How the Bell End Changes the Sound You Hear While Learning

If you have ever played two didgeridoos in the same key and wondered why one feels tight and the other seems to fill the room, the answer is often at the far end. In this short video from the Didgeridoo Buyers Guide, Benny from Didgeridoo Breath compares two instruments made by the same artist and tuned to the same note. The difference between them is the bell end, and you can hear it clearly.

Tight versus booming

The first instrument is roughly the same width all the way along. Benny describes its sound as really tight. The second came from a completely different tree and opens out into a wide bell. Its sound is big and cavernous, a real wall shaker, as he puts it. Same key, same maker, very different character. The bell end is where the resonance lives.

What this means when you practise

For a learner, this is a reminder that the key of a didgeridoo is only part of its voice. The shape of the bell changes how much the sound blooms after it leaves the instrument, and that changes what you hear while you play. A few practical points follow from it:

• Listen from the far end, not just through your own head. Point the bell at a hard wall or into an open corner and the sound returns to you, so you can hear what the instrument is really doing.
• If you can, record yourself with the phone a little way in front of the bell. It is often a surprise how different the playback is from what you hear while playing.
• Do not judge your progress by comparing your sound on a narrow instrument with someone else's on a wide one. The tube is part of the result.
• If you get to try different instruments, play the same simple drone on each and notice how the tone changes. That kind of listening trains your ear quickly.

Which bell suits you

There is no right answer here. A tighter sound has its own appeal, and plenty of players enjoy it. If the sound you are after is deep and booming, Benny's advice is to aim for an instrument with a big bell end. Whichever you play, the techniques you learn are the same: a relaxed lip vibration, a steady drone and, later on, circular breathing.

Listen before you decide

Benny's closing tip is to listen to sound samples with your speakers turned up so you get a real feel for an instrument. Laptop and phone speakers struggle with low frequencies, so headphones or decent speakers will tell you far more about the resonance of a wide bell.

Keep learning

Whatever shape your didgeridoo is, the foundations come first. If you are just starting out, our beginner didgeridoo lessons take you from your first drone onwards, step by step, so you can get the best out of whichever instrument you own.