The Didgeridoo workshop

Young people take part in a Didgeridoo workshop facilitated by resident music leader, Alex Hampson. Here's a summary of their experience.

After learning about the Didgeridoo and an introduction to aboriginal Australia the group tried to make a sound. After a performance with drum, shaker and Didgeridoo played at the same time the group were clearly amazed at the sound and rhythm, animal calls coming from this hollowed out stick. They learnt that is was created by the aboriginal people, hollowed out by termites, used in various ceremonies to celebrate the land, animals and plants and was a tool to give thanks and celebrate the connection with life.  They learnt that it is anywhere between 40,000 and 100,000 years old. Possibly the oldest instrument on earth. This one is painted with a stunning picture of a perentie lizard in traditional red and yellow ochre’s, black lines and white dots.

The groups learn about how to make the first sounds by buzzing their lips. The laughter begins. And focusing back in the group push their didhgeridoos to their mouths to create a complte seal and then blowing not too hard down the tube they hadd bgiven. We looked at how didgeridoos can be made out of many different material and plants. There are fifteen or so to look out each with beautiful designs of animals plants symbols. Some are made from Eucalyptus, bamboo, sugar cane, plastic and even cardboard tubes that make a good sound.

The group plays their didgeridoo and is having a good laugh at some of the sounds and the inability to make a sound because of the sidesplitting laughter. “I really needed this. I felt this workshop was really healing for me, I have not laughed like that in ages”. Others were so pleased at the sound they were able to make and all made a good fundamental note.

So on to some more technical sounds. Moving the tongue, lips, blowing harder and softer, pushing the cheeks out, humming, calling or simply stopping and starting crated some incredible sounds and the young people practice their playing attempting to find a new sound while the drum and didgeridoo are played by Alex. We go around the group to listen and learn from each other’s playing and are all encouraged to listen carefully and work out how ach person is making new sounds. We have been practicing truly listening in the woods and how this transposes into our lives and learn that this really helps in playing music with other.

"This was a really good session, everyone is pleased that they can play this new instrument and have had a lot of fun."

"I am really pleased and can’t wait to show my Dad. I tried to learn when I was a kid and I wasn’t able to do it and now I can”  

We finished with an improvised jam with natural and other world percussion instruments and can’t believe what happens. We create this fantastic piece of live music that starts with tapping and rattling and builds with now steady beat from the drum and then the didgeridoo, new instruments appearing all the time, a Tibetan symbol, a clay bird whistle that s filled with water to make a bubbling sound, a piece of hollows bamboo much thinner and shorter than the didgeridoo that is held at one end and spun around making different notes as the air passes over the hole.

We recorded another version of the jam all saying it could never be as good as the original, only to find it is even better! The group is visibly excited and pleased with what they have achieved.