Hicks Sticks, Choosing a Didgeridoo

Playing and sound characteristics (considerations in choosing a didgeridoo that is right for you)

Didgeridoos are fascinating instruments. Any didge that is made by hand and not a direct reproduction of another instrument will be unique, and at least subtlely unlike any other didgeridoo. There are a bewildering number of adjectives and descriptors to describe how a didge plays or sounds, and these terms are subjective and used differently by different players and makers.

Some didgeridoos are very specialized, and strong in certain attributes, but my personal favorites are very versatile and have a great balance of many characteristics. I sometimes make more specialized types of didges, but generally strive for ease of play, great livliness, great versatility and balance.

In traditional instruments, I look for excellent individual playing and sound qualities. Some traditional instruments are selected strictly for traditional style attributes, and often do not respond well to modern playing styles. Other instruments are chosen for versatility and attributes for playing contemporary styles while retaining the Arnhem Land sound character.

This section discusses the following attributes to consider in selecting a didgeridoo:

-pitch
-sound characteristics
-playing characteristics
-trade offs
-playing style
-cultural authenticity

Pitch: The normal range of pitch for didgeridoos is a little more than an octave, from low F sharp to high A. Most people who play slowly and meditatively like to play lower keys, and the most popular are usually from about B to D. Players who like the versatility to play rhytmically and fast tend to prefer mid keys from D to F, and players who like a lot of power and volume sometimes go for higher keys from F sharp to A. There are didges that are even lower and higher in pitch, but they are very specialized, not at all versatile, and often difficult to play.

My rough categorization of didgeridoo pitch:

Ridiculously low, unplayable by most, even by very skilled players... low F sharp (#) and below
Extremely low... low F#, G, A flat
Very low... A, B flat, B
Low... C to C#,
Medium low... C# to D,
Medium... E flat, E
Medium high... F to F#
High... F#, G
Extremely high... G#, A and above

Sound characteristics: The following sound attributes occur in varying amounts in different didgeridoos.

-Loudness or volume
-Deep resonance
-Penetrating power
-Clarity
-Brightness
-Articulation
-Dynamic range
-Harmonics
-Vocal response
-Overall balance
-Overall character: (smooth, powerful, brash, explosive, gritty, growly, etc)

A note about "resonance": Technically, "resonant" means that certain frequencies are reinforced and more pronounced. A resonant frequency could be anywhere in the frequency range, so it is a different thing to say "resonant" compared to "deeply resonant" which essentially means deep bass response. This kind of resonance makes your body vibrate, and in lower keys can shake the room. A didgeridoo with powerful midrange is resonant at the midrange frequencies, but not necessarily deep or house shaking.

Playing characteristics:

Backpressure: This is the feeling of pressure pushing back as you play a didgeridoo. Backpressure is created by vibration that comes from resonances in the sound wave, that gives the feeling of resrictive airflow in the tube. The didgeridoo's sound comes from vibration, not from blowing a lot of air. Higher backpressure makes it easier to get a drone, and to circular breathe. Lower backpressure didges take more air to play, and tend to "blow out" (lose the drone) easily. If backpressure gets very high, it interferes with vocal sounds, and even restricts fast rhythmic playing, especially for diaphragmatic playing. I prefer easy or solid backpressure that makes a didge easy to play and gives it good livliness without becoming restrictive.

Liveliness: This is a feeling of the stick being alive. Some didges feel flat and lifeless, some feel a bit blunt to rhythmic playing. This can be good for certain styles and players, especially using traditional playing techniques. A stick that has good natural liveliness is very easy to play rhythmically and fast with a live and bouncy feel.

Sensitivity to pressure: A stick with this kind of sensitivity takes very little effort to play.It can be played softly with little pressure, and will have great rhythmic punch or pop with subtle changes in playing pressure.

Rhythmic punch: Related to backpressure, livliness and sensitivity. This is dynamic response to pressure changes in rhythmic playing. When the stick has punch or "pop", a well articulated rhythmic beat with the tongue or diaphragm produces a pronounced dynamic stacatto beat. In rhythmic phrasing, this creates a very punchy and percussive quality to the feel and sound of the didge. This kind of accent can be heard as a "pop", or "thump" depending on the particular stick, with a thump being a deep bass accent and a pop having less bass response.

Dynamics: In music terminology "dynamics" refers to changes in loudness. A very dynamic instrument is one that can easily be played in a wide range of volume levels from very quiet to very loud. With didges, low backpressure didges typically have a maximum threshold in terms of playing pressure which limits their dynamics. Soild backpressure didges can often be pushed harder to get louder, and have a wider dynamic range. (Note: often with more playing pressure a didge plays a bit sharper (higher in pitch), so this pitch change can also be useful in conjunction with dynamics.)

Articulation: There are a couple types of articulation, one is a clear response to words or vocals, the other is sharp, clear and accurate response to percussive techniques mainly from the tongue, and also from the diaphragm. Not quite the same as rhythmic punch, a stick can have punchiness with or without a sharp articulate response.

Multiple toots and ease of transition to toots: Didgeridoos can have a multitude of toot intervals which depend on the taper and inner bore shape. Didges close to a cylinder in shape tend to have the first toot on the fourth or fifth plus an octave above the fundamental. As an example, for a didge in the key of C, this toot would be on F, F sharp or G. Usually with these intervals, it is more difficult to transition from drone to toot than tapered didges with a lower toot interval. Didges with a tapered bore that widens towards the bell have intervals where the toot is relatively lower in pitch. An example would be a key of C didge with a toot on D. More extreme tapers will bring the toot down to an octave or even below. As the toot interval gets lower, generally it becomes easier to transition to the first toot, but this also depends on the mouthpiece size and shape, and some other details in the bore. Some didges toot very easily and have four, five, or more possible toots.

Responsiveness: This is an ambiguous term that can refer to frequency response, vocal response, rhythmic response, livliness, etc. Deep response means it is resonant at deep frequencies. Vocally responsive can mean an open and clear voice, that barks and hoots come out very loud like through a megaphone, or that vocals interact with the drone to cause coarse growling sounds. Rhythmic responsiveness ususally refers to the feeling of liveliness or bounce that responds to bounced breaths and/or rapid tounging. Some didges respond better for different individuals. Some are better suited for strong diaphragmatic players, some better for strong tongue technique, and some better for highlighting subtle mouth shape changes and harmonics.

Trade offs:

There are always trade offs. No single didgeridoo will excel in all categories. A few examples:

-A didge with sheer raw power will not have finesse and smoothness,
-A didge with very deep boomy reponse will lose accurate rhythmic articulation and punchiness.
-A didge with really open clear vocals will have lower backpressure, be harder to toot, and have relatively less dynamic range.
-A didge with very high backpressure will be extremely easy to get a drone, and can be pushed very hard creating an explosive roar, but will suffer in vocal response and even become restricting rhythmically.
-A didge with low backpressure can not be pushed as dynamically
-A didge with great clarity in the drone will not produce traditional coarseness or growl.
-A didge that is very sensitive will work well for a subtle player, but not so well for a very strong aggressive player, and vice versa�a didge that requires a lot of playing pressure will be difficult for a subtle player.

Playing style:

All of these attributes relate to the player's style, skill and experience. In looking for a didgeridoo it is good to consider your own playing style:

-Is it subtle, focusing on mouth shaped sounds and harmonics?
-Is it powerful, brash or loud?
-Do you play fast rhythms or more meditatively?
-If you are a rhythmic player where do the rhythms and accents primarily come from, your breathing? mouth shape? diaphragm/bounced breath? tongue? throat? somewhere else?
-Do you like to push with the diaphragm for more dynamic range and growl or do you tend to play smoothly and evenly at one level?
-Do you like a good physical workout when playing or prefer a didge that requires very little energy to play?
-What kind of vocals do you like to do? Singing? Loud barks, hoots and animal calls? Do you want coarse growling sounds, nicely harmonizing sounds or clear vocal sounds?

Cultural Authenticity:

The most culturally authentic instruments come from the aboriginal people who have had didgeridoo as in intrinsic part of their culture prior to the arrival of European invaders in Australia, and who have ancestral entitlement to the instruments. For more about origins please read here.

Next are instruments made entirely by aboriginal people without this unbroken ancestral connection to didgeridoo who have adopted its use more recently

Next are Australian eucalyptus instruments made by non aboriginal people and painted by aboriginal people.

Next are Australian eucalyptus instruments made by non-aboriginals.

No other didgeridoos have claim to any kind of Aboriginal or Australian authenticity.

There is a great problem with fakes, as many didges that are sold throughout the world as authentic aboriginal or Australian are not. Also many of these instruments are made to look like authentic instruments with plagiarized art styles.

My personal ethics regarding this are that I want the traditional owners to be recognized, respected and supported for their traditional ownership of didgeridoo. As such I hope that anyone and everyone interested in didgeridoo ends up buying authentic instruments from these aboriginal craftspeople, and learns to identify and avoid the counterfeits and cheap tourist junk didges commonly available throughout the world.

Otherwise, I feel that there is a place for all different styles and types of didgeridoos as long as they are not represented as something they are not. In my own case, the instruments I make are not authentic anything but my own creations.