Energy chimes are highly resonant instruments comprised of aluminum bars strung over wooden blocks. Emitting high frequencies rich in harmonics, energy chimes can fit in with many different instruments as they pierce through other sounds, often being heard clearly even when a lot of other instruments are being played. Energy chimes have become a staple instrument in our sound baths with Dream Seed as they seem to be handy instruments for transitioning from one array of instruments to another. They are a great opening instrument to play when coming out of complete silence, as they are so pleasant on the ears. They are amazing to hold in the hand and walk around the room with, allowing us to easily wave these beautiful frequencies towards each individual participant.
Energy Chimes can be used in a number of ways for healing work:
They can be played in harmony with other instruments such as crystal bowls, shruti boxes, didgeridoos, handpans and other instruments that establish a sonic environment.
You can hold one in one hand and the mallet in the other, tap the bar with the mallet and wave it around the recipient.
You can hold 2 to 4 chimes in one hand and play them while waving them around a person.
You can put one chime on each side of a supine person’s head and tap the chimes lightly to create a stereo effect
You can put them on top of a supine person’s energy centers associated with the chakras and play them (see photo below)
Demonstration of using energy chimes on the chakras, or energy centers, of a recipient.
Ultimately there are no rules about how to play energy chimes correctly, however it is good to be mindful to not strike them too hard near a person’s ear. This can create stark swells of sound that could be painful to the ear drum. Master energy chime maker and healer Elvina Munir recommends to let the mallet simply drop onto the aluminum bar and not to forcibly hit it, especially when in close proximity to a person.
We guarantee you’ve never heard energy chimes that have such resonant long-sustaining vibrato as the Elfen Harmonics energy chimes. The set featured in this video, the Elfen Chakra Chimes, is built in the C Major scale (plus a low A) and tuned in the A = 432 hz tuning system. See our video on doing healing work with energy chimes:
For more info on energy chimes, be sure to watch our video above and check out the Elfen Chakra Chimes now available in the Didge Project store.
In this school performance at Cornwall Elementary School in Pennsylvania, AJ taught about how traditional didgeridoos are eucalyptus trunks hollowed out by termites and he taught the students how to make many of the basic didgeridoo sounds by buzzing the lips, squeezing the cheeks, moving the tongue, using the voice, and pumping the abs. He got the kids singing the twangy “wee-you” sounds which characterize the overtones of the didgeridoo drone and, of course, he gave them lots to dance about.
The same day at Cornwall Elementary, AJ conducted four Make and Play Didgeridoo Workshops for 100 5th graders who all took home their own didgeridoos to keep!
Here’s a shorter edit of “The Outback Dance”:
Dance along with the sounds of the didgeridoo in the “Outback Dance”
Here are the moves (watch the beginning of the video for a demonstration of each):
Hop like a kangaroo
Flap your wings like a kookaburra
Howl like a dingo
Get down low
Traditional aboriginal didgeridoo playing is inspired by the sounds of the bush. Here the didgeridoo imitates the sounds of the kookaburra and the dingo and plays a rhythm for the “hop” of the kangaroo. AJ Block learned these sounds from aboriginal didgeridoo artist Lewis Burns and put together the Outback Dance as a way to teach about Australia in his didgeridoo performances for kids.
Special thanks to our stage assistants Freedom and Cedar Flowers and our camera operator Chad Mummert. Extra special thanks to the Cornwall PTO for bringing us to Cornwall Elementary School!
*Book AJ Block to come to your school or community: info@didgeproject.com // 347-871-3866
The Mamaquena is the “mother of all flutes” according to the La Rosa family, a large version of one of the most popular Andean flutes, the quena. The quena is characterized by it’s slit-like mouthpiece, usually carved into the wooden body, that splits the airstream and created the sound generating vibration. The mamaquena has particular been used by Tito La Rosa and other exponents of the andean sound school to create a deep, warm and rich tone that is extremely responsive to the breath of the player. The quena sound is also characterized by harmonic jumps, which can be manipulated with the intensity of the breath.
Watch our video demo of the Mamaquena:
These mamaquena flutes are available in two keys: A Minor Pentatonic and B Minor Pentatonic. These are 5-fingerhole flutes on which it is quite easy to play up and down the scale. The A Minor flute is overall larger and plays lower tones. The B Minor flute is smaller and easier for beginners to play.
Scale: A Minor Pentatonic
Notes: A C D E G A
Scale B Minor Pentatonic
Notes: B D E F# A B
This photo shows a size comparison of the A Minor (larger) and B Minor (smaller) mamaquena flutes:
Additional information
Weight
3 lbs
Dimensions
32 × 4 × 4 in
Model
A Minor Pentatonic, B Minor Pentatonic
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Check out some amazing new didgeridoos that have landed in our store and can be yours! Each one is a unique one-of-a-kind instrument that is available on a first come first come basis. Get the didgeridoos in this video in our online store or come up to our store in the Catskills in Upstate New York to pick one up in person.
Most of the aboriginal didges shown here are made from termite hollowed eucalyptus wood and most are quite substantial in weight (average of 10-15 lbs.). The non-aboriginal hardwood didgeridoos are predominantly from US makers, most notably two of the finest didgeridoo craftsman in the US: Chad Butler and Ben Hicks.
Circular breathing is a wind instrument technique that allows the player to sustain a tone for an extended period of time. This is accomplished by storing air in the mouth (inflating the cheeks) and using this reservoir of air to inhale through the nose while air is still coming out the mouth. People always ask me if it is difficult to do circular breathing on didgeridoo and I usually reply that it is just a slight variation on normal breathing.
Circular breathing is key to didgeridoo playing because it allows for the continuous drone to remain unbroken, forming a strong foundation for the complete sound. Learning to circular breathe is like going to the gym in that you are working to develop muscle tone, flexibility and control. While it may seem challenging, practice of the following exercises you will give you an understanding of how the mechanics work and how to successfully master the art. Some people find it easier to learn circular breathing by playing the didgeridoo but you do not need an instrument to practice these exercises.
Fill your cheeks with air so they are puffed out and hold your lips tight so no air escapes. Inhale and exhale naturally through the nose, keeping the cheeks filled with air the whole time. Inhale slowly. Exhale slowly. This first step serves to establish independence between your breath and the air in stored in your mouth reservoir.
Spit water
Fill your mouth with water so that your cheeks are bulging out. Gently squeeze your cheeks and bring your jaw up as if biting so the water streams out. Maintaining a constant stream, inhale and exhale naturally through your nose. Your goal is to have an uninterrupted flow of water coming out of your mouth as you breathe. This exercise can be practiced each time you step into the shower.
Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth with inflated cheeks
Start with your cheeks inflated and mouth closed. Inhale through the nose, keeping your lips sealed and your cheeks inflated. Then exhale through your mouth, keeping your cheeks just as full. On your next inhale, seal your lips again. Continue with this cycle maintaining inflated cheeks throughout.
Inhale through the nose while squeezing air out of your mouth
This is the first stage in what will become a full breath cycle. Start with your cheeks inflated. At the same moment you begin to inhale through the nose, squeeze the air out of your mouth by bringing your jaw up and tightening your cheek muscles. You should strive for a strong but quiet inhale through the nose. With some practice you should be able to synchronize the flow of air coming in your nose and the flow of air going out your mouth. Practice this until you get good at it.
Add the “HA”
Start with exercise 4. After you simultaneously inhale through the nose and squeeze air out your mouth, make a strong exhale from the lungs by saying “HA”. This out-breath should come from deep in your core so be sure that your diaphram is engaged and abdominal muscles are tightening to push the air out. This exhale should also push air back into your cheeks.
Find the rhythm
Once you have combined steps 4 and 5, repeat them over and over again until you start to feel the groove. Make the repetition as musical as you can. The goal is to get air constantly coming out of your mouth with no gap between the inhale and exhale. With practice you will be able to blend the air flow from the two sources (mouth and lungs) into one rhythmic cycle, the circular breath.
After you have mastered step 6 and completed the cycle, you’ve done it! It is time to pick up a didge and put your new circular breathing skills in action.
Ready for further training on circular breathing? Want to see how to put all the pieces together? Sign up below for a free video class on circular breathing exercises you can try at home.
In this video we look at the difference between what are often regarded as the two top quality handpan materials: stainless steel and nitrided steel. Stainless steel often renders a gold or copper finish and a bright, rich sound. Nitrided steel, which is probably the most widely used, often renders a gray or blueish hue and the tone is usually seen as a bit darker and moodier. The steel tongue drum was added to the mix in this comparison to give context to the range of instrument styles and pricing. Enjoy the comparison!
Stainless Steel Handpans, Nitrided Steel Handpans, Raw Steel Handpans and Steel Tongue Drums for sale in our store:
Play it standing or sitting, free your hands to play other instruments, mount it on stage, or bring it to a drum circle: anywhere you bring the professional handsfree didgeridoo stand by Meinl you will experience a sense of ease with your didgeridoo setup.
In this rhythm tutorial we show you everything you need to level up your rhythm by learning syncopated rhythms known as claves. What is a clave? A clave is a short rhythmic pattern which get repeated and lends itself to many other rhythmic variations.
This video is from It’s All About Rhythm, a course for musicians at any level. It is the best rhythm tutorial you can take if you are struggling to keep the beat or play with other musicians. Check it out at didgeproject.com/rhythm.
Rhythms featured in this video:
The Carribbean Clave, found throughout the Caribbean, Africa and Latin America
The Son Clave, also known as the “salsa” clave
The African 6/8 clave, found in African music, funk music, and others
Why learn from a rhythm tutorial video?
No matter what instrument you play, or even if you are a vocalist, learning clave patterns will help you bring your music to the next level. By practicing these relatively simple patterns, you will gain a better rhythmic feel and improve your sense of musical timing.
A clave is a short rhythm that actually tells you how a whole rhythm structure moves. Often times, when you hear rhythm, you hear it as moving but you don’t quite know how it moves. The clave tells you how it moves.
Again, if you are looking for a great rhythm tutorial, It’s All About Rhythm is a wonderful study tool that can help you take your playing to a higher level. Check it out at:
This is the first article in a 2-part series on The Didgeridoo Players You Should Know. Click here for Part II.
This list of didgeridoo players is by no means complete but it is an overview of those who have most influenced me and the Didge Project community. Every person on this list has done a great deal to spread the awareness of the didgeridoo and Didge Project would not be what it is without their contributions.
Without further ado we present Didgeridoo Players You Should Know:
Djalu Gurruwiwi
Custodian of the yirdaki (didgeridoo) amongst the Yolngu people of Northern Australia, Djalu Gurruwiwi is perhaps the best known elder of the didgeridoo world. Djalu and his family are greatly responsible for bridging aboriginal culture with the western world. As didgeridoo maker for the first internationally touring aboriginal band, Yothu-Yindi, interest in Djalu’s instruments grew. With the rise of internet communications, it became well known amongst didgeridoo players that a Djalu-made instrument is one of the finest instruments you can get.
A one-man didgeridoo orchestra is perhaps the best way of describing the extraordinary music of Ondrej Smeykal. His highly original style of playing is the result of a life completely devoted to his instrument. For well over two decades and with ever increasing intensity, Ondrej has been developing and redefining his own unique approach to the didgeridoo. Each composition, or song, as he refers to it, is very different in style, ranging from break-beat and organic Didgeridoo techno, to trance, ambient and anything in between.
In the last years Ondrej has shared and taught his contemporary Didgeridoo style and philosophy at festivals all around the world. His tours have brought him regularly out of his homeland of Prague in the Czech Republic to Japan, Australia, Canada, USA, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Ukraine. Ondrej is known to experiment with materials to make didgeridoos with. He has been noted for his use of glass and metal instruments and has developed a series of crystal didgeridoos, which he created together with traditional Czech glass masters.
Australian born Ganga Giri followed a childhood dream of being one of the top didgeridoo players and now tours the world performing as the leader of his own band. Ganga creates a modern sound by mixing indigenous Australian music with funky rhythms and dance beats. Deeply inspired by the sacredness of Australia’s land and how that feeling can be expressed through the didgeridoo, he has become an ambassador for his country, offering a reflection of contemporary multicultural Australia to a world-wide audience.
David Hudson’s life reflects his love and belief in Aboriginal culture and he is widely known as the Cultural Journeyman of Australia. David comes from the Ewamin (oo-rah-min)/Western Yalangi (people of the north east coast of Australia) and has made a career as a didgeridoo player and performing artist. David has traveled extensively throughout Australia and the World, including Europe, Asia, Oceania and the USA as both a solo artist and with world renowned dance troupe, “Tjapukai”, which he co-founded with Greek composer Yanni. He promotes awareness of Aboriginal culture and tradition wherever he travels. This video shows David Hudson in many of his public appearances over a long career in the arts:
Mark Atkins is an Australian Aboriginal musician known for his skill on the didgeridoo and is also a storyteller, songwriter, composer and painter. He descends from the Yamatji people of Western Australia. He has worked with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Hothouse Flowers, Philip Glass, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. In 2001 he collaborated with Wurundjeri elder Joy Murphy Wandin and composer Philip Glass in the concert work Voices, performed at the Melbourne Town Hall and New York’s Lincoln Center. The composition was commissioned by the City of Melbourne to relaunch the Melbourne Town Hall Organ. This video exemplifies Mark’s storytelling, composition and didgeridoo talents:
One of Australia’s most prolific touring artists, Xavier Rudd has built a worldwide following by combining the didgeridoo with his expert guitar and percussion work in a full band setting. Equally talented as a singer and songwriter, Xavier has a number of popular songs in Australia and Canada and he is actively building a catalog of recordings, music videos and festival appearances. Check out his one-man-band action in this spectacular performance (around the 3 minute mark):
A man of many talents, William Thoren is a didgeridoo performer and craftsman best known for inventing the Multi Drone didgeridoo and pioneering it’s playing technique. This new breed of didgeridoo makes it possible to play an expanded dynamic range and opens up a new world of possibility for didgeridoo players to collaborate with western instruments. William runs wetdidgeridoo.com which includes instructional videos and information about the Multi Drone technique and other advanced contemporary didgeridoo techniques. He tours extensively teaching workshops on didgeridoo and performing both as a solo artist and with the band Gorangutang. William is also a prolific photographer and traveled extensively to develop his “Didgeridoo World” photo gallery at http://www.williamthoren.com/.
This video explains the Multi Drone technique and shows the instrument in action
A self-proclaimed busker who has a prolific video catalog of performances around the world, Japan’s Shibaten has redefined what it means to be a traveling minstrel. Shibaten has been seen playing djembe, guitar, gongs, bells and many other world instruments simultaneously with the didgeridoo, during his live performances. His music ranges from deep meditative sound baths to high-energy get-the-crowd-dancing music. Watch and see what he’s like when he really gets going:
French artist Zalem is one of my favorite didgeridoo players because he is equally talented at playing fast complex rhythms, beat-boxing and playing other unique styles. Zalem began to play the didgeridoo in 2001 and first started with a wobble-based style of playing and progressively developed his own style with his rock and electro-rock influences. He has been a part of many successful collaborations including the band JMPZ (rock/electro/tribal), Wadhom (hang drum, violin and dance), Tribal Dance (acoustic trance from Israel), Vibration Visuelle (a duet with Bertox, magician/juggler), Zalyshar (duet with Yshar, tribal fusion dancer) and Milanga, an electro-ethnic band with sitar, heavy beats, singing and dance. In 2010 Zalem released his first solo didgeridoo album entirely acoustic. His constant research for didgeridoo possibilities led him to a new style which he calls “Didgstep”. This video exemplifies Zalem’s many talents:
Didgeridoo veteran Stephen Kent has lived all over the world and became a didgeridoo player when living in Australia and scoring music for Circus Oz. He has since relocated to San Francisco, CA and is very active as a recording artist and performer with over twenty two album credits to his name. Stephen is a member of international touring group Baraka Moon, a mix of Sufi chant, trance grooves, didge and drums.
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