This is didgeridoo player Larry 'Winiwini' Gurruwiwi, an extraordinary talent and son of f
This is didgeridoo player Larry 'Winiwini' Gurruwiwi, an extraordinary talent and son of famed didgeridoo craftsman Djalu Gurruwiwi. In north-east Arnhem Land where Larry and Djalu come from, the didgeridoo is known as the 'yirdaki'. You might also sometimes see it spelt 'yidaki'.
Djalu and his spectacular hand-crafted instruments were what sparked the worldwide didgeridoo craze starting from the mid-1990s. iDIDJ Australia always has a good selection of Djalu's fine yirdaki available as well as didgeridoos made by other members of Djalu's family including son Larry Winiwini, his wife Dopiya Yunupingu, and daughter Lena Djapilawuy. These didgeridoos typically have that thunderous quality cherished by the Galpu clan. As well as excellent backpressure that requires little effort on the part of the didgeridoo player and a booming voice that relates to the Ancestral power of Wititj the Olive Python.
Djalu is holding a Masterclass in Arnhem Land for those interested in learning more about this unique musical instruments. Details are on Djalu's website:
http://www.djalu.com/awareness.html
To learn more about the didgeridoo and traditional Aboriginal culture, visit:
http://www.ididj.com.au/
To purchase an authentic quality didgeridoo made by a traditional Aboriginal craftsman and to help support remote Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, visit:
http://www.ididj.com.au/store/fine_didjeridus.html
And don't forget to check out the iDIDJ Forum for all the essential didgeridoo information you need:
http://forum.ididj.com.au
The ididjaustralia channel aims to provide the most extensive video content anywhere on the internet for those interested in the Australian Aboriginal didgeridoo and its place in 'Top End' Australian Indigenous culture.
We have over 300 video clips (and growing!)... Items of interest on this channel include the traditional didgeridoo playing styles, techniques and rhythms of Arnhem Land and surrounds. Watch some of the best traditional Aboriginal practitioners of the didgeridoo do their stuff, listen to their commentaries on various topics, and learn something of the rich and vibrant traditions of northern Australia.
Importantly, we offer authentic quality didgeridoos for sale here, instruments that are hand-selected for high cultural integrity, artistic merit, remarkable playing characteristics, and sound construction. Help us help remote Aboriginal communities by joining our campaign to stop the fakes. Avoid cheap imitation didgeridoos that undermine the income potential of Australian Aboriginal artisans and join us in our effort to expose dishonest retailers and manufacturers.
Other items of interest here include authentic traditional Aboriginal songs and dances of northern Australia, which comprise of sacred ceremonial rituals as well as public performances in festival contexts.
On this channel you can also preview award-winning documentaries and classic feature-length films with Australian Aboriginal content, as well as listen to short segments of commercially released audio recordings of traditional music from the 'Top End'. There are loads of other fun and interesting vids here for the intrepid world traveler, folk music lover, cultural explorer, and conscious consumer!
Subscribe to iDIDJ Australia's channel on YouTube to be the first to watch new video clips as we upload them here. Subscribers benefit from free gifts and special discounts in our iDIDJ Store... so what are you waiting for? Subscribe now!
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 348,719
Legend has it that when Djalu cut this yirdaki, he was struck by lightning in the knee and
Legend has it that when Djalu cut this yirdaki, he was struck by lightning in the knee and required hospitalisation. When the instrument was completed, the old women would cry whenever they heard this instrument being played, as it reminded them of a yirdaki that was used a long time ago at Galiwin'ku (Elcho Island) - presumably at the funeral of an important person.
This is not an ordinary didgeridoo. It is a manifestation of Ancestral power, a representation of sacred Galpu mysteries. It is Baywara!
This clip shows Djalu's son, Larry Winiwini - or Wuduku as he is more commonly known by family - playing Baywara at Ski Beach.
Djalu is holding a Masterclass in Arnhem Land, for those who are interested, please visit Djalu's website:
http://www.djalu.com/awareness.html
To learn more about the didgeridoo and traditional Aboriginal culture, visit:
http://www.ididj.com.au/
To purchase an authentic quality didgeridoo made by a traditional Aboriginal craftsman and to help support remote Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, visit:
http://www.ididj.com.au/store/fine_didjeridus.html
Credits: filmed by Andy Davern
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 81,229
A close-up of M*lk*yng* (M*lk*y for short) playing yirdaki in Korea, with face painting an
A close-up of M*lk*yng* (M*lk*y for short) playing yirdaki in Korea, with face painting and beaut colourful background!
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 3,420
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This is the same yirdaki as that played by Larry Winiwini. Notice the difference in playin
This is the same yirdaki as that played by Larry Winiwini. Notice the difference in playing style between father and son. Djalu is very much 'old school'. His style is slower and more measured, more predictable in timing and rhythm. In contrast, Winiwini displays a more contemporary edge to his style, typical of most of his peers in Arnhem Land who place speed and virtuosity ahead of compositional balance.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 10,627
A didgeridoo player from Elcho Island, recorded in 2004. Tom Dhakaliny is a ceremonial yir
A didgeridoo player from Elcho Island, recorded in 2004. Tom Dhakaliny is a ceremonial yirdaki player at Galiwin'ku.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 3,518
Nicky is a ceremonial yirdaki player, and current member of Yothu Yindi band. This clip wa
Nicky is a ceremonial yirdaki player, and current member of Yothu Yindi band. This clip was recorded in 2004 at a funeral ceremony for a family member.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 5,093
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This clip shows Yomunu Yunupingu playing a kick-arse yirdaki - a blue, red and yellow tape
This clip shows Yomunu Yunupingu playing a kick-arse yirdaki - a blue, red and yellow taped-up instrument bought by iDIDJ Australia from Djalu Gurruwiwi in 2004. This yirdaki had been around Gikal' and Ski Beach and was a popular instrument for ceremony as well as for recreational playing by the young men.
Watching Yomunu playing this stick was an awesome experience - the combination of an extraordinary stick played by an extraordinary player.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 3,689
Name: Russell Ngardayngarday
Clan: Warnapuyngu Wagilak
Homeland: Ngilipitji, Dhupuwa
Name: Russell Ngardayngarday
Clan: Warnapuyngu Wagilak
Homeland: Ngilipitji, Dhupuwamirri - eastern Arnhem Land
Skin: Burralang'
Age: 38 years
Russell Ngardayngarday, also known as Russell Ashley, is recognised throughout the greater part of Arnhem Land as an expert didgeridoo player. His Aboriginal name means Stringybark (the tree species Eucalyptus tetradonta). He comes from the Warnapuyngu branch of the almighty Wagilak clan.
Russell is one of 3 'Ashley' men known as expert yirdaki players, the others being older brothers Roy Wuyngumbi and Raymond Marpin.
It was Marpin - a Guyula Djambarrpuyngu clansman - who taught Russell the finer points in yirdaki playing (Marpin and Ngardayngarday both have Ritharrngu mothers, who were sisters).
Marpin has been a member of the David Gulpilil Dance Group and the Wak Wak Djunggi band, has toured internationally and is featured as the didgeridoo player on a 1991 cassette called "Djut Djut Djane" produced by David Gulpilil Productions. I was fortunate to have met and video recorded Marpin at Ramingining in the 1990s, during ceremonial performance, and will upload these clips to YouTube in the near-future.
Back to Russell... his father was Peter Dawukarri and his mother Rosie Ngardiny (both deceased). His blood brothers include Djardie Wordalpa Ashley, who famously won the 1987 National Aboriginal Art Award (before it was renamed the Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award). Bertie Warrngga is another blood brother who has made enormous contributions to society, through employment in the government sector encompassing a broad range of fields.
Because of Russell's reputation as a yirdaki maestro - and from different families and sources at that - I was keen to seek him out and to meet him. Which proved to be more difficult than I had imagined as Russell drifts between 4 distinct regions including the communities and outstations of Lake Evella, Oenpelli, Katherine, and Port Keats (where his wife is from).
Last week, once in the NT, I travelled 1600 kilometres by road over 4 days in order to track Russell down. Persistence paid off and here are some video clips to show for the effort.
Some comments as background material to accompany the clips...
Russell is somewhat of a 'long-grasser' these days. The term will not be explained here and it is not meant to be derogatory in any way, just a fact of life. Russell has deteriorated in health as a result of living it rough, out in the open with no roof over his head, but worst still, getting stuck into the alcohol in a big way. And every day...
With his brother's Warrngga's permission, I booked Russell into a hotel for 3 days and clothed, fed and looked after him. I was hoping he would get better, for me to hear the yirdaki magic. And also that Russell would regain some normality in his life that would have carry-over effect.
The normality part did not succeed. When the recordings were done and Russell was paid, the next time I saw him he was fully intoxicated on the verandah of a church building, a popular hangout for long-grassers during the wet season. He was sound asleep and no amount of prodding by family members could rouse him.
As for the recordings, note that Russell suffered 'grog shake' during the filming, a symptom of alcohol withdrawal. He improved over the days he was with me, with zinc, magnesium, calcium, vitamin C and vitamin B complex supplements, but not enough for him to fully recover. Russell is also missing 2 front teeth, a fact he pointed out to me in explaining his clumsy first day when I tried to record.
The following segments were recorded at different times, on different days and in different places. Despite lack of practice, grog-shake, and missing teeth, most of it was good to very good, and there were moments of brilliance too which can be seen at the start of Segment 6. Segments 3 and 5 show side-views and breathing patterns can be heard quite clearly in these. Segment 7 has Russell playing a mago WAL style made by his brother-in-law, Dhugurun Gulunggurr of the Ritharrngu clan.
With encouragement, hopefully I and Russell's family can inspire him to bigger things and higher goals in life. He is a good chap who has suffered some set backs in recent years. I was saddened to leave him as he was just starting to come out of his shell and on the last day with him, Russell was beginning to chat and laugh more comfortably. His glazed eyes were beginning to brighten, his shakes more controlable, and his warm and generous personality starting to shine through.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 6,523
This first segment is George Burarrwanga of Warumpi Band fame playing yirdaki backstage, s
This first segment is George Burarrwanga of Warumpi Band fame playing yirdaki backstage, showing my friend James the proper rhythm for a song about to be performed on stage. Not easy!
For those who don't know, George is quite ill at the moment, as you can see in the second clip with George dressed up in hospital greens. Strangely, the last time and second last time I saw him, he had a yirdaki put to his lips. There is no stopping George, not even illness. Bless his soul everything will be ok...
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 1,637
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