Referenzen

Charlie McMahon (Australien):

“Mit die besten und edelsten Didges, die ich bisher sah und spielte”

References

“Didgeman” Dirk Mannfeld (Deutschland):
“Die besten und edelsten Didges. Und ich weiß, wovon ich spreche, ich bin selbst Didgeridoo-Händler und -Musiker.”

Development

As all different types of people have been telling me, and as I have also noticed, the quality of the “Australian” didgeridoo has unfortunately suffered from the soaring increase in demand. Good didges are hard to find or they are far too expensive. That’s what inspired me to start building didges myself over 15 years ago.

And this is how I started to build my first didgeridoo. Back then I already had the high aspiration to build a didge out of a single piece of wood. I neither wanted to cut it in half and glue it back together again (sandwich) nor shape it in a lathe like other didge makers. Because this involves cutting through the course of the fibres, and this often subsequently leads to problems with cracks and a loss of sound quality. Instead, I wanted to create a didge which retained the original shape of the tree and the course of its fibres. My aim was to create works of art which were unique in terms of shape, quality, finishing, character, design and sound.

I spent many years on research and development. I had to develop and build tools which today still don’t exist anywhere else in the world. There were also innumerous problems which I had to solve. The current high quality standard of my instruments is thanks to my unrelenting will and the endless quest to always repeatedly improve the fine details. Often it was minor details which brought about improvements, but their sum total made a big difference.

At this stage I would like to thank all friends, acquaintances and didgeridoo players who supported me with help and advice. Without their support I would never have got so far.

I would like to particularly thank:

  • my toolmaker, Edi, who on my behalf has invested so much patience, sensitivity, time – and above all – faith in me.
  • Charlie McMahon, who back then when I was starting out encouraged me to continue as a professional didgeridoo maker – after he saw and played just a few of my first instruments.
  • and above all the ancient people (Aborigines) whom we have to thank for this great gift.