SRIRAM RAVISHANKAR
Trance
THE ORIGINAL
A walk through the world’s oldest wind
instrument with master and maker, Abhinav
Deodhar and his Anandamide Didgeridoos
Much before we had the fanciest flutes and polished brass
instruments, there was the didgeridoo which is believed
to be the world’s oldest wind instrument. When you are in
the soundscape of a didgeridoo, it is almost impossible to
ignore the instrument’s impact and how it unapologetically
just drags you into its trance without your permission!
Although today, the didgeridoo finds its place in various
genres, the circumstances around which it arose were
completely different. Join me in walking through the
grandeur of this instrument with master player and
maker Abhinav Deodhar who has been crafting his own
didgeridoos as ‘Anandamide’ and playing them all over the
Himalayas and across the country.
The didgeridoo originated amongst the tribal in the
northern regions of Australia. “Young 2-5 years old
eucalyptus trees were eaten up by termites because
the tree's core was soft. The termites would eat the core
leaving the rest. The naturally hollowed tress was picked
up aboriginal people and these were the first known
didgeridoos,” Abhinav explained. As each log had a
distinct shape of its own there was no specific shape or
size to a didgeridoo. Each didgeridoo was roughly 3 to
12ft long depending on the size of the log - this length
essentially defines the key of the instrument. Longer the
instrument, lower its pitch or key and vice versa. Images
of this instrument float around the internet with various
tribal paintings on the exterior of the instrument but
traditionally, there were no paintings on the instrument.
Later, for decoration purposes, each instrument was
painted differently to have its own unique identity.
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Talking about his first encounter with the instrument, he
recalls saying, “I was trekking and had taken a complete
off route than the usual trail as I wished to spend time in
solitude. As I sat on a raised rock looking at sun, I started
focusing on the sounds of the wind and some occasional
sounds of birds, etc. Then I noticed a deep buzzing sound
which did not sound like any bird. I was drawn towards
the sound so much that I started following it. Soon I
reached a point where I saw this man sitting with a long
wooden log blowing into it. The vibrations were so strong
that I got completely absorbed. I must have sat there