Sectional ABS Didgeridoo Using Four Different Diameter Pipes (Key of F)

This didge is the first one I've made that uses FOUR different diameters of pipe. It drones in F and also toots in F...which makes me wonder if it could simply be "scaled up" to produce didges in C and D that also toot at the key note.

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For further information on the PVC mouthpiece go to:

My Preferred Mouthpiece

Two Channel ABS Sax Didgeridoo (Key of C)

Here is a picture of the type of PVC reducer I nest together for a mouthpiece: 

A further refinement for this mouthpiece I would suggest is sanding the inside mouth rim a bit so it is not so sharp edged.

For those interested in special effects on the C Two Channel Sax Didge I would suggest removing section 9: the remaining didge will now drone in C#, but you can cup your hand on the short channel from 8 and get a good C drone, or block it completely and get a B/Bb drone.

For changing keys on the sax two channel didge, I change the length of segment #5: reduce it to 15.25 inches, for example, and you have the key of D.

One thing I really like about the two channel didge is that vocals come out very loud and clear, stronger than any other didge I've ever played. It is as if one channel takes the vocal and one the drone. That has been the greatest weakness with ABS didges, as far as I am concerned, that vocalizations don't come out loud and clear.

Index to this Blog

Index to Woody's Didgeridoings

•  Introduction to this Blog
  - how I got into didgeridooing 


• My Preferred Didgeridoo Mouthpiece and How to Make It
- after much experimentation I find a great and easy to maintain mouthpiece


• Plans for a Family of Sectional ABS Didgeridoos using 2 inch diameter pipe
- the simplest pipe didgeridoo you can make


• Plans for a Sectional ABS Didgeridoo using three different diameter pipes
- the best pipe didgeridoo for sound quality


• Converting the Sectional Didge into a Tuneable Didgibone
- convert a didge into one with a slide like a trombone

• Bass Sectional ABS Didgeridoo (Key of G)
- deepest and lowest didge 

• Two Channel ABS Sax Didgeridoo (Key of C)


• Sectional ABS Didgeridoo Using Four Different Diameter Pipes (Key of F)


• Tsamiko: My First Didgeridoo Recording


• Interesting Sounds: Intooting
- learn some interesting new sound techniques


• More Interesting Sounds: Drooting
- learn some more interesting new sound techniques


• Even More Interesting Sounds: Tongue Droning
- and even more interesting new sound techniques


• Didgeridoo Tribe Cartoon Gallery by Soukou
- great cartoons from the days of the original international internet didgeridoo tribe

Didgeridoo Tribe Cartoon Gallery by Soukou

In those good old days of the online Didgeridoo Tribe (see bottom of the page for a sample forum discussion), tribe member Soukou posted a set of cartoons featuring many of the well known members of the tribe.  I am now providing here a good home for these cartoons:

Big Toach

Dreadhead

Dreamweaver

Erkl1

Finch

Frostman

Gonewalkabout

Kellymon

Larry Iwan

Moondrop

Pandoroo

Pumpkinman

 Soukou

Stan

Woody

After seeing this last one I felt I had to do a Soukou Cartoon of my own featuring Soukou in his appropriately named and acoustically preferred playing area: a "racketball" court!

Best wishes to the great Soukou!

 While searching through the archives I also found a few pages I had saved from the original Didgeridoo Tribe Forum.  I thought the following one on nicknames was appropriate here:

Didgeridoo Tribe Nickname Thread

Even More Interesting Sounds: Tongue Droning

Tongue Droning

Here is an interesting technique I have been working on: tongue droning where you stick out your tongue between your lips and produce the drone by vibrating your tongue INSTEAD of your lips. While this technique is easier to do with front blowing, it can also be done while side blowing. Here is a sample mp3 with alternating lip and tongue drones using my wooden Australian tourister didge in F:



I'm sure many people do tongue droning without realizing it. The easiest way is to stick out your tongue and do a "Teeeeeeeeeeeee" but without using the vocal chords, just as a mouth shape. You start to feel the vibrations transferring from your lips to your tongue, and your tongue tingles.

A drawn out "te" as in "tender" seems to work somewhat better than "tee" as in "tea". You can hear this on my above sound sample, which is played on my first didge, by the way. This one was bought for me in Australia by my friend and band mate, Jethro, who hauled it all around Australia with him. It is an inexpensive one, just a straight cyclinder made from some kind of wood and with paintings of a emu and a platypus on it. I found this one difficult to learn on, but I do play it now from time and time, and enjoy it's sound, particularly when tongue droning.

Here is a sample of some tongue droning effects on my high G didge:

More Interesting Sounds: Drooting

Drooting

As well as intooting, I am working these days to improve my regular tooting. I have found there is a range of toots LOWER in pitch than the first overtone and that require less breath and a looser lip action (halfway between droning and trumpeting) to play. In fact, if you blow too hard, you just end up with the first overtone. These are ideal to use for working on circular breathing during long toots.

Since the lip action is halfway between droning and tooting, I call this technique drooting.

I like these droots on my pseudoconical in D because they allow me to toot the note an octave above the basic drone. My first overtone is an F. These lower range droots actually span the octave note: the strongest ones are at the octave note as well a note above and a note below. Vocalizations also come across better with these lower range droots. You seem to be able to droot a note an octave above the basic drone on any sort of didge. I tried it on all mine, though it may be difficult to side blow these droots. I front blow them.

Here is a sample sound file that starts with a drone, then a trumpet toot at the first overtone, then come the droots, an octave above the drone and a note above and below this. This sample concludes with alternating drones and droots at the note an octave above the basic drone:



Here's another drooting sound file example. This one droots the tune Mary Had a Little Lamb which is essentially the same tune as Merrily We Roll Along:



This was drooted on my ABS pseudoconical didge in D and recorded using Quartz Studio Free.

Another fun tune to droot is the Ode to Joy theme from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Vocalizations go very well with this one.

Here is a spectrum analysis of the droot and the drone. The top spectrum shows the basic D drone coming in as the large mountain on the left. Below that is the droot which comes in strongly at the D an octave above the drone:

Interesting Sounds: Intooting

Inhale Tooting

Before I learned to circular breathe I used to toot while taking in a breath THROUGH THE MOUTH. It was a desperate alternative. I gave it up after I learned to circular breathe, but it is an interesting technique that I call Intooting.

Here's a little example of some intake toots (and an intake pop). Great way to hyperventilate:  

Here's another example that is fuller in sound and closer to the first overtone:

Both these examples were recorded with Quartz Studio Free using my ABS Pseudoconical Didge in D.

This might explain why sometimes it's hard to detect a player's circular breathing. Maybe they aren't circular breathing at all, but breathing in during a toot!

Intoot Technique: loosen your lips, curve them inward JUST SLIGHTLY around your teeth, exhale deeply and as you inhale draw your lips closer together till you find the sweet spot. Without the didge it sounds a bit like someone rubbing a balloon or a balloon letting some air out. Try to take long, slow breaths in and out so you have plenty of inhalation to experiment with. With practice, you can intoot without deep inhaling. In learning to intoot you will pass through the following stages:

    1. Whimpering Wombat: little or no sound and wandering
         about in the dark.
    2. Sick Elephant: heart rending sick elephant sounds combined 
        with crazed kisses goodbye.
    3. Angry Emu: lots of short uncontrollable emu sounding toots.
    4. Intooters Anonymous: too late to turn back now!  You're      
        making great sounding toots and drones and are totally 
        hooked.

The great thing about intooting is that you do not have to attempt to circular breathe while tooting. You can do a series of toots and catch a breath by making some of them intoots.

Intooting is handy for those times when you've blown yourself into a corner and don't have enough air left to circular breathe. This seems to happen from time to time, especially if you are using the tongue piston method of circular breathing or are bounce breathing from the diaphram.

Since intooting involves taking air in through the mouth, it is not recommended if there is a build up of dust and debris in your didge. Intooting does not require much intake of air. When practicing you should not be straining your lungs!

Here's a fun little example of using intoots to echo drone rhythms:



Here are the spectrums for a toot and an intoot at the first overtone on my D didge: 

I thought that there might be some differences, particularly in the harmonics they pick up, but they are virtually identical.

Here is a sound sample of alternating toots and intoots: