Buying an Advanced Didgeridoo: The Characteristics That Matter

A first didgeridoo is usually chosen by look and by ear. An instrument for an experienced player is chosen with much more detail in mind. In this video, the last in the Didgeridoo Buyers Guide series, Benny from Didgeridoo Breath explains what an advanced player looks for and how they can assess an instrument when they cannot play it in person.

Who counts as an advanced player?

In the video, an advanced player is simply someone who knows exactly what they want. They have played long enough to hear the differences between instruments and to have preferences about how a didgeridoo should sound and respond.

The characteristics experienced players compare

Benny lists the details that are usually given for a high-end instrument:

• Bell end size: the width of the far end, which strongly influences resonance.
• Mouthpiece size and type: how the playing end is shaped and finished.
• Type of wood: the eucalyptus species the instrument was made from.
• The artist: the maker of the instrument.
• The note: the key the didgeridoo plays in.
• Toots: the higher, trumpet-like notes a player can produce by blowing harder with tighter lips.
• Overtones: the additional tones above the drone that a player shapes with the mouth.

No single feature makes an instrument good or bad. Players weigh them against their own style, and two experienced players can reach quite different conclusions about the same didgeridoo.

Assessing an instrument from a distance

Ideally a player would try many instruments in person, but that is not always possible. The video describes the tools that help close the gap:

• A video of that particular instrument being played and discussed, so the buyer can hear how it actually sounds and responds.
• A 360 degree rotating photo, which lets the buyer look all the way around the instrument for any hidden kinks or crevices.
• A conversation with the seller, for questions a description cannot answer.

Because each didgeridoo is made from a naturally hollowed tree, it is a one-off. That is why recordings and images of the specific instrument, rather than a similar one, are so valuable.

How this differs from buying a first didgeridoo

For a beginner, the advice elsewhere in the series is to focus on comfort, sound and the right note, without worrying much about details such as timber. An advanced buyer turns that around. The fine details are exactly what they are comparing, because they already know how each one affects their playing. Toots and overtones, for example, depend on both the instrument and the technique of the player, so only someone who has developed those techniques can judge how well a particular instrument supports them.

Learning more

The Didgeridoo Buyers Guide series, including earlier videos on the bell end, length, mouthpiece and key, is available from Didgeridoo Dojo, which also teaches didgeridoo playing online.