Bambay Wanambi yirdaki from Gapuwiyak, played by Elijah Wunungmurra and Adam Marrilaga

This is a pretty special yirdaki made by Elijah's waku Bambay Wanambi, a fully-decorated instrument with a fantastic voice that simply cannot be any better. There is outstanding elasticity in the air column which lends itself to strong tongued accents that bend the note upward. The acoustics are beautifully balanced with a nice thick, gruff, gravelly character... nothing contemporary about its sonic attributes, this is pure traditional with no compromise.

Playing in the fundamental key of F#, the first overtone note at G-G# (depending on the pressure you exert) can be fired off at rapid succession, cleanly. I particularly like the soft-edged pillowy feel when playing the overtone, it just doesn't get any better than this.

The dimensions of this stick are not overly extravagant. The perfectly formed almost circular mouthpiece is 27-28 mm in diameter with a bit of "meat" around it providing comfort... which also allows you to widen the diameter if you so desire. The bell is a modest 7.5 cm to 8.5 to 9 cm in diameter at its widest point. The gently flaring bore over a length of 130 cm provides the backpressure and the engine for the fast percussive playing that is evident here by Elijah and Laga. Weighing in at 3.1 kg, there is just the right combination of drive and punchiness that comes with mass, and liveliness and sensitivity that comes with the right wall thickness.

Here, Elijah shows what he is capable of, he's still in good shape though has lost weight (he's currently iDIDJ Australia's artist-in-residence). Next, Elijah's brother Adam Marrilaga gives the yirdaki a good workout. He's still a damn fine player, but his health has deteriorated considerably due to neglect.

I thought I had given up hope on Laga, but if you have confidence that something can be done and can help towards the cause, please make a donation to iDIDJ Philanthropy:

http://www.ididj.com.au/ididjphilanthropy.html

This yirdaki is for sale. Contact us if you are interested: info@ididj.com.au

Category:

Music

Tags:

• bambay
• wanambi
• marrakulu
• marrangu
• yirdaki
• yidaki
• didgeridoo
• didjeridu
• didge
• elijah
• gundjurruwuy
• wunungmurra
• adam
• marrilaga
• laga
• dhalwangu
• yolngu
• arnhem
• land
• arnhemland
• gapuwiyak
• lake
• evella
• aboriginal
• music
• northern
• territory
• australia

[Cre8iveSignWorks]

that finger flicking at the end was nice as well

: )

[sonofthedestroyer]

Ah Elijah!!

Welcome back!

[Frankishak]

Ah gapuwiyak, nice memories....send love to Kenny, peter dumadgji and Alan up there with the sky ancestors....yo minmuk!

[OmmTerra]

Great.

Hello Brothers from Southern Hemisphere!

Greetings from Northern Hemisphere!

All the Best, from România.

OmmTerra (a villager of this Planet; un ţăran locuitor al acestei Planete)

[zensorship]

pure magic

[monkeyeagle]

Gorgeous in Looks and Sounds!!! I Love the Curves in that Yidaki as well! Thanks once again Guan for sharing such art and talent with us!

[commonagenet]

thanks for posting, cheers.