March 2009 Newsletter from didjshop.com

Editorial

Welcome to our March newsletter.
It seems lots has happened since the last one.  At least I have been very busy, which is partly because we are in the final phase of a state election campaign here in Queensland and I am involved with getting better public transport for our area and with other environmental and Aboriginal issues.

We have put new didjes online and are working on yet another batch. Though supply is still very slow since the country out there is still so wet from the monsoon that our suppliers still cannot go out far to cut didjes. Connoisseurs among you will be happy to know that in this new batch of didjes are many amazing pieces, so you want to make sure to check out that newsletter section below.

Just below the new didj section, you can find some very interesting statistical results from our 2008 questionnaire about which didj playing styles people prefer.

In this newsletter you can also read the first comments from our 2009 questionnaire. We find the comments on playing the didj continuously for long periods of time very interesting and agree with quite a few of the respondents that doing so takes you into a different state of awareness, which several respondents simply call 'the zone'. We have created a new section in our online visitor comments to share these experiences of people playing for long periods of time.

Chuck Laughlin, the lucky winner of our 2008 prize didj has sent us a picture and a few words which you can check out at the same time as finding out who this years February and March winners are.

It is wonderful to see how many participants have already resisted for our next Worldwide Didgeridoo Circle on 20th March at your local sunset time. There are about 350 locations on the map already, which is amazing and will make for quite a big sound wave going around the planet! Imagine all those people in different countries and cultures all around the world who will be connected to each other through the sound of the didj.
If you are not one of them yet, please do consider to add the voice of your didgeridoo to our global chorus and put yourself on the map. It is a wonderfully relaxing and centring experience to participate in these meditations - enjoy. All you need to do is play 45 minutes of relaxing music and then sit in silence for 15 minutes. Please start at your local sunset time, so all together we create the wave effect around the globe, thanks.

John Elliot, who played one of our Didjshop didjes with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, has produced what he calls 'The One Stop Didgeridoo Book' and asked me to give him a plug. Since John is such a famous didj player, a good customer and provided that interesting article in our November newsletter, I could not refuse. The book is an e-book and comes as a download or on a CD. It is tailored at those who are beginners in the didj world and want to find out whether the didj is a good instrument for them.
The e-book shows you how to build a PVC didj, how to build a slide didj, how to circular breathe and how to learn many more advanced sounds (it includes 21 MP3 files). You can either buy the CD for US9.97, or you can simply download the e-book for US$7.97.

And for those of you who like watching smart animals, here is a link to a really cool and short video from Seaworld in Orlando, Florida, showing dolphins play with rings of air, which they have learned to make, and even the beluga whale has learned the trick.

Enjoy the video clips and the rest of this newsletter....

Svargo

New Didjes

As promised in our last newsletter, we have just uploaded about forty new didjes to our virtual shop. Almost all of them are part of our Didjshop collection.

There are three new forked didjes and these are some of the very best forks we have ever offered for sale. Fork didjes allow you to play in three different keys and you can switch between two keys without a break. For those of you who wonder how this is possible, you blow into one mouth piece while sealing the other with your hand. This gives you the low key, which is the same no matter which mouth piece you play on. Then while playing you can lift your hand off the other mouth piece and the pitch will go up significantly, to one of the two higher keys marked for the fork. On the other mouth piece the switch is between the lower key and the other high key. If the forked branches join the main trunk near the middle of the didj, the difference between the high and low keys are very large, if they join lower down, the didj can possibly be played by two people at the same time.
Forks make for very unusual didj playing and good effects. Good forks are very rare to find, so if you are interested in expanding your repertoire, you might want to check these out.

Most of the new didjes have nice bells and some have massive bells up to a foot across, including a D with only 32mm top inside diameter gradually tapering to a booming 245mm at the bell end (pictured on the right)!
Over half of the new didjes are of high concert quality, and they come in 14 different keys! So no matter what key you are looking for, you can find an excellent didj.
If you are looking for extremely low keys, there are several didjes over two meters long, in the keys of A, G#, G and even one low F. All of these long didjes have good backpressure, which is extremely rare.

For the didgeridoo sound healers out there, please check out the extremely light didjes with awesome resonance, including a 1.5 kg didj in the key of A which is six foot long! And for the fans of so-called traditional playing style didjes, this upload has several strongly tapered didjes.
And if you are looking for something unusual, there are also several new didjes which have very interesting and unusual shapes.

As a valued newsletter reader you can check out these new didjes from this link only. Please be aware that these sorts of didjes are very rare and we are unlikely to get anything comparable for a long time. There are a few more didjes we will release from our collection, but this was the bulk of it...

Enjoy browsing...

More results from our 2008 Questionnaire

In our last newsletter we provided you with some initial results from our 2008 questionnaire. In this newsletter we will have a look at what didgeridoo playing styles people are most interested in.

One of the questions asked in last year's questionnaire was this:
"How interested are you in learning or using the following didj playing styles?"
Below are the answers as a percentage of total replies.

We are delighted to see that people are most interested in learning or using their own didgeridoo playing style. This is what all Aboriginal elders have told me again and again: "don't try and copy us, find your own way of playing the didj. We have our style, you need to find your own." So out of respect I have never attempted to learn so-called traditional styles, most of which are probably not really traditional anyway. I think we need to accept and most importantly respect that the truly traditional styles of playing the didj are very sacred and secret. While it is understandable that people are fascinated with traditional playing techniques, especially if those are part of sacred ceremonies, we feel it is important that we all resists the temptation of wanting to learn secret knowledge, totally respect that there is a secret aspect to the didgeridoo, and do not to try and find out and learn the sacred traditional styles.
There is by now a sizeable following of 'traditional style didgeridoo playing' and some Aboriginal people make money out of teaching it and some non-indigenous people use it to give themselves more authority. While we do not condemn this phenomena, we certainly do not encourage it.
There is no need for anyone to go there, the didgeridoo offers you a wide open soundscape for you to explore and to discover your very own personal style. Consequently we are glad to see that traditional styles are very low on peoples learning priorities.

On other styles I am not really surprised about the over thirty percent of people which are not interested in learning to play hoots, since I do not like them myself too much. I do not really use them in my didj playing, so I cannot even switch from normal drone to hoot and back most of the time.
What I am surprised to see is that nearly as many people are not interested to learn vocals. I think vocals are a great tool to bring variety into didj playing and vocals can be soft and haunting, they can imitate animals or they can be loud and screaming. So why so many people are not interested to learn vocals is a mystery to me :-).

As most of you can image we are also thrilled that so many people would like to learn meditative playing styles.
Please feel free to participate in the next worldwide didgeridoo meditation on 20th March as an opportunity to explore that playing style :-).

Visitor Comments

Have you already filled out our new 2009 questionnaire? If not, please do so for your chance to become the proud winner of one of the three didgeridoos which are the main prizes this year in celebration of our tenth year on the internet (total prize value is over A$3500!!!)

Allow us to share some of the hundreds of comments coming in from the new questionnaire on different topics.

First please check out these eight comments about Didjshop.com, which are only a very small snippet of the huge amount of wonderful feedback we get every month:

• Christian Robert from France: "I didn't know where I could buy a didge. I didn't know it was possible to order it on the web because I am used to going and see the craftsmen I want to buy my instruments from. I came across your site by chance and after a short visit I knew I had found the good one. The thing that impressed me were the customers' comments. I don't regret my trusting you. My 2 Didjshop didges are just great! I love visiting the site for new sounds and new things to read."
• Fred Ashplant from USA: "As I have often said before your site is by far the best I have ever seen on the web.  There is the best possible selection of didges of the very best sound quality  the most information regarding the goings on in the industry  the most information regarding the native Australian people  their culture and art work.  Your service and prompt attention to the need of your customer is also second to none.  Thanks and keep up the good work."
• Joakim Sørmo from Norway: "Simply the best:)  The information on this web page is unique. Not only can you get a didj that fits your own playing style  but you also get advise  history of both aboriginals and of you instrument. A very good web page considering orientation.   My first real didjeridu is gonna come from this site:)"
• Chris from New Zealand: "I like reading peoples experiences/stories  as well as listening to the different sound files from various Didjes"
• Bill Woodward from Canada: "Simply the best  most comprehensive and inclusive site!"
• Brian James from United Kingdom: "I don't bother looking anywhere else as yours is the best  not only didges but so much else  its like visiting a didge family."
• Ben from Australia: "Very well put together i like the way its easy to navigate and there is no BULL SHIT about our culture just the facts"

In our 2009 questionnaire we also posed some new questions. One of which is this one:
"What is the longest you have played didj continuously using circular breathing (without any break in the sound at all)?"

Then we asked people to: "Please share your experience of playing didj continuously for long periods of time"
Here are a few samples of those comments:

• Franck Boudet from France: "I feel relieved  plainly vibrating  lot more clear in my head. I am always more calm and relaxed after playing  often more smiley. I also like to share the experience  thus I tend to play more in public places..."
• Rui from Portugal: "Well every time that i play is every time that i get admired and inspired for the following days"
• Anonymous from Netherlands: "Getting into 'spiritual' consciousness. A feeling of oneness with the didgeridoo and All That Is  an experience that the didge and I are one  an instrument being played."
• Mary from USA: "I love it so much. It's so much fun and it meditates me. The vibrations and the breathing aspect of it all make me happy and energetic."
• Claude Beaucaire from Canada: "It's absolutely fascinating  it's like yoga breathing."
• Roy Paramo from Spain: "I frees your mind from everything  your whole body and mind relaxes completely and you feel in an absolute peace."
• Anonymous from Canada: "A trance state was induced. It didn't really feel like the two hours that I found out later it was. Felt more like a half hour. I don't think that I was really in my body any more. The sound was no longer separate from myself. My breath became the impetus for the sonic texture."

If you are interested to read more experiences of playing the didj for a long time, you can find them HERE.
You can also read more Didjshop comments here.
Or you might want to check out some replies to our customer questionnaire.

And if you wish to share your experiences, please fill out our 2009 questionnaire!

February and March Winners!

February Winner

The winner of our February draw for a Didjshop.com shopping voucher over A$50 is Tanner Saylor from Aurora in USA.
Tanner got his winning ticket by answering our 2009 questionnaire.

Here is Tanner's comment on Didjshop.com: "I find your website a very good website  I just recently bought my first didgeridoo  and my second one I believe will be from didjshop.com"
Like most other people Tanner disagrees with imports of Aboriginal arts into Australia and comments: "I believe if they're going to sell them as genuine  they should actually be genuine."

Thanks for your kind comments and congratulations on your win, Tanner and we are looking forward to hear from you :-).

March Winner

The winner of our March draw for a Didjshop.com shopping voucher over A$50 is Chris Lembo from Toowoomba in Australia.
Chris got his winning ticket when he filled out our 2009 questionnaire.

Chris said this about Didjshop.com: "Very easy to use."
Chris, like many others, strongly disagrees with imports and comments: "Aboriginal arts is an Australian thing and if people are importing arts in from overseas its not 100% genuine.."

Congratulations, Chris and thanks for your comments.

The Winner of our 2008 Prize Didj

Chuck Laughlin, who was the lucky winner of our 2008 prize didj received his new Brad Gosam didj and has kindly sent us a picture of himself playing the didj on the shores of Lake Tahoe in Nevada, USA - a stunning backdrop to a stunning didj (see image on right). While some of you were reading our last newsletter, Chuck was unwrapping his prize didj and soon after emailed us with his impressions:

"What if you could find a company that had a great selection of didgeridoos?
What if that company made it easy for you to buy just the right didgeridoo for you, and
What if by buying one of their didgeridoos you became a valuable supporter of the aborigine culture?

Well that company exists.  It is Didjshop.

I searched high and wide across the web to find this company.  I not only wanted an authentic didj, one that not only sounded great, but I wanted to support the people who invented it.  Didjshop does this in spades.  They have a great selection of didgeridoos.  They are totally immersed in serving the aborigine community and keeping the magic of this culture thriving and alive.  And, they make buying the instruments easy.  You can see the didj, hear it being played, pick the level of quality you want, know its dimensions and who made it.

I can’t think of a more perfect place to buy the didj from.  I can’t think of a more perfect company to support.

I was extremely fortunate to win the 2008 didj award.  It was a wonderful surprise.  And, to play the instrument is just as wonderful.

It is a magnificent instrument.  Beautifully made and painted.  A sound so rich that you fall into a meditation state almost as soon as you start playing it.  It can be played fast, slow, with great vocals and effects.  You will hear its voice coming on the next worldwide meditation.  I am not a musician, but when I play this didgeridoo, you can hear the magic."

Thank you, Chuck for all of your praise and we are glad that this didgeridoo found such an appreciative owner who will actually play and enjoy it.

If you read this and have not yet filled out our 2009 questionnaire, please do so for your chance to win one of the many prizes (including three didjes!) valued at over A$3500!!!

Aboriginal News

We trust that many of our readers appreciate our monthly synopsis of Australian Aboriginal news:

• Rumour has it that the federal government is actually considering to have a new elected Aboriginal body in Australia. The previous Howard government dissolved ASTIC, which was an elected body representing Australian Aboriginal people.
  Before the last federal election the Labor party promised a new national body representing Indigenous Australians to be installed in their first year. Well their first anniversary in government has just passed and nothing has happened yet.
  However finally discussions are under way between the government and Aboriginal leaders as to what this new entity should look like and Aboriginal affairs minister Jenny Macklin has just announced that the new body will be established by the end of this year. She wants the Aboriginal Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, to advise her how an interim body should look like, which could be established as early as July this year.
  Many of the Aboriginal leaders have expressed their opinion that the final body should be elected by all Indigenous people in Australia. And rumour has it that the government is actually seriously considering that proposal
• It has been over one year now that Kevin Rudd gave the long overdue apology to Aboriginal people. At the time he also promised to give a yearly report card on the first day of parliament each year. He delayed the delivery of the first report card because of the devastating Victorian wild fires.
  When he finally gave the report on the 26th of February, he said: "Some say little has happened in the year since the apology, but that is not the case. Progress has been made, houses are being built. Since the end of 2007, 80 houses have been completed or just nearing completion in remote Northern Territory communities." He also warned that: "There will be many bumps and setbacks along the road but the alternative is to do nothing."
  However not everyone has judged the progress so optimistic. The Greens Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Rachel Siewert pointed out that the Government continues policies which penalise Aboriginal people and has failed to offer compensation to members of the Stolen generation. She was also critical of the government plan to discontinue the CDEP employment scheme in Aboriginal communities: "If they're going to get rid of that program they need to make sure that the positions that are being lost, the services that are being lost, the support that is being lost, is actually replaced."
  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma acknowledged that some progress had been made, but he also commented on the continual suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act: "It's just not acceptable that we have differential treatment. We still have one of our basic human rights protection mechanisms suspended."
  Let us hope that the racial discrimination act will be re-instated soon and that next year's report card will be better.
• We have repeatedly reported on the McArthur mine which diverted the whole river to allow a massive expansion of an open-cut mine. The mine was first approved by the previous conservative government as reported in our October 2006 newsletter . Then in April 2007 the traditional owners got an injunction from the Northern Territory supreme court stopping the mine's expansion because due process was not followed in the approval process by the Northern Territory government. The Northern Territory government quickly passed retrospective legislation to validate the approval.
  A separate challenge to the federal approval was successful in December 2008 and managed to stop further work at the mine until now. Sadly things have changed again in favour of the mining giant Xstrata.
  On the 20th February, the Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has formally given new approval for the expansion of the mine.
  Traditional owner David Harvey said: "If this mine and this Government doesn't come and talk to us and make an agreement about what they've done - they've mucked the river up and everything," he said. "We're going to take them as far as we can go - we're thinking of taking them to United Nations." "That water goes straight through this whole township," he said, "now if something goes wrong up there - which it did - we ... [get] dead fish floating down."
  We are appalled that the new federal Labor government continues a cozy relationship with big business at the expense of Aboriginal people and the environment and we hope that the traditional owners can actually take the matter to the UN and get some help from there.
  Federal Greens senator Bob Brown puts it very succinctly: "The mining corporation has of course won the day; they've got the open door to the Prime Minister's office. The Indigenous people who are opposed to this scheme and the environmentalists don't have that door open."

• Mona Mona, one of our local Aboriginal communities just north of Kuranda, was established as a Christian mission in 1913. There are still about 50 Aboriginal people living in Mona Mona, however conditions are squalid since the government has basically ignored Mona Mona ever since the missionaries left. In the mid-nineties 2.6 million dollars were finally promised for new housing in Mona Mona by ASTIC (which was disbanded by the previous Australian government), however none of that money was actually spent on Mona Mona. In fact the state government did spend much of that money last year on housing for Mona Mona people, but in other townships outside of Mona Mona. This is because the government wants all Aboriginal people to move out. They even passed legislation last year to return about 150ha of the land back to traditional owners for 'cultural' purposes, while 1500ha were to be given to national parks. While Aboriginal people connected with Mona Mona protested and opposed this move, the government basically ignored them until now, claiming that it would be too expensive to provide services to the settlement and it should be disbanded.
  Well the good news is that we are currently in election mode in Queensland and that our seat is very marginal and has a high percentage of people who vote for The Greens. This allowed Sarah Isaacs, our local Greens candidate to get the government to overturn their decision in return for the Greens directing their voting preferences to the Labor party.
  We wish to thank Sarah for her strong engagement to effect this turn-around in government policy. We also wish to thank Steve Wettenhall, the sitting Labor member for finally listening to his Aboriginal constituents and clearly stating that: "We will reopen negotiations with the clear understanding that the objective of the local people is to obtain a tenure outcome that gives them control of the entire reserve"
  We hope that the people of Mona Mona will be able to live on their land and enjoy ownership in the not too distant future, just like their ancestors did only 150 years ago.

Please join the next Worldwide Didj Circle on 20 March at your local sunset time...

Keep on didjing until next month ...

from Svargo and the DIDJSHOP.COM team