I believe that best contemporary didgeridoo players will be those players who are great singers.”

I would like to tell you a story about some knowledge that goes beyond time. Since I am a didgeridoo player, I have to start with my origin, didgeridoo. But I will not go very far away, anyway.

Sometimes I take a step back and take a look of this enormous abstract cosmic beast of total inner didgeridoo world. And for some time, it seems to me three things are pointing out of this mass/mess, so I would like to point them out to you.

First is BREATHING.

This is without doubt the most fundamental phenomena upon which all sound structure is built. Both inhales and outhales. And the very best way I have learned to breathe was to play didgeridoo. I developed my own exercises which focus on breathing, usually with some unbendable time device, such as metronome or rhythm machine.

Second is LIP CONTROL.

Lips are responsible for all those beautiful texture/colour/harmonic changes didgeridoo sound has. First melodies also rely upon it, since toots are done inevitably by control of lips. Best ways to practice lips are also didgeridoo based. I found that trumpet or other brass mouthpieces and inner logic/rules were simply too different to practice didgeridoo way of lips control on them. Didgeridoo is still the ultimate lip training device.

Third is VOICE.

I believe that best contemporary didgeridoo players will be those players who are great singers. Really special quality of voice is that it exists outside of didgeridoo world as a completely independent entity. Even more, it is in a way more primitive, primordial, more strongly connected to human form than didgeridoo. It is the only “instrument” that I feel has this quality. I had been practicing my voice in the tubical boundaries of didgeridoo for quite some time when I felt that I need to go outside of this realm, to the realm of pure voice to allow my voice to grow more freely and vigorously.

Since I was a bit lost in this domain of singing, I had to find a teacher. Since I am a kind of no-institution being, this is the kind of singing I was looking for. FREE singing! And I strongly and very happily resonated with what I have discovered, by pure luck, to be in my home town. By pure luck I say, because later I found out that these singing lessons are very rare.

I discovered the method of “uncovering the voice”, also known as Werbeck method. I will retell it in my words – it is a method which was developed by a 20th century prodigy singing girl who had lost her voice due to harsh academic exercises, and had to regain it from zero. She did it, in the fullest beauty, again, and with help of Rudolf Steiner wrote a book about it, and further developed the method for other people to have benefit of it. This method percieves voice as outside entity, a cosmic voice, to which our bodies are mere receptors. And if our bodies are unconstricted, unbent, not frustrated, not distorted, then the voice goes freely, strongly and beautifully though us. And THAT is singing. Not “us” trying to sing. This method is a lot about letting go of ego, which is very beneficial to our singing. It is beautiful in so many ways… one is that you don’t really need to know anything, literally anything about singing, and you can “cope” with this method perfectly.

Werbeck singing has enriched me in many many ways, but I would like to tell one “picture” which will describe greatly the power of this singing. When I was younger, much much younger, and not so much younger, I trained tae kwon do and gymnastics. I have been doing it a lot, and with time my hips were starting to fall out of their place. It had quite brutal methods of adjusting them, and they were quite painful. It lasted for several years. But when I started to practice singing in Werbeck way, the hips would through singing adjust themselves with no pain. For me it was pure magic. By no other means, including “normal” singing, I could have ever done it like this. Now one can say that Werbeck singing is Mumbo Jumbo, but after experiencing joint adjustment of such easiness and harmony through singing(!), one is left speechless, but with huge smile! But, please, do not get attached to this story. The biggest benefits are, naturally, the ones you get in your singing abilities.

There are many more crazily great aspects of Werbeck singing, and once I might devote some time to describe it, but for now, I would leave it up to you to discover it. How? – you may wonder. Well… I am specially happy that BlackMary, the infamous voice of Druyd, and long time Werbeck singing practitioner, has started go give her singing lessons, and they are open for public! =) If you live close or in Zagreb, and have at least a tiny spark for singing, you feel a bit unadapted to the classical structures of music, and might even lack a bit of confidence, I would with most easy heart, most honestly recommend you to visit Madam BlackMary and let her help you discover your voice which is now roaming free somewhere in space. Jump to her Myspace page to find out how to contact her – GO NOW!
If you are not from Zagreb, well… you can call her to give a workshop! How – simply write her a mail at: marycpilas@yahoo.com
I am quite sure you will be very grateful to yourself that you have done it. It is my most warm, most honest recommendation.

May the Voice be with you!

Du

“Vjerujem da će nabolji moderni svirači didgeridooa biti oni svirači koji su ujedno i iznimni pjevači.”

Htio bih vam ispričati priču koja postoji izvan vremena. S obzirom da sam ja svirač didgeridooa, moram početi sa svojim ishodištem,didgeridooom: No ionako neću daleko…

Ponekad ustuknem za korak, dva, pred onim što se dešava. Ustuknem da pogledam tu ogromnu amorfnu masu jednog fantastičnog živog bića, cijelokupnog didgeridoo svijeta. I već neko vrijeme mi se čini da tri korijenske iznimnosti strše, i htio bih vam svojim vlastitim strhom ukazati na njih.

Prvo je DISANJE.

Ovo je nedvojbeno najosnovniji fenomen na kojem je cijelokupna zvučna struktura sagrađena.I udisaji i izdisaji. Daleko najbolji način na koji sam naučio disati je samo sviranje didgeridooa. Razvio sam svoje vlastite vježbe koje se usredotočuju na disanje, obično uz pratnju nekog nepokolebivog vremenskog stroja kao što je metronom ili ritamašina.

Drugo je KONTROLA USANA.

Usne su odgovorne za sve one prekrasne teksturalne/obojene/harmonijske promjene koje je didgeridoo kadar izvesti. Prve melodije također počivaju na vibracijama usana, s obzirom da se alikvotni tonovi izvode neupitno snagom i kontrolom usana. Najbolji načini za vježbanje usana su također vezani uz didgeridoo. Usnici ostalih puhačih instrumenta su mi jednostavno bili prerazličiti da bih mogao kasnije vještinu prenijeti na didgeridoo. Didgeridoo mi je bio i ostao ultimativna naprava za vježbanje usana.

Treće je GLAS.

Vjerujem da će nabolji moderni svirači didgeridooa biti oni svirači koji su ujedno i iznimni pjevači. Velika je posebnost glasa, osobito naspram prethodno spomenutih disciplina, da postoji i izvan didgeridoo svijeta, kao sasvim nezavisan entitet. Štoviše, glas je na neki način još primitivniji, još primordijalniji i čak je još jače vezan uz ljudsku formu od didgeridoo-a. To je jedini „instrument“ za kojeg osjećam da ima to svojstvo. Bio sam vežbao svoj glas unutar cijevolikih granica didgeridoo-a dugo vremena kad sam osjetio da moram izaći iz tog područja, u prostor čistog glasa da dopustim svojem glasu da se razvije do svojih punih potencijala.
S obzirom da sam bio pomalo izgubljen u domeni pjevanja, morao sam naći učitelja. S obzirom da sam biće izvan gotovo svih institucija, to sam tražio i u pjevanju. SLOBODNO pjevanje!  I snažno i sretno sam zarezonirao s onime što sam pronašao, čistom srećom u svom rodnom gradu. Čistom srećom kažem, jer sam kasnije saznao da su ovakvi satovi pjevanja vrlo rijetki.

Otkrio sam medodu „otkrivanja glasa“, poznatu još kao Werbeck metoda. Prepričao bih to svojim riječima – to je metoda koju je razvila čudesna pjevačica dvadesetog stoljeća koja je svoj glas zbog grubih vježbi na konzervatoriju u potpunosti izgubila i morala ga je ponovno stvoriti iz nule. I prizvala ga je ponovno k sebi, u punoj ljepoti, a uz pomoć Rudolda Steinera, čuvenog antropozofa, napisala je i knjigu o tome, i dalje istražila metodu za druge ljude, da bi svi od nje mogli imati te iznimne dobrobiti i darove. Ova metoda pristupa glasu kao vanjskom entitetu, kojemu su naša tijela samo receptori. I kad bi naša tijela bila nespregnuta, neizvinuta, nefrustrirana, nestisnuta,  onda bi glas prolazio slobodno, snažno i prekrasno kroz nas. I TO je pjevanje! Ne „mi“ koji se trsimo pjevati. Ova metoda je uvelike o otpuštanju ega, što je vrlo dobrohotno prema našem glasu. Prelijepa je na toliko načina… jedan je da ne morate ništa, doista NIŠTA,  znati o pjevanju i možete se „suočiti“ s ovom metodom savršeno.

Werbeck pjevanje me obogatilo na nebrojene načine, no htio bih prikazati jednim primjerom koliko je to doista moćna stvar. Kad sam bio mlađi, toliko mlađi nego što sam sad,  al i ne baš puno mlađi, trenirao sam tae kwon do i gimnastiku. Radio sam to dugo, puno i često i s vremenom su mi se kukovi malo razlaba(la)vili i počeli su ispadati. Imao sam poprilično brutalne metode njihovih namještanja koji su bili popraćene pozamašnim bolom. To je trajalo nekoliko godina. No kad sam počeo prakticirati Werbeck pjevanje,  kukovi su mi počeli namještati sami od sebe, bez ikavog napora i bez ikakvih bolova. Za mene je to bila čista magija. Ni na koji drugi način, uključujući i „normalno“ pjevanje, nisam to mogao ni sanjati postići. Moglo bi se učiniti da je ta priča oko Werbeck pjevanja patka, no nakon ovog medicinskog fenomena namještanja razlohanih zglobova takvom lakoćom i harmonijom pomoću pjevanja, mislim da se to više ne bi moglo učiniti. Učini se samo veliki osmjeh! Ali, molim vas, nemojte se priheftati za ovu priču. Najveće beneficije Werbeck pjevanja su vezane uz pjevanje

Postoji još toliko fantastičnih aspekata Werbeck pjevanja, i jednom bih mogao odvojiti vrijeme da vam ih opišem, no zasad bi vama ostavio da ih otkrijete. Kako? – mogli biste se pitati… E pa, jako sam sretan da je gospođica Blackmary, pjevačica preslavnog Druyda i dugogodišnja praktikantica (praktična kantica) Werbeck pjevanja, počela davati satove pjevanja, otvorene za javnost! =) Pa ako živite blizu Zagreba, ili u Zagrebu, i imate barem malu iskru želje za pjevanjem, ako se osjećate malo neprilagođeni klasičnim muzičkim strukturama i možda vam čak pomalo nedostaje samopouzdanja, čistog srca, najtoplije bih preporučio da posjetite gospođicu BlackMary i dopustite jos da vam pomogne da otkrijete svoj Glas kji sada slobodno vrluda  negdje u svemiru. Doskočite do njene Myspace stranice da saznate njen kontakt – DOSKOČI!
A ako niste iz Zagreba, pa… možete je pozvati da vam održi radionicu! Kako- jenostavno joj napišite mail na: marycpilas@yahoo.com
Poprilično sam siguran da ćete si biti zahvalni da ste to napravili . Ovo je moja najtoplija, naiskrenija preporuka.

Neka Vaš Glas bude uz Vas!

Du

Last year, everything was brought to a new level for me. People who know me from didgeridoo world might be in belief that I am some kind of an expert on how to play didgeridoo, a skillful master, but in fact, I am a novice, complete beginner, smallest creature, standing naked in a hugest ocean there is.
You might think I tell you this because I am humble, but let me tell you more.
I have no words to express the gratitude that Mr Yr found me in deep sea of Zagreb lost musicians. And Druyd started.
At first it was swimming of Mr Yr and me in vast sessions of detailistic playing which were long and very enjoyable, but irregular. It wasn’t until this year that we started to play regularly for a longer period of time and Miss BlackMary joined us.
Now let me get back to the novice part of the story.  Most of our compositions are very irregular, in a regular way, meaning that the count of bars is often different, count of measures, breaks, everything was put in a song to satisfy some special “perfect” feeling of it. So often if I am absent minded for one second (not exaggerating)  I miss the song by miles. But there are far more simple tasks I fail. For example straight rhythm. Most plain, the easiest possible. In theory, of course.
So we start playing, and they stop, saying “Du you are slow, you are dragging us behind”.
“Really?” say I. “I must have been absent minded, I will concentrate now”
We start to play, and soon we stop-
“Du you are dragging us behind.”
“Again!?! But how is that possible!? I was concentrated!!!”
So I repeat that again and again, just to make sure everybody is very sure that it is a mistake, and especially me.
How is it possible that I “all of a sudden” miss so much? I have been practicing with metronomes and rhythm machines for many hours for many days, until I was able to do my own little acrobatic forms with ease. So how come I lost my skills so suddenly?
But the truth lies (beautiful combination of words) in the fact that now I care more about sound than ever before. The resolution of listening has risen. Now it is obvious which sound needs what shape, and where is the place of that shape. And when the machine of a song is started, the load of real time doing things rises higher than it has ever been before.
And I must tell you, Mr Fajt was Right! Playing with Yr allows me to go places I could not go alone. But now, I just take his etheric musical hand and we go.  A dog with only left legs together with only right legged dog can make a new creature and run better than before. Especially when Miss Blackmary lends us her wings. (She has no legs)

It is in very short, this school for Druyds,  just the surface. I can learn about every aspect of earth life in this school. Very nice school it is. I get no grades…;-)

This was a busy, beautiful, enthusiastic month. Du and Druyd decided to make some Christmas cards this year.  And I can proudly present them to you here and now with huge smile over our faces. I invite you for some enjoyment:

I can tell you some secrets about it. This is how it happened. Du one evening discovered the first sentence that has been flying freely and yet untouched in the air of the studio, and with the BIGGEST smile he told us all: “Rinkel Finkel TinkelG Tondo, how would you like a glass of Mondo?”

Then, within a few days, the rest just poured out of him. And the new task was born – to search for music. This was Druyd’s first “film music assignment”! Yr was absolutely fantastic. He would sit on the FAT BOY sofa in the studio with the text in his hands and mysteriously create musical plot out of it.

At the same time Du and I started working on the plasticine! What better job would you ever want as an adult? We spent 10-ish days or so with our hands inside of this strange mass producing uncountable worms J And then with the help of some digital magic it all sat in place. Now it’s here so you can lean against its energy and rest. If you like it, we are happy.

I would like to tell you how I ended up in the best school I was ever in. At first, that definitely didn’t look like a didgeridoo school. There were no obvious road signs for this school that I remember. But the road was nor too long, nor too difficult, obviously, as I am where I am.

The first thing I remember is that I wanted to be a chimney sweep. But somehow I ended up finishing university of mathematics. I prolonged that experience for a little bit, by going for PhD which I abruptly left in the middle, for there was a path far more intriguing to follow. So I became professional didgeridoo player. It was not such a big surprise at that point because I have been very enthusiastic about didgeridoos for a long time, I only never realized the possibility for myself being employed that way.

I remember one piece of advice which helped me, and it was so charmingly said, that I have to mention it here. It was several years ago. At that time I have already been practicing didgeridoo quite much (about 5 hours daily), but I was still not able to live exclusively by playing. It was one of the visit to Ondrej Smeykal in Prague where I met a famous drummer Ondrej was working with. Pavel Fajt. It was one fantastic evening in a fabulous bar, when Mr Fajt told me his historical sentences in his most charming English with hard Czech accent.
“Dudo if you want to become a professional didgeridoo player, you have to do three things;
First. Website.
Second. Solo concerts.
Third. Playing with good musicians.
But first!!! Website.”
Amazingly, I made my website and became a “pro”. I continued to follow this advice and it proved to be wonderful on many occassions.
So I kept going my path and growing as a player, recieving all the education that I needed from my surrounding. The tubes in the first place. And good good musicians I played with. I learned a lot from and extraordinary percussionist Kameni, with who I had privilege to play in a band called Kik’dbit. And I learned, and keep learning extremely lot from piano player and composer Marko Ritosha…

But this year everything has changed… (to be continued)

I feel it
dripping from the ceiling
the blood of the universe
I am in my room
world is the room
doors opened
I feel it
the blood of the universe
I open my eyes
I am alone
I play
I close my eyes
the blood of the universe
it is a privilege
to play the notes
the body of the universe
so perfect
like circles
like plains
so still
flows through
the blood of the universe
it is such a privilege to play the notes
to touch with invisible finger
the body of the universe
the finger in the ear touches deep
invisible finger
because deeply deep
there is an abyss too steep
to fall
in
in which everything just is
the heart of the universe
beats uncountable beats
notes uncolorable notes
but my notes are simple
my D is green
and my A is red
my F is yellow
and 7/8 is turquoise-green.
it is so simple to be
no need to go
just stay
and flow
with blood of the universe

Many vary times and very many times also, I’ve been asked what kind of music do I play. Didgeridoo music? This question of category was one of the hardest ones. I do not know what kind of instrument I play. Is 10 meter didgeridoo still a didgeridoo? It looks like one, but so does contrabass and violin look alike. And this is the material world,  the “music question”  in etherical realm is just catapulted eons of think years away… If there were only my themes, they would discard me… I play  about rotten rooms of falling thoughts, about dream capsuled of giant and dwarf, about a raven crossing realities…And those are only ideas,t he “what”, “how”defines your genre much more if I got that right…
Many connect “didgeridoo” to world music… well it is obvious why… but it is not really true for so many didgeridoo  players… We have no real connection to that term instead of instrument and to mix terms like that would lead us to contradiction in terms…
What is left of genres if you want to be more sincere is “acoustic” -ok, but than you can just say you play “music”. Maybe you halved the category, but still, this is just pointing out the obvious. It’s like calling “unplugged” every album that you make.
I have to remember what’s written in my profile. “Minimalist” I think. Yes, I have one tube, that must be minimalistic. It makes sense, but for somebody who did not hear this music, and heard of other minimalists, might be a bit misleading…
We are left with experimental. I like that one, it is like saying you do experiments in the high tower of your castle. Green flames of explosions coming out your windows when you play. Experiments are not always successful, so is not your music….
And if I am correct, we have the category “other”. I love that one. I play other music. Other than what you think. Other than what is. Just other. If you come to my concert I will just play something other than that.
But recently I had a nice drop in head that solves the situation.
The name in the drop said ALTER ETHNO.
But what is alter ethno!? Here is my try to describe it how I feel it, for I am far from giving any definitions.
Alter ethno is what ethno would sound like if people were different. In history. If they did not cling to their love, misery, war.. misery of love in war… war in misery of love…love of misery in war (well… maybe not that one)…
I have naive look at the world so I imagine people in the “old days” being simpler than today: I imagine people playing what is now known as “ethno” to be peasants. So that is the realm in which we stay. Simple tools. Shovels. Ploughs.
But there is a possiblity that there was a peasant who was interested in the vastness of Space and space that is there. Who was interested in beauty as such and curious places it hides when one tries to capture it. In the green thing that makes trees have leaves and people have hair. Over their body. In unexpected order of things in disorder and the other way around.
I feel like that peasant trying to explore mysteries of the Space with a shovel.
So I would call the way of music I am in, alter ethno.

Four days ago, or so, I watched a movie. I rarely watch movies. This one was elevenfold worth the time. It is called Step across the border. I didn’t know what to expect. So I didn’t expect. So that day I got easiness and lightness.
Day after I did not expect anything again. I was playing didgeridoo and singing whole day, just from pure joy. So I was playing with effects when suddenly I heard a new song. I managed to capture it contures, so here it is now. It is called The Spatialist. I believe it will be on the new album.

Songs rarely come that clearly and strongly to me…

It was a really nice movie.