[ED] I know that your very seriously involved with producing sound tracks for all kinds of projects. Can you share with us how you first became interested in using the didjeridu on these projects?
[Karl] I wish I could say that I was "discovered". The real truth of the matter is I'm in the right place at the right time with the right friends and collegues. Playing didgeridoo for commercial recordings and TV scores began in 1988, when at the time, I was mixing the audio for the television show "America's Most Wanted". During those years of high-stress production of AMW, I forged friendships with some of the most talented composers in the Eastern US. A few years later when I started playing the didgeridoo, I ended up playing for most of these composers -- Charlie Barnett, Lenny WIlliams, Kenneth-Michael Veltz, Anatoly Halinkovitch, Todd Hahn -- just as a demonstration. One thing led to another...Charlie hired me as a session player for a commercial CD; Lenny and I have done two National Geographic "Explorer" scores together; Todd hired me as a session player for a National Geographic Eductional Film project; and Kenneth-Michael and I have been looking for a reasonable excuse to record together. Its been very exciting and a lot of fun! Currently, I'm gathering my creative juices and friends to record an album of my own. Didgeridoo will be a major part of that effort, but certainly not the only part...
[ED] How were you first introduced to the didjeridu? Can you share a little about your early playing experiences?
[KARL] I ran across a recording of didgeridoo in the stock music
library of a mixing house I worked for at the time. A few weeks later,
I used it in the soundtrack for a promotional film for the American
Society of Travel Agents (ASTA).My fascination started at that time...
A few years later, I became friends with Anthony Batson, a producer
for "America's Most Wanted" (now with CBS's "48 Hours"), and Melbourne,
Australia native. One day, I went up to him and asked where I could
get a didgeridoo. He handed me a mail order catalogue that specialized
in souvenirs from Australia. I then received my first didgeridoo from
the catalogue as a gift from my wife.
When I first started playing, I had no one to teach me! About a week
went by when I, by pure chance, bought "Out of the Woods" by Graeme
Wiggins. That CD was my first teacher. At the time, I had no plans
whatsoever, to take the didgeridoo any further than droning in my
living room -- especially when my daughter told me that my playing
"sounded like gas".
I continued to struggle with circular breathing for a long time. A
long time... The drone came easy, but CB'ing took me three months.
About two months after learning to CB, I landed my first session with
National Geographic. Then a month later, I had my first didgeridoo
lesson with Tim Whittemore of Big Blow and the Bushwackers. Circular
breathing aside, I think its fair to say that I came along pretty
quickly on the didgeridoo.
[ED] Did you feel that private instrucion is beneficial to a didjerduist? Did you use any other instructional aids aside from the lesson and listening to Graham Wiggins?
[Karl] I think that since the didgeridoo is not a western instrument,
that western music pedogogy is not entirely necessary. But that
doesn't answer your question, really. I think that instruction is good
to a point. Then its up to the student. I view the didgeridoo as the
ultimate improvisional instrument. And to over-formalize playing
techniques would take away an element of that. So, teaching droning,
circular breathing, and the mechanics of certain sounds is good...
but at a certain point, I think its time for the student to start
developing his or her own "bag of tricks". Did I get more instruction
specific to didgeridoo after meeting with Tim Whittemore? No, I didn't.
But, there was a lot of ancillary things I did to support and improve
my playing. I found yoga to help control and extend my circular
breathing abilities; singing helped my diaphram control and
vocalization range as well as sustaining my vocalizations. And, of
course, listening to other players... on CD and live.
Another superb instructional aid is performing in public! If you're able to read
your audience, you begin to see what they are liking and grooving on.
If I have a group of people clapping and tapping their toes, I start
to ask myself how long can I sustain this or is this something I need
to practice. then I'll go off and woodshed the riff into a whole"song"
or whatever... It works wonders!
[ED] I once played for a group of people with advanced Alzheimer's disease. Ironically, it was an experience I will never forget. I like to think that I played the best I ever have in a quite literally forgetable performance. The audience and I were truely "in the moment" because we quite literally only had the present tense. Is there a moment like that which you could recall for us? A moment which stands out in your playing experience? A moment which elevated or moved you.
[Karl] There are moments of each performance or session that are in my mental "scrapbook". Though, I think the most powerful moments come when I've spent time with children. They are really called by the sound. Its at those times I feel the greatest joy... but also the weight of responsibility to accurately represent what this instrument is about. Namely, its origins with the Australian Aboriginal. I'll discuss the art on my instruments; I have them repeat the words "yidaki" and "Yolngu" for me. The elevation comes when I've introduced this "instrument", which is completely alien and out of the realm of their experience, into their budding worlds. And its sort of a mission for me, because its these kinds of experiences that start the breakdown of prejudice and xenophobia.
[ED] Can you tell us a bit about the production of Didjeridu Panet?
[Karl]The technical execution of Didjeridu Planet, was by
far, the easiest part of the project. Knowing some of the diversity of talents
and tastes of the List members, I could tell ahead of time that I
could sequence the cuts into something listenable. I think I ultimately
achieved that. But, the material was so fabulous that the CD mixed
itself -- a real credit, I feel, to the participating artists.
The real challange was managing that diversity of talent. Many
suggestions came in from the list. Some legitimate issues also arose:
artist copyright, publishing rights, broadcast rights and others. I
tried to incorporate as much of these suggestions as I could and
resolve as many issues as I could. Finally, I realized that if I
continued to act upon the suggestions of what amounted to a 200
person committee, the project may never get done.
Well, the good news is, that the project did get done. And two years
later, continues to be a sought after recording. I'm very pleased that
David Blonski has accepted the baton of producing the next Didjeridu
Planet project. And I also think that if the List keeps getting new
blood at the rate that it has for the last two years, we can expect
DP03 and DP04!