Aboriginal Yidaki Didgeridoo

Aboriginal Yidaki & Didgeridoo

The didjeridoo was born in the Northern Territory of Australia.
For the lover of Aboriginal arts and culture it is quite fortunate that the indigenous Aborigines of Northeast Arnhem Land meticulously maintained a long unbroken tradition to the fascinating art of making the 'didgeridoo,' an instrument which the Yolngu artists of Northeast Arnhem Land refer to as the 'yidaki'.

The word didgeridoo (onomatopoetic) is a Balanda* name for the yidaki which was probably how the first westerners interpreted the sound coming from the instrument (di-ta-ri-doo, didgeridoo), and 'didgeridoo' (also spelt didjeridoo, didjeridu) has now become a very common term. In fact, the didgeridoo has become so popular that the didgeridoo is now mass produced by various non-indigenous people both in and outside Australia.

Aboriginal Arts Ltd encourages anyone passionate about Aboriginal art and culture, and who is keen on buying a high quality traditional didgeridoo, mago or yidaki, to seek out a recommended source that values the indigenous Aboriginal artist and sells only authentic traditional instruments.

Cheap imitation didgeridoos and yidakis rob the indigenous craftspeople of their rich Aboriginal heritage and in turn provides you with an inferior instrument. For the beginner who may not wish to commit to buying a yidaki straight away, rather than buying a cheap teak or Indonesian copy (which generally plays quite poorly and could hinder your early didgeridoo progress) you can make your own cheap didgeridoo from a 1m length of drain pipe, 30mm -40mm in diameter and with a beeswax mouthpiece rolled on top giving a mouthpiece apperture of between 28mm - 30mm.

Burnguppurngu Wunungmurra - F#	Burnguppurngu Wunungmurra - F#

Non-traditional Aboriginal Didgeridoo

Frank Thill - E	Eddy Hallet - E

*The word 'Balanda' apparently originates from the language of Macassan seafarers who visited Northern Australia hundreds of years ago and was used by the Macassans to describe the Dutch or 'Hollanders'. It has since been widely adopted by Aborigines to describe non-Aboriginal people.