by G. Jack Urso
From the Ae13U Sounds YouTube channel.
The didgeridoo,
a hollow, wooden tube that produces a low, droning sound, was first created by
the indigenous peoples of Australia and if any country has a national musical
instrument, for Australia it is certainly the didgeridoo. The Australian pop
culture explosion of the 1980s brought the instrument and many other aspects of
the outback to the public eye. Its haunting sound creates a space for spiritual
contemplation, but in the Australian government’s attempt to wipe out
Aboriginal culture in the 19th and 20th centuries the didgeridoo also became
the sound of political defiance and of a people who refused to be erased.
In
this album, Didgeridoo Dreaming:
Spiritual Music of the Australian Aboriginal (2000, Fine Tune. Inner World), natural sounds
and wooden clapsticks enhance the droning of the didgeridoo to create an
otherworldly atmosphere far removed from our urban lives, yet one in which we
find ourselves at peace. Instead of being an aural voyeur, one feels more a
part of the soundscape and the experience. The complete album is provided above
and links to individual tracks and liner notes below from the Ae13U Sounds YouTube channel.
Illustration from Didgeridoo Dreaming: Spiritual Music of the Australian Aboriginal.
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1. Wamali and the Warata (8:21)
2. Uluru: Monument to Time (8:16)
3. The First Kangaroo (8:05)
4. Nullarbor Night (8:55)
5. Koobor: Droughtmaker (9:12)
6. Wirana's Cave (7:35)
7. Terra Australis (7:39)
8. The Spirit of Uluru (7:21)
9. Noorooma
(6:49)
10. Ilingka (5:34)
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Liner Notes from Didgeridoo Dreaming: Spiritual Music of the Australian Aboriginal
(Inner World Records):
AUSTRALIA
Aboriginal music
is at the same time the most recent and the most ancient of musical phenomena.
It evokes a sacred and mythical world and represents the strong tie of an
indigenous population to its homeland. This bond between man, spirit and earth
is similar to the one felt by the Native American Indian and celebrated in
music, art and legend.
The key figure
however in raising Aboriginal consciousness was Bob Marley who wrote of rights,
redemption, freedom and a return to ancestral tradition. Aboriginal music has
always been closely linked to politics. When in 1788 Australia became a land
for white settlers (and initially a penal colony), the Aborigine was hunted
down, discriminated against and robbed of his rights and his lands. This
"heathen" music was suppressed by the religious customs of the
missionaries and other European immigrants.
But the music
survived. It has been rediscovered by a new generation of Aborigine intent on
preserving the old culture with a newly found pride and national identity. The
music is about myth and in particular the creation myth.
 |
| Examples of didgeridoo. |
DIDGERIDOO DREAMING
Each Aboriginal
clan has an ancestor — a totemic being who wandered in “The Dreamtime,”
bringing the world into existence by singing about each thing encountered on
his journey. This ancestral song, with its “Songlines,”* was both a map of the
land and a celebration of nature.
And being an expression
of nature it was dependent on “natural sounds” such as the clapping of hands or
clapsticks (bilma) and in particular the Didgeridoo — a hollowed-out branch of
eucalyptus, often decorated with symbols and carvings and which is played by
blowing into it with circular breathing. This gives it resonant vibrational
sounds which echo those that occur naturally in the “outback” as the Aborigine
calls his land.
When the
Aborigine goes “walkabout” (often disappearing into the desert for several days
at a time) he seeks a mythical reunion with the earth and his ancestors. This
ritual is celebrated in the Didgeridoo music in this collection.
* As described
by Bruce Chatwin in his book “Songlines” — which is recommended
reading.
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