didgeridoo soundsI know you’re asking, ‘how does a didgeridoo breathing post end up on a Home and Garden DIY blog?’ Well, because I’m in the process of finding ten things you can make with PVC for a summer of fun. The “didg” is one of them.
I love the aboriginal drone of the Australian didgeridoo instrument–that long, twisted, termite-eaten, tree branch pipe that you hear in Australian movies. The first time I heard this instrument on the radio, I thought the sound was made by a complicated manipulation of giant rubber bands. I was delighted to find out that the didgeridoo is one of the simplest instruments to make (you can make a didgeridoo with a 4-foot length PVC pipe and a bit of bee’s wax), and fairly easy to play. The difficult technique of “circular breathing” is not as difficult as people make it out to be. I think I figured out the trick the day after my first and only lesson on the instrument.
First off, don’t let anyone tell you that circular breathing is actually circular breathing. It’s not. The trick to making a constant sound on the didgeridoo is to fill your cheeks with air right toward the end of your breath, then spit it slowly into the instrument while taking a new, quick breath.
The video below is my best attempt to show how this is done. If you can spit air, you can do circular breathing. Watch and learn.

P.S. You can also find info about this instrument by searching the alternate spellings: didjeridu, didjeridoo, digeridoo, digerido

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