Timothy Litalita Ganambarr cutting yirdaki (didgeridoo), Galiwin'ku, Elcho Island

There are a few pertinent points to this video clip. Firstly, Litalita explains what he is doing... he peels off a bit of bark to expose the wood underneath which he taps to listen for a particular type of sound. It tells him whether the tree trunk is sufficiently hollow or not. He then cuts at the base of the tree. Notice when the camera pans upwards that a small twig breaks off as Litalita is chopping into the tree? This is a good sign that the tree has been termite-infested. See how the foliage is really sparse in the canopy? Another sign that the tree is not in the best of shape with termites having eaten out its core. Meaning that the tree is possibly a good candidate for making into a didgeridoo, but we never really know until it has been cut down and the hollow is inspected for size and shape at both the mouthpiece and bell ends.

In this instance, the base of the tree trunk is sufficiently hollowed out by termites and is a good size and shape. However, when Litalita tries to find a suitable mouthpiece for the instrument by chopping into the felled tree, he is unsuccessful. He tries twice but both times the size of the hollow is too small. So he leaves the felled tree and goes on looking for another in the hope of finding something with exactly the right dimensions.

Notice the nature of the soil with lots of small pebbles and lumps of bauxite? This is ideal territory for finding great yidaki, termites love this sort of environment and create beautiful hollows in trees that are ideal for yirdaki production.

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[SuperShredify]

will this tree make a heap of didgeridoos, or jus one?

[ididjaustralia]

In this particular case, the tree made no didgeridoos at all. Yolngu people from eastern Arnhem Land can be very discerning as to what they harvest to make into an instrument, if the dimensions are not right in any way (mouthpiece too small here) they discard the tree even if it has been cut down. These trees, Eucalyptus tetradonta, usually yield only 1 didgeridoo per tree, but around the Katherine region they harvest multi-stemmed eucalyptus which can yield several instruments per "tree".

[MonyMG1959]

How long take for one of the tree to grow? Every time they cut a tree do they plant a new one?

[ididjaustralia]

It takes a few years for a tree to grow before it is ready to be made into a didgeridoo, not really sure how many years exactly but it depends on the speed of growth and how rich the soil is. Yolngu people do not plant new trees every time they cut one to make into a didgeridoo, however, the trees regenerate by themselves from seed.

[Cre8iveSignWorks]

nice video but the comments were even more informative.

i love all these vids...thanx 4 posting them

cheers ididj

shedz

[sherrywine1941]

That was quite interesting. Thank you for posting it and sharing it. I bought my son a didgeridoo when I visited Geelong Australia. Still can't get a decent sound..LOL (5*) Sherry

[SuperShredify]

thanks for ur answer, always very informative:)

[runupahill1]

Thank you so much for this video, ididjaustralia. Incredibly informing, fascinating and so illustrative of wise use policies, including the termites.