So, a while ago it came time to FINALLY make a digeridoo. They get delivered here tonight, and so because I'm excited, I'm going to share the story of making my digeridoo. For those of you who don't know, a digeridoo is a hollow log that has been emptied by termites while a tree is still alive. This is an entirely natural process, and indeed many small mammals live in trees that have been hollowed, for example many endangered possums. The result is a wooden tube that can be played like a tuba... I guess. When you've found your hollow log (it can be any wood really; Phil, the digeridoo maker, told me that any wood will sound pretty good, and they sound better as they dry and get seasoned), you must chip out one side to make a hollow bell with a chisel. This part is hard work. Next, you have to strip the bark off with a large knife, as I'm about to do in the first photograph. Seconds after this was taken, I sliced open my thumb with the thing, but it wasn't a big deal. My digeridoo is made out of the trunk of a red stringy bark tree; the grain is very wavy, and the aboriginals used to use the bark to make string. Anyway, next the wood gets trimmed down and smoothed. After that, you've got a digeridoo.
Here's me practicing for my own digeridoo.. Phil needed a while to decorate the digeridoos with our totem animals... I have a hunch that mine is some sort of mammal, but who knows.
Here's the bottom of Phil's pride and joy, the story stick. There are cave painting type things on the inside of it. This thing is absolutely sick; it took a year to decorate.
Here's all of us who decided to make a digeridoo... what a fun day!!
Alright then, back to the lab to process samples...
See you all in America in just over two weeks!
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