There are many simple do it yourself actions you can take to ensure your didgeridoo stays healthy and creates the greatest possible benefit for you and your community. Here are some tips I’ve learned along the way about didgeridoo cleaning, care and maintenance.

1) Storing and transporting your Didge

* Avoid rapid changes in humidity and temperature

Your didgeridoo is a fragile instrument. If your didge is made of plastic or metal, you are somewhat off the hook. But if your didge is made of an organic material such as wood, cactus, or bamboo, you must be especially sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity that can cause the material to swell and shrink. Avoid rapid changes in humidity and temperature (for example, going from a hot and dry apartment to cold and wet winter rain outside or going from a cool, dry, air-conditioned room out into the hot, humid summer).

* Carry your didgeridoo in a case. Cases can be purchased online through Didge Project. Contact us to see our latest selection of didgeridoo cases.

Just remember to make sure that your didgeridoo is completely dry before storing it in the case.

* Protect your beeswax mouthpiece

You can use a plastic bag and a rubber band to cover the mouthpiece to protect from minor bumps and tumbles. If your mouthpiece does become wacked out of shape, you can use a hairdryer to heat up the beeswax until it becomes malleable and you can mold it back into a better shape with your fingers. You can read more about how to make a beeswax mouthpiece here:

http://www.didjshop.com/didgeridoo_care/didgeridoo_mouthpieces.html

2) Didgeridoo Cleaning

One of the best ways to maintain a clean didgeridoo is to make sure to brush and floss your teeth every time before playing. Imagine all the tiny food and beverage particles (sugary drinks are notorious!) that stay in your mouth and throat and could become lodged in your didge. Although this could be a cool science experiment, it is both safer for you, your didge, and the people you play around to keep the inside of the instrument as clean as possible. It’s nice to be in the habit of carrying dental hygiene supplies with you – just ask your dentist his or her opinion of brushing more than twice a day.

That being said, it’s still a good idea to perform didgeridoo cleaning periodically with water. If you’re lucky enough to have a yard or an outdoor hose, just blast it inside for a minute or two and make sure the water runs down the inner walls. If you’re a New Yorker like me, don’t fret, you can do the same things in your shower as shown.

3) Repairing Cracks in Bamboo Didgeridoos

The nature of bamboo is to crack. Sometimes you can have a really nice piece of bamboo that will last for many years without cracks and in other cases it will crack within days. The good news is small cracks in bamboo can be easily repaired with a little wood glue. This works best if the crack doesn’t go all the way through the wall of the didgeridoo.

I like to use gorilla wood glue and have had some minor cracks stay together for years thanks to this handy glue! Just place a little in the crack so it soaks all the way in, wait a few minutes and add a second layer and even a third layer if necessary. Here’s a picture of a small crack I repaired a few years ago that is still going strong:

4) Wood Didgeridoo Maintenance

For this section, I want to translate the wise words of Jean-Yves Redor, expert wood craftsman and maker of the Woodslide didgeridoo. His didgeridoos have a varnished inside and oiled outside. If you’re not sure what kind of coating your didgeridoo has, contact the maker.

“Maintenance of the inside [varnished]:

The inside of the didgeridoo is glazed, therefore relatively resistant to problems. From time to time, clean the inside of tubes by using a stick to push a small cloth moistened in tepid water possibly with the addition of a soft soap.

Maintenance of the outside [oiled]:

Approximately every 3 months, oil the didgeridoo to prevent possible cracking. To do so, soak a cloth with wood oil. Pass the cloth over the wood, then let it dry 10 or 20 minutes. Then remove the surplus of oil with a cloth. Any remaining oil on the outside will not dry but instead will be soaked up by the wood. Your didge should be good to use within a few hours.

A note about what type of Wood Oil to use:

Try to find a wood oil that is safe to come into close contact with your body. Generally oil will be certified for use with toys. There should be several brands available in stores. For example, you can use oil for piece of furniture or the bathroom. Linseed oil will give a fatter darker, more matte depiction. Personally I like to use Scandinavian oil, china wood oil or an oil-wax.”

5) Epoxy didgeridoo maintenance

Often didgeridoos are coated with an epoxy. This can make soft materials such as bamboo, agave, or yucca stronger and more resonant. Obviously, they are still fragile and they should not be stepped on or kept in the sun for prolonged periods of time. I will quote Ben Hicks, master didgeridoo craftsman for a unique tip about caring for his epoxy didgeridoos:

“Rinsing the mouthpiece with water will help prevent the degradation of the epoxy from Saliva. Interestingly, epoxy is impervious to many harsh chemicals and solvents but the enzymes in good old spit will wear it out over time. Typically in 1-3 years you can expect the epoxy on the mouthpiece to start peeling off in layers. When this happens, the finish can be smoothed out with a little fine steel wool, and recoated if desired. If you want to refinish a mouthpiece, get in touch and I’ll fill you in on the details.

I do not know how impervious epoxy is to things like essential oils and their solvents, and recommend against their use for epoxy didges.”

Check out Ben’s awesome didges.

That’s it for now! If you have any questions about your specific didgeridoo repair or maintenance project, contact us and we can help you out.

Keep up the didging!

The first practice for didgeridoo playing, connecting with your breath, will give you a better understanding of the respiratory system and lay a strong foundation for your training. These exercises are designed to connect you to your breath and prepare you for didgeridoo playing. We recommend spending some time learning these breathing techniques before you start practicing the didgeridoo as you will be much better prepared for the physical exertion required.

Start with the following:

Take three deep breaths and notice where in your body the breath is creating movement. Perhaps in your chest, belly or shoulders or elsewhere.

The study of wind instruments shows that breathing immediately into the upper chest does not utilize the full potential of the respiratory system and often results in short, weak breathing. The information contained here is what will allows you to inhale many times longer and play notes on didgeridoo for over one minute on a single breath.

One of the most important techniques in the mastery of wind instruments is diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing or abdominal breathing. This type of breathing generates more powerful airflow, expands the lung capacity and is useful for general relaxation and stress-reduction. Diaphragmatic breathing is performed as follows:

On the inhalation the belly expands, moving forward from the front of the body, and on the exhalation the belly contracts, moving toward the spine.

Try visualizing the belly as a balloon: as you inhale the belly fills with air and as you exhale it deflates.

Anatomy of Breathing

The belly is a great indicator of whether or not you are performing diaphragmatic breathing correctly. To truly master this breath, a more complete understanding of the diaphragm is essential.

First try this:

With both hands, touch the bottom of your sternum (breast-bone) at the center of your rib cage. Now using your fingertips, follow the bottom ribs down and around to your sides. Notice how low your ribs go, just a few inches away from the top of your pelvis (hip bone).

Understanding The Breathing Muscles

The primary muscles used in breathing are the diaphragm, abdominal and intercostal muscles, collectively known as the “breathing muscles.”

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that lines the bottom of the rib cage. When you inhale, the diaphragm contracts, flattening from its parachute-shape downwards. This motion creates a vacuum in the lungs, draws in air and pushes down upon the stomach, intestines and other organs, causing the belly to swell out (seemingly inflating like a balloon).

When you exhale, there is contraction in both the abdominal muscles (the “abs”) and intercostal muscles (which surround the ribs), allowing the diaphragm to relax upward back into its dome shape. In brief, the diaphragm contracts (works) when you inhale and relaxes when you exhale.

The abdominal muscles are the primary force behind exhalation, especially for the strong that needed to play a wind instrument. See if you can feel your abdominal muscles working with the following exercise:

Imagine you are about to blow out a candle. Take a relaxed inhalation that expands your belly and then give an abrupt breath out: whoosh! When you perform this abrupt motion you should be able to feel the abs in action. The sensation of the abs contracting should feel like a tightening sensation in your belly. Repeat this a few times. Note that as you exhale the diaphragm is relaxing.

Now that you have an awareness of the breathing muscles, the following exercise is the best way to practice diaphragmatic breathing:

Put one hand on your chest and one hand over your belly. Take slow relaxed breaths, inhaling and exhaling for as long as you can, visualizing your belly as a balloon. If you are doing the diaphragmatic breath correctly, then your lower hand should feel the belly inflate with each inhale and deflate with each exhale while the upper hand feels the chest and shoulders remain relatively relaxed and neutral. The hands should not push or pull at all. Once you understand the concept of diaphragmatic breathing, this exercise should be practiced for ten minutes a day until you have fully internalized it.

***Use a mirror to make sure your chest and shoulders stay mostly relaxed while your belly expands.

Watch a video demonstration of diaphragmatic breathing exercises:

Expanding Lung Capacity

Wind instrumentalists who have developed their lung capacity can play a note over a minute in length on a single breath. What follows is the technique that will get you to exhale much longer than you may have thought yourself capable. In addition to playing longer notes, expanding your lung capacity will make learning the didgeridoo much easier.

The primary technique used to expand lung capacity is:

Inhale as slow as you can until your lungs are completely full. Once full, hold for a second and then breathe out as slow as you can until your lungs are completely empty. Hold your lungs empty for a second and then repeat by starting your next inhalation.

To properly perform this lung expanding exercise it is important to slow down the rate of airflow. Your goal here is to make each breath last longer than the previous one.

To optimize the efficacy of this practice, it is important to simulate the back-pressure (resistance) of a wind instrument by constricting the opening through which the air flows out the mouth. This resistance will make each breath last even longer. There are two ways to practice this: through pursed lips (leaving only a very small mouth opening) or through a straw.

The key to this exercise is to make each inhale and exhale as long and slow as possible and go beyond where you think you are full or empty. If you correctly practice this for 10 to 15 minutes per day you will find that your lung capacity is much greater than when you started.

***Please be sensitive to your natural limits. If inhaling to maximum capacity or exhaling to maximum emptying of the lungs causes pain, please stop this exercises. Discomfort is natural when you are challenging yourself but pain is not. Do not put yourself into a painful situation.

Ready for a more in-depth video tutorial? Sign up to receive a FREE video class on Expanding Lung Capacity: