When you think of a didgeridoo you don’t often attribute it to widespread use in popular culture, yet the wind instrument is a staple of indigenous culture. In fact, it’s one of the earliest-known harmonic instruments.
Oregon prides itself on its alternative culture and organic lifestyles, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that didgeridoo players are fairly abundant in the region. Daniel Miller, 39, is part of that community.@@http://www.reverbnation.com/pinkmisttrio@@
“I’ve always been fascinated with harmonics,” Miller said. “My father played jaw-harp so I learned how to move the inside of my mouth to make certain harmonic tones. When I first saw the didgeridoo, I recognized that it’s the same thing.”
Learning to play the didgeridoo isn’t as simple as it may appear. Understanding and executing the circular breathing technique is crucial to being a successful didgeridoo player. Circular breathing is the process of producing a consistent, uninterrupted tone in one continuous breath.
“It’s a totally unique instrument as far as what it requires physically from a person,” Miller said. “Although I felt that there were certain things that I picked up on quickly, I still had to sit in a room by myself for hours on end just making terrible sounds.”
Miller plays the didgeridoo in a local band, Pink Mist, with his wife on percussion and another friend on guitar. There is actually a didgeridoo festival, InDidjInUs,@@http://bhumsiva.com/indidjinus-gathering@@ held each year in Oregon. Miller has attended the gathering for 12 years.
“It (the didgeridoo) is very primal, it goes back to the roots of music and human sound experimentation, yet it’s very underused in our culture so it’s unique in that sense, it’s new to people,” Miller said. “It’s been around forever but it’s experiencing kind of a resurgence in popularity and experimentalism.”