So what is a didjeridu anyway?

Didjeridus are musical instruments most commonly fashioned out of hollow logs. They were originally made by Aboriginal people in a place called Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory, and some adjoining regions in Western Australia.

Traditionally, didjeridus are used by Aboriginal people to accompany the sacred songs and dances performed at important events such as funerals and religious initiation ceremonies. But nowadays they are also used by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike to play all kinds of music in a wide variety of ensembles, and as a solo instrument as well.

It's important to realize though that the didjeridu still plays a significant role in the musical and ceremonial lives of many Aboriginal people. If you are a non-Aboriginal person playing or interested in playing the didjeridu, it is important to approach the instrument with a degree of cultural sensitivity.

To this end, we encourage you to learn more about the Aboriginal roots of this special instrument, and contemporary Aboriginal music and culture in general! Here are some excellent places to start your journey:

Manikay.com Rripangu Yidaki Skinnyfish Music ARDS NIRS

How do you make a didjeridu?

Traditional didjeridus are made by a partnership of humans and insects. Termites in northern Australia hollow out eucalyptus trees, eating only their tasty heartwood, not the bitter sapwood. Then Aboriginal craftsmen search for trees of the right shape that have a good sounding hollow when knocked with a hand or the butt of an axe. After chopping the tree down, removing the bark, and cleaning out the termites, some Aboriginal-made didjeridus are ready to play right there in the bush:


Larry Gurruwiwi hunting for mandapul (didjeridus) in Northeast Arnhem Land
Unfortunately for us, Illinois termites aren't near as smart as their Australian cousins, so here at the Tree Thump Didjeridu Company, we hollow out the instruments ourselves. We use a variety of woodworking processes to make our didjeridus including splitting and hollowing whole logs with carving tools before gluing them back together:



As well as drilling out sections of different logs and joining them at their end grains:


These processes give us a great deal of control over the look and sound of each instrument we make.

How old is the didjeridu?

Many people and many websites make outlandish claims that the didjeridu is as much as 60,000-120,000 years old. But the oldest evidence of the instrument’s existence comes from cave paintings in the area of Australia’s Kakadu national park. These paintings have been dated to about 1,000 years old. Undamaged cave paintings are scarce though, and the instrument may well be much older.


Artistic Redering of a Cave Painting in Western Arnhem Land depicting a spirit being playing didjeridu.
Adapted from A. Moyle: "The Australian Didjeridu: A Late Musical Instrusion," World Archaeology Vol. 12 No. 3, 1981.
The archaeological record aside, many Aboriginal groups regard the instrument as a gift from their great ancestors, given to them in the creation epoch that is commonly called the ‘Dreamtime’ in English. This makes the didjeridu an important part of Aboriginal creation histories, and in this cultural sense it is appropriate to regard the didjeridu as a very old instrument.

How do you play a didjeridu?

At its most basic level, the didjeridu is just a hollow log. There are no keys, reeds, buttons, or slides on a didjeridu. Every sound that it makes starts with the player:

To make the basic sound of the instrument you buzz your lips, just like you would to play a brass instrument, such as a trumpet or trombone. To vary and color this basic drone sound you simply shape your airstream just like you would to whisper different vowel sounds, such as Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, and Uu.

Didjeridu players can also add variety by using tonguing to create rhythms and supply a beat; blowing faster air to create a higher-pitched horn tone; and even using their voices to imitate animal sounds.

How come you never stop to breathe?

The sound of the didjeridu is usually sustained by a technique called circular breathing. Whenever the player needs a breath, they first puff their cheeks out, full of air:



Then they squeeze the air out of their cheeks to sustain the drone while breathing in through the nose:



Of course this is all much easier said than done, but you'll find that once you get the hang of it, all of a sudden it seems easy. It's sort of like riding a bicycle that way. Most people can pick up circular breathing with two weeks to six months of practice.

If you're close by and interested in learning this technique, drop Phil a line. He regularly teaches circular breathing during his lessons and workshops in the Champaign area, using a step-by-step, easy to follow method.

How come you guys don't spell it 'didgeridoo'?

We choose to follow the spelling 'didjeridu,' which is the spelling accepted by AIATSIS and the Australian government, because it follows common orthographies for Aboriginal languages, and thus recognizes the Aboriginal origins of this very special instrument.

That said, the spelling of the word isn't necessarily important, as didjeridu is not a word in any Aboriginal language. It is instead most likely an onomatopoetic word coined by Australia's European settlers in imitation of what the instrument sounded like to them: "did-je-ri-du, did-je-ri-du..."

No offense to you guys, but wouldn't it be better to buy a didj made in Australia?

None taken! If you have your heart set on an instrument made by a well-reputed Aboriginal craftsman, we think that's great! You'll be supporting the cultural continuity of the instrument and helping to bolster struggling economies in indigenous communities. If you choose to go this route, check out our links page, which lists a number of reputable community-owned Aboriginal arts centers in northern Australia, some of which have knowledgable staff that can help you pick the traditionally-made instrument that's right for you.

But beware of the low-quality, tourist market instruments sold all over Australia, and frequently imported to the US and around the world. Many of these instruments aren't even made in Australia, but rather in Southeast Asian factories out of low-quality materials like bamboo and teak. And even so-called "Aboriginal-made" didjeridus are frequently only painted by an Aboriginal person, after being harvested by non-Aboriginal people who clear-cut whole swaths of eucalyptus forest in search of a few suitably hollow trees. A lot of these instruments don't even play, having been poorly made in the first place, and then damaged in shipping. But, without the chance to play and handle a didjeridu, it can be hard to tell a traditional instrument from one produced for the tourist market.


Side-by-side Comparison of a Traditionally-Made Instrument (left) with a Tourist Market Didjeridu (right)
Always remember that you get what you pay for. A quality eucalyptus didjeridu made by a reputable Aboriginal craftsman will be expensive, and rightfully so. These instruments represent the culmination hundreds, if not thousands of years of craftsmanship and didjeridu playhing traditions, and they take quite a lot of work to make.

Also, be aware that Aboriginal people approach making the didjeridu somewhat differently than we do. Since they are surrounded by eucalyptus forest full of nicely-hollowed trees, and they play their instruments in the same climate that they harvest them, Aboriginal craftsmen aren't very concerned about instruments cracking and becoming unplayable. Because in that event they can always go harvest another. Thus, Aboriginal-made instruments require extra care and maintenance to prevent them from cracking, and even then this is not always enough.

At the Tree Thump Didjeridu Company, we feel our instruments are a good option for people on a budget looking for an didjeridu that plays well; for people looking for a more rugged instrument that's not as prone to cracking and damage; for didjeriduists concerned about the sustainability and environmental impact of their instruments; and for people simply looking to buy locally-made and unique musical works of art. We guarantee that each of our didjeridus is fully playable musical instrument and can provide you with the musical key of its drone and horn pitches, as well as sound files of it being played. We also finish each of our instruments in a non-toxic resin that serves to waterproof the didjeridu and help it resist warping and cracking, as well as giving it a beautiful, high-gloss surface.

Our instruments are great for expert players and beginners alike. And we hope that if you start your didjeridu journey with a Tree Thump didjeridu, you will be inspired to follow that path with the eventual purchase of a quality traditional instrument, or even a trip to visit Australia's indigenous communities!

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