yidaki

what a great instrument. most will have heard of it called a didgeridoo (in any of numerous different spellings), but that is just onomatopoeia. yidaki is it's name in the language of it's originators.

it's cool to think that somewhere in the outback, some dude found a hollow log and picked it up and made some cool noises with it. then someone figured out that termites hollow the logs for you. what a wild instrument. if someone today had come up with the idea we'd think he was a quack!

my reason for posting about yidaki today is that you can construct one, or more likely find one in your home. any tube of sufficient length and diameter can make a cool didge-like noise. if you want to 'make' one PVC pipe is an inexpensive medium. a length of pipe around 1.3m long, give-or-take. yidaki sound wild, and there is something distinctly un-modern about playing one. it takes you out of the everyday existence; time just flies by. also, i dare say that the breathing involved must be therapeutic.

so go grab some big long tube-ish thing you have around your home. make rude noises down it with your lips, and birdcalls, catcalls, whatever. go a little on the wild side. forget yourself for a bit...

if you'd like to read more of the history or physics have fun.