça équivaudrait à jouer sur un didge en Sol grave (d’où la difficulté au début de faire la respiration circulaire… mais quand tu repasses sur ton didge ensuite… wouaaaaaa !!!) [image] Et là Gauthier en parle : [image] Biz @soleiljaunecristal !!! Et Karl

And if by any chance you’d like to share some photos of your didge with us (if you have any with you), it’s over here:

Show your didgeridoo and tell its story

Original title: « Didgeridoo Gallery » I’m suggesting here that you share photos of your didgeridoo(s). What’s cool about the didgeridoo is that each instrument is unique, because of its essence, its history, where it comes from, its shape, etc. … I’m suggesting you tell, precisely, the story, the stories of your didgeridoo(s). Where does it come from? Why that one? Really, you tried 70 before finding the right one? Basically all that stuff, you know !!! I imagine these storie…

See you soon

[simon]

Hey Antoine, and welcome! You should be able to find a tube somewhere in a corner! Even a vacuum cleaner hose works

Don't know what a flexible is for?

Stuck between 4 walls in the city, you do what you can to blow off steam passively! [AspiDidg]

[Geraldine]

Hey there @Antoine.Bertholus!! And welcome I agree with @simon, a tube or a pipe will do the trick while you wait to be able to blow into a branch again