What are the criteria in choosing a mago?

Darryl Digarrnga explains here in the Mialli language and in English how a mago is made or chosen to suit the voice of the singer. An effort is made to match the voice with the instrument, or the instrument to the voice. It seems that pitch is what it is about, though Darryl uses the words tune, low/high and heavy/light.

Among Bininy, singers with a shrill or high voice are esteemed and considered the best. An instrument with a similar quality, specifically pitch, is chosen to match his voice. This may explain the predominance of higher pitched instruments among Western Arnhem Land groups.

Interestingly, Darryl explains off-camera that his brother-in-law Jack Nawilil, whom he often refers to as "djunggayi", can sing two voices, one 'low' and one 'high'. During the Darwin Festival in 2006, Jack modified his usual 'low' voice to sing 'high' in order to match the voice of the Banyawarra mago. So depending on what instruments are available and also on the personal preference of the mago player, either a singer can 'tune his voice up' or 'tune it down' to match the key of a mago, or a mago can be chosen to specifically match the voice of the singer.

The clip taken at the Darwin Festival can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhF4ScuucGI

Category:

Music

Tags:

• mago
• didgeridoo
• didjeridu
• western
• arnhem
• land
• bininy
• david
• blanasi
• aboriginal
• music
• corroboree

[ididjaustralia]

Glad these vids are useful... keep supporting iDIDJ Australia so we can continue this sort of work!

[ididjaustralia]

nice description!

[bee4tree]

Mago sounds for me very familiar with magic - etymologically: full of amazing soundscapes, sometimes roaring silence in the desert next time whispering shout of the roaring sea - plenty of paradoxical perceptions during the play

[vljenewein]

Darryl is great guy to explain so much about the Mago. Often, this instrument is overlooked in favor of the Yirdaki. Thanks again to Guan for posting these where anyone can look, listen and learn.

Vern