The Didgeridoo is also known as the didge or the didjeridu, and it is a wind instrument that was originally developed more than 1,500 years ago by the indigenous Australians in northern Australia. It is still used across the globe as well as in Australia, and has many names. It is sometimes regarded as being a drone pipe or a wooden trumpet, and it has been classified as being an aerophone. This instrument is traditionally crafted by hand as a one of a kind instrument made from Eucalyptus trees, and they are typically comprised of trees that have died naturally or been hollowed out internally by termites.

Nobody knows exactly how old the Didgeridoo is. What we do know is that this is one of the oldest instruments in the world. This is an instrument with many names and many capabilities. A modern didgeridoo is typically conical or cylindrical in shape and capable of measuring from 1m to 3m in length, or 3 feet to 10 feet long.

There are actually more than 45 different synonyms for the instrument known as the didgeridoo. Here are some of the more common names for this instrument based on their region.

• For the tribal group known as Anindilyakwa, in the Groote Eylandt region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is ngarrriralkpwina.
• For the tribal group known as Yolngu in the Arnhem Land region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is yirdaki.
• For the tribal group known as Gupapuygu in the Arnhem Land region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is Yiraka.
• For the tribal group known as Djinang in the Arnhem Land region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is Yirtakki.
• For the tribal group known as Iwaidja in the Cobourg Peninsula region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is Wuyimba or buyigi.
• For the tribal group known as Jawoyn in the Katherine region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is artawirr.
• For the tribal group known as Gagudju in the Kakadu region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is garnbak.
• For the tribal group known as Lardil in the Mornington Island region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is djibolu.
• For the tribal group known as Ngarluma in the Roebourne, W.A. region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is Kurmur.
• For the tribal group known as Nyul Nyul in the Kimberleys region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is ngaribi.
• For the tribal group known as Warray in the Adelaide River region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is bamboo.
• For the tribal group known as Mayali in the Alligator River region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is martba.
• For the tribal group known as Pintupi in the Central Australia region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is paampu.
• For the tribal group known as Arrernte in the Alice Springs region, the local name for the Didgeridoo is Ilpirra.

Photo Credits: Martin Pettitt

Originally posted 2009-09-28 03:47:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

• Fiddling Instruments: A Primer pt 4 ... Continued from pt. 3 The Tarhu One of the most significant new developments in the technology behind spike fiddle instruments can be found in the form of the circular bodied instruments known as Tarhu, as they are made by an Australian luthier known as Peter Biffin. With these instruments......
• Brief History of the Accordian The accordion is a potable acoustical musical instrument that is box shaped, and is derived from the hand held bellows-driven family of free-reed aerophone instruments. The accordion is sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays this particular instrument is known as an accordionist. The accordion is played......
• Fiddling Instruments: A Primer Generically, fiddles are bowed lutes. The fiddle term denotes the existence of a stringed instrument that has a neck that bears strings sounded through the use of friction rather than the use of striking or plucking as with other musical instruments. Playing the Fiddle In nearly all fiddle instruments around......
• Hammered and Lap Dulcimer Instruments The Hammered Dulcimer What the dulcimer is, is a stringed instrument that has perceived to be an ancestor to the modern piano. It possesses a number of courses of between two and five strings for each note, and they are stretched across a shallow trapezoid shaped box that is made......
• Wind Instruments Guide 101 pt 2 Here is a guide to some of the more common and more interesting wind instruments. Some of these instruments are common place in the United States and others have a decidedly more worldly origin. Bugle The bugle is a type of wind instrument that does not actually contain any valves......

Related Websites

• Skiing Lexicon pt 2 Here is a skiing and snowboarding lexicon of terms that will help prepare you for the upcoming skiing and snowboarding season. Crud - This is a type of snow that is characterized by possessing an uneven surface that typically encompasses some soft lumps of powder like snow as well as......
• Backcountry Skiing in the Spring One of the ways to get the most out of the ski season is to squeeze out every last snowflake by taking advantage of backcountry skiing and backcountry snowfields even as the spring season begins to rear its head. In an effort to get absolutely as many turns as we......
• Learn to Play Bass Guitar For someone starting out with a first instrument, a bass guitar is an excellent choice. The bass guitar is probably the easiest stringed instrument to learn to play, far easier than either an acoustic or electric guitar, a banjo, a mandolin, or a violin, for instance. And a stringed instrument......
• Accordion Dealers -> Musical Instruments -> Keyboards An accordion is a fascinating and unusual musical instrument that requires bellows, buttons or keys and reeds to make music. Though it looks like a fairly sturdy instrument, it’s actually pretty fragile on the inside and should be handled with care. When one part......
• Bass Instruments: The History of the Bass Guitar Instruments teach the people who use them a great deal. For playing an instrument, you can have your first example of love without need of love in return from a person loving their instrument, you can learn notes and patience and many other valuable lessons, some of which have to......

Online Stores

• Currency Australia Australia, Oceania Coins: World Coins & Paper Money
• Portable Australia Fishfinders Fishing
• Collections, Lots Australia Stamps
• Freelander Land Rover Hybrid Vehicles
• Australia Nugget Gold Bullion Coins & Paper Money

If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.



Categories:

Acoustic Musical Instruments, didgeridoo, Instrument History

Tags:

aerophone, arnhem land, cobourg peninsula, common names, didge, didgeridoo, didjeridu, drone pipe, eucalyptus trees, groote eylandt, kakadu region, katherine region, kind instrument, many names, mornington island, northern australia, peninsula region, tribal group, wind instrument, wooden trumpet