Started this project over the summer..... I had attended a class at
New Morning called "The Healing Power of the Didgeridoo". Indeed I find the sound of the ancient instrument stimulating and hypnotic. I've always wanted to learn to play it, and when my cousin got one I was green ;) with envy, but could not part with the few hundred dollars it would cost to get my own. What if I could not learn how to play it?! I thought maybe taking the short class would help me make up my mind over whether I should part with the cash and get myself one. Instead, the guy who lead the class offered advice on ways to make your own, cheap! A great solution for those who want to try it out but are not too musically inclined/talented. Not that it takes any hand coordination to play it, you just blow in it! But getting the right vibration with your lips and learning the "circular breathing" method that allows you to play continuously takes practice like anything else.
I started by using my charms and good looks (and if all else fails, the poor desperate airhead act) to acquire a cardboard fabric tube from Joanne Fabrics. Turns out they don't always part with them because they often reuse them, but they were willing to give me 2 (in case I screwed up the first one, i figured). Cost: $0
I took a little hack saw (?) and cut off the crumply end :P
Next I bought a bottle of spray paint... black. Which I figured would help prime and protect the tube from damage, moisture and such. Cost: about $5
Set up a spot outside with some plastic and sprayed away, couple coats including a spray down the hole.
Then, I let it sit in my room for 4 months. :-/ But THEN I went to New Morning again and got some bee's wax to make a mouth piece. It was a bit tricky; you have to take what you eyeball as a good size chunk and submerge it in a pan of hot water, but not too hot or it will melt it entirely and make a mess out of your pan! I tried to "set it and forget it" and walked away, came back and it was ruined, had to cut off another chunk and start over and I was scraping beeswax off my pan and utensils for a week :P You have to put it on low, be patient, stand there and keep checking it. When it is just soft enough to mold you just make a ring shape about the same size as your tube diameter and mold it on. Cost (including my screw up): $10.
At that point you can try playing it and get someone who has a good ear to tune it for you. You tune it by adjusting the length; hack saw time again! I don't have a good ear and Cory doesn't like to do anything he's not sure about so I just picked a length and cut it and felt it sounded perfect and was a good length for my body as well. Then is the fun part, painting it! Wasn't able to get any shots of me doing this, I was finished with it pretty quick, here is the final result.
So there it is, total cost, about $15! Can I play it? NO! But I am working on it. I found didgeridoo lesson podcasts on iTunes, free! All you fellow aboriginal wanna-be's, you have no excuse now, just didgeridoo it!
