Elijah Gunydjurruwuy | Saltwater Band F# yirdaki

By popular demand, here's more of Elijah Gunydjurruwuy, the 15 year old yirdaki prodigy from Gapuwiyak (Lake Evella) in eastern Arnhem Land.

This yirdaki is one used by the Saltwater Band during their Telstra Art Award gig in Darwin 2007. It was the last performance by Nigel Barrakawuy with the group, who will now form a new band with Makuma Yunupingu.

This is an incredible light-weight dynamite of a yirdaki at only 1.6 kg. It packs plenty of punch and has more growl than a pack of hungry wolves. The compression and back pressure are spot-on, allowing for effortless rapid traditional Yolngu rhythms.

The overtone at F# is a breeze, requiring only a slight tightening of the lips to hit that note.

Amazing instruments have amazing bores, and this yirdaki is no exception. The air column starts out small at the mouthpiece end, 28 mm in diameter, and continues at around this size for the upper one third of the yirdaki. The bore then starts to widen in the mid-section, gradually growing in size until it forms a formidable sound chamber at the bell end at 7-8 cm in diameter. Walls are uniformly thin throughout without compromising on structural integrity.

A freakish product of nature, this yirdaki has outstanding resonance with a lively breezy personality. Energy transmission from lips to wood is outstanding, giving this yirdaki an efficiency and responsiveness to die for.

Elijah picked this yirdaki as his favourite of the several I was privileged to hear him play.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• elijah
• gunydjurruwuy
• saltwater
• band
• didgeridoo
• didjeridu
• yirdaki
• yidaki
• arnhem
• land
• lake
• evella
• gapuwiyak
• yolngu

[tadpole329]

i love this style.....just magical and inspirational....big up

[kuddlykoala4]

really great......wonderful

[sonofthedestroyer]

This is crazy stuff! Pure adrenaline!

[MCP2012]

Splendid virtuoso yidaki-playing!! I'd probably have problems getting the breathing technique(s) down as well...Thanks for posting this!

[rabbitspliff]

there are quite a few techniques you can read up on. i personally learnt off a david hudson dvd, but didgeridoostore has a good concise tutorial. if you keep at it, it'll suddenly click, and from there it'll be a steep learning curve as you perfect it. then again, you commented 2 months ago, which was about the time it took me from it "clicking" to me perfecting it.

[timmay000]

unbelievable. thanks so much.

[VoidKeeper]

I can never get the damn circular breathing for some reason...

[mackyidhaky]

cool player ;)

[timothy10112]

wow he's pretty good

[sonofthedestroyer]

I just purchased a Arnhem Land yidaki and my god is it difficult to play traditional! But it is an addictive instrument so practicing will never be a problem!