Description
The didgeridoo, pronounced didjeriedoe, is a wind instrument primarily known from Australia, where Aboriginal people in Northern Australia (Northern Territory) have played it for thousands of years. The didgeridoo originated in Northeast Arnhem Land in Northern Australia. There is no evidence to support claims that the didgeridoo has existed for forty thousand years. The oldest evidence of its age, in the form of rock carvings in the Kakadu region, is approximately one to two thousand years old. One of these carvings depicts a didgeridoo player with two singers. Its original distribution suggests that the didgeridoo is at least two thousand years old. Traditionally, the didgeridoo is used as an instrument to accompany dance ceremonies, much like the djembe among the Malinke in West Africa (Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali). Today, the didgeridoo is also used in electronically amplified music. Well-known bands that use the didgeridoo include Yothu Yindi, Jamiroquai, Gjallarhorn, and in the Netherlands, Inner Strength, RAMM, and Omnia. "Didgeridoo," although the word doesn't sound like it, is a Western name for the wind instrument. There are two prevailing theories about the origin of the name didgeridoo. The first is that it is an onomatopoeia, derived from the sound that certain rhythms make, or that it was the answer to the question "what do you play," in which the player would name not the instrument, but the rhythm they were playing. Research by PhD candidate Dymphna Lonergan at Flinders University has described the theory that "Didgeridoo" derives from the Irish words "dúdaire" or "dúidire" (sounds like: doedjerrie), with the following meanings: trumpet player; someone who constantly smokes a pipe; wind player; person with a long nose; eavesdropper; inquisitive person; buzzer; hummer or singer and “dubh” (sounds like: doew or doe), meaning “black” (or “duth”, “original inhabitant”). Among Aboriginal peoples the instrument is known by many different names, such as: Mandapul, Yiḏaki, Ḏhambiḻpiḻ, Ḻambiḻpiḻ, Dhaḏalal, Djungirriny (Yolngu people, Northeast Arnhem Land, Bunggul style), Mago (West Arnhem Land, Gunborrk style and Wangga style), Yiraga (Groote Eylandt) Kenbi and Marluk (Port Keats, Wangga style). Particularly in the New Age movement it represents the humming primal voice of “Mother Earth”. Related to this is the story that the earth has a kind of basic sound, which is said to resemble the sound of a didgeridoo, which is close to a C or C# sound (probably derived from the sa fundamental note in Indian ragas). Many beginning didgeridoo players find a C or C# sound the most comfortable to start with. In the New Age movement, it is often claimed that Aboriginal people use the didgeridoo to imitate environmental and animal sounds during spiritual gatherings. However, what actually happens in these private gatherings, such as initiations and other rites, is not shared with the outside world and is therefore unknown. At corroborees (gatherings of Aboriginal people to share stories or celebrate), the didgeridoo is used to support the singing and clapsticks. As David Blanasi once said, "The didgeridoo makes the singing strong." Traditionally, the didgeridoo is rarely, if ever, used as a solo instrument.
