Ready for a Better Didgeridoo? What Advancing Players Look For

There comes a point in learning the didgeridoo when you know what you want from an instrument. Your drone is steady, circular breathing is coming together, and you have started hearing the difference between one didgeridoo and another. In this final video of the Didgeridoo Buyers Guide, Benny from Didgeridoo Breath talks about buying for the advanced player, someone who knows exactly what they are after.

The characteristics to look at

Benny lists the details that matter when you are choosing a high-end didgeridoo. As a player, it helps to think about how each one connects to your own technique:

• Bell size: a wider bell tends to give a bigger, more resonant sound, while a narrower tube sounds tighter.
• Mouthpiece size and type: this affects how your lips seal and vibrate. If you have settled into a style, a mouthpiece that suits it makes a real difference.
• The note: the key of the instrument, which matters more as you play with others or develop favourite rhythms.
• Toots: the higher, horn-like notes you get by tightening the lips and blowing harder. Some instruments respond to them far more readily than others.
• Overtones: the higher tones you shape with your mouth and tongue over the drone. A responsive instrument rewards that work.
• Wood and maker: details that become more interesting as your ear develops.

Know your own playing first

Before you shop for a better instrument, take stock of how you play. Do you lean on rhythmic patterns, vocalisations, toots or long overtone sweeps? Do you prefer a deep, booming voice or a tighter, quicker response? The clearer you are about that, the easier it is to read a listing and know whether an instrument will suit you.

Judging an instrument you cannot play

Not everyone can visit a shop and spend an afternoon trying every didgeridoo. Benny describes how detailed listings help with that: a video of someone playing and talking about that particular instrument, and photos you can turn all the way around to spot any hidden kinks or crevices. When you watch a demonstration, listen for the things you care about. How quickly does it respond? How clear are the toots? How easily do the overtones come through?

Talk to people who play

Benny's other advice is simple: if all that is not enough, pick up the phone and talk to the people selling it. Players who handle these instruments every day can tell you things a description cannot, and asking good questions is part of buying well at this level.

Keep building your skills

A better instrument opens up more of what you can do, but the player still makes the sound. If you want to strengthen the foundations under your advanced techniques, or you are helping a friend start out, our beginner didgeridoo lessons cover the drone, breathing and rhythm from the ground up.