Rhythm..
In about 1665, a Dutch scientist named Christian Huygens described
something now called the law of entrainment. This law holds that if 
two rhythms are in close proximity, they will always fall into 
synchrony. Perhaps because we are part of a natural world which 
includes many diverse rhythms we sometimes find ourselves drumming
our fingers, taping our feet or mentally counting. 
Coming together to play music brings us in proximity to various 
rhythms, but often it is playing in solitude which reveals or allows
us to discover larger rhythms. In Hinduism, creation starts with the
nada or original sound.  If you look at a statue of Shiva, you will
see that he is dancing and playing a drum with some of his hands. In 
another hand, he holds the flame of destruction. As long as he is 
dancing, the world will continue to exist. When this dance stops,
all life will return to Shiva's essence. 
  To me, at least, it is the rhythm of the didjeridu which 
demonstrates the difference between sound and noise. No rhythm, the
sound is simply that - sound or noise. It is rhythm which organizes
the sound into it's place in creation. The most basic thing we know 
about our universe is that everything is in motion. Every atom is 
dancing to it's own rhythm. Rhythm is that which repeats itself in 
time. The phases of the moon, the changing of the seasons and our own
hearts beating all are examples of rhythm.
Organizing noise into rhythm is one of the oldest human activities. 
And everyday, most of you reading this newsletter hold a reminder of
this up to your lips and blow.  How often do you wonder about the 
people who invented this method of musical expression. And how often
do you think of this activity as a way to connect with the sacred? 
Amongst the many theories of the origin of music, many suggest that
music was developed as a mode of communication with supernatural 
powers. There are many examples of this communication music of all
cultures. Communication with the dead, prayer to deities, and 
celebrations of life all have been the subject of songs and musical
compositions. Clearly, music - the organization of sound into 
rhythms,  has an important place in the understanding of any culture.

Two against three, an example...
1 . 2 . 3 .
1 . . 2 . .
Count aloud to six, tapping the left hand on you thigh on the count 
of one and the right hand one the counts one, three and five. Once 
you master that, tap the left hand on one and four while tapping the 
right hand on counts one, three and five. Now do it with out counting
 aloud and you'll find the hand pattern is : Together, right, left, 
right. We can notate it like so :
 T R L R T R L R T R L R
Now your left hand is slapping twice a measure, while during the same interval,
the right hand is slapping three times. This is two against three or 2/4-3/4 
polymeter. Cool. 
To transfer this technique to the didjeridu we'll assign the left hand rhythm 
(2/4) to the voice box doing a voiced note and the right hand rhythm to the 
tongue doing a kangaroo hope (e.g. . "Da"). So on the didjeridu, we can notate
the voice note as V and the tongue note , DA as D. The pattern could be written
on two lines to reflect the two rhythms. Here are two bars :
3/4    D D .  D . D D  .  D   (Right Hand)
2/4    V  .  V . . V  .  V .     (Left Hand)

Drum Language as Didjeridu Language...

 The Talas of Northern Indian music are beat cycles. The language of
the tablas is particularity suited to the onomatopoetic language used
by didjeridu players to convey harmonic rhythms on the didjeridu. I 
will give one example which is taught pretty early to tabla players, 
the Sitarhani 16 beat pattern. I will use the "|" to symbolize rests.
 Each word or rest in the following is an eight note for those 
keeping (pardon the pun) score..

dha | ga dhi | ge dha | ga dhi | ge dha |

dha | ka ti | ka ta | ta | ga dhi  | ge dha |

Now, the emphasis of these phrases are divided into parts. The first 
is the sam  which is the first beat of the talas and the point to 
which all variations will return. In our example, "dha | ga hi | ge
dha"comprises this portion. So we'd keep that phrase consistent and 
always return to it no matter what variations or embellishments we 
add to the remainder. So we can apply many variations to this 
language using all the techniques we know as didjeridu players. And
by giving the first section emphasis and keeping it exactly the same,
create a pattern which repeats itself in time - which is what rhythm
is.

 Appropriation, Transposition and Inspiration...

What should we think about taking rhythms from cultures all over the
world and applying it to the didjeridu? This activity is sometimes 
called cultural transposition. Critics of this activity, or purists
sometimes decry it as culture appropriation. I prefer the term 
inspiration or influence and musicians all over the world through
out history have done it. We'll let the scholars wring their hands
over what we do. Let's play music!



     Copyright 1997 Ed Drury