A newsletter for the Portland area Didjeridu player...... OCTOBER 1999 Volume 5 Issue 10

Why don't we slide? An interview with Scott Dunbar

by Ed Drury

I've played several slides and owned a couple. They've all pretty much passed through my hands after I played them for anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months. But when I saw the Slidedidge site, I decided I'd have to try this design. This was the first three piece slide which I had ever seen and it featured a nice flared bell. When it arrived, I immediately took it into my music room and played it in to a tuner to see what it could do. Completely folded up, it played in C. Going down the scale all the way to a low B natural one octave plus a semitone! I was quite excited to take it to a rehearsal and give it a good go. Our sax player was quite thrilled to do key changes with me! The following day, I took it over to a friend's house for a didjeridu duet. I had a great deal of fun playing together in the key of D and then landing on a sustained overtone while sliding up and down, then dropping back to the fundamental drone, sometimes landing a little low and sliding back up to pitch somewhat like a jaw drop. Then I discovered the joys of doing descending vocals glides while sliding up on the drone note and then doing rising vocals while sliding down. Now a month later, I realize that I've only begun to explore this instrument completely.
So I'm happy to introduce to you the man behind this three piece design. - Ed

[Scott] In answer to your first question.

A combination of inputs has resulted in me producing a Slide Didge.

I grew up believing I would be a designer .

I went to Finland as an exchange student and was bagged about the way Australians treated Aboriginal people. My answer was "I didn't know anything about the problem nor did I know any aboriginal people so how can it be my fault." I came back to Australia and satisfied my need for design by studying town planning. Here I was reminded about indigenous Australian issues along with the growing problems of consumerism, pollution, over population, reduced ecological diversity.....and the ramifications these problems will have on the world and myself if they don't go away.

Unfortunately, I found I could not become a town planner as I did not believe in the system that I would be planning for. I felt that my energy would best be utilized in helping the development of an alternate system.

I went white water kayaking with a bunch of friends. One guy who liked all the girls that I liked played a didge. as soon as I heard the sound I fell in love with the instrument. Within a year of playing didge I came across the concept of two sliding pipes that changed the sound of the didgeridoo. I made one for myself but it was only after a combination of events that I began to realize the full potential of this instrument. I saw AB an Australian didge player at Byron Markets playing one. I thought his playing was great but that his instrument was crap. I knew that within due time I would perfect this instrument and it would become a great calling tool.

The instrument was Australian, it was strongly connected to the value system I wanted to promote I new that I could produce and design this instrument. Developing and promoting the Slide Didge simply puts me in touch with an alternate system of development. I hope in the future I can design for this new system.

In answer to the second question

Yes I have made many prototypes. I think slide didge 24 hours a day 7 days a week 200% of the time for the last two years. I have many years worth of designs to get out into the market place. I hope I can meet the right people who will help me get them out there.

Why do you play didge? and why do you want to write didgeridoo articles and in particular hear my opinion?

[Ed] When I first started playing the didj in the late 80's most of us had only heard field recordings of Aboriginals done by anthro's in the late 50's and 60's. We really didn't know what we were hearing. It was several years before I heard a contemporary composition. That was from England, and album called "Initiation" which was wonderful. Then I heard the Gondwanaland recordings, the Tjapukai tape and some Alastair Black. Wow! People using the instrument in a contemporary setting. What an idea. I've been a musician all my life and by this point developed the idea that all people were natural musicians, but that our American educational system was lacking in training individuals musically. Just like you as a designer, looked at what AB was doing and saw a natural contribution you could make, I felt I could play a role in education. But much of the information was obscure, contradictory and steeped in anthropological jargon. Also, much of it is what we commonly call "urban folklore" or more technically, BS.

Through the power of the internet, though, I can reach out to people all around the world. Collect information as a result of interviews and present it not as just an interesting list of opinions and facts, but as people. Music is about people. It is a common denominator and a point of diversity as well. While it may be that the music is what interests me, it is the people who share that which interests more people. And in the course of doing this, I've made many life long friends.

This is unusual, in that usually I ask the questions :-)

[Ed] The world being as small a place as it is , I met AB here in Portland, Oregon, USA several years ago. He was performing on the street right out side the shop I work in on weekends at the Portland Saturday Market. He was using a slide during that performance, probably the one that you saw. I was already familiar with the concept of a slide from Charlie McMahon and had played some crude and not so crude designs. Now I have one of yours and it's the best slide I've played to date. Since you've said that you "think slidedidge" all the time, are there new designs and models in store for us didge players that you can talk about now?

[Scott] Yes.  I have made the first all timber Slide Didge ^TM. It has one of the best sounds you will ever hear. It is a very professional looking instrument. It has been my biggest job so far. It is an instrument that is very much for the professional player. There is little point in  advertising it to anyone other than those who can grab the concept of the very dynamic plastic Slide Didge ^TM which plays more notes, is lighter, more compact and more durable.

[Ed] I've often thought that there is more interest in the Australian Aborigine in the US than there is in the Native American cultures right here. While I could lament that, I think that through this interest in indigenous knowledge around the world, perhaps people here will start to investigate the wealth of indigenous knowledge, art and music which is immediately available to us here. And that they will continue to be more aware and informed about the affairs of indigenous peoples around the world. Music is a great place to start such investigations as in all cultures, it is tied very strongly to the traditions and history of the people it comes from. I see from your web page that you've been involved in sharing the didjeridu with some other cultures. Did you enjoy the experience of demonstrating your slidedidge for monks?

[Scott] I very much enjoy sharing my slide didge with other cultures. As for introducing the Slide Didge ^TM  to monks, I had the privilege about a year ago but that is someone else's photo. I have no record of my encounter. The Tibetan monk I saw talked of his culture and understanding of the world. He showed me some simple musical instruments that he played. He was very keen to play the slide didge as he new that he could play it. He said that he should have brought a Tibetan horn but they were too big and heavy to be carried everywhere.

[Ed] The Slidedidge, however, is easy to carry anywhere. I've played several slides over the years, but your design is the first three piece slide I've encountered. The compact size when folded up is an advantage to be sure and the high C to a low C or B natural when full extended gives it a range of over an octave. Rather impossible range in a reasonably sized two piece slide. I'm wondering what all the design considerations went into the three piece design as well as the other features of the Slidedidge. Can you take us into that process a little?

[Scott] When I realized that the Slide Didge ^TM change of sound was infact change in note, the obvious thing was to mark the notes so then I could tune to other instruments. The second consideration was to have as many notes as possible. The more interlocking pipes you have the more notes you have. However, a player can only play a didge so short and so long, there is little point making the instrument any shorter or longer. A person needs to be able to get full arm movement in the slide, you do not want to underutilized the ability to slide through as many notes as possible. However, nor do you want to over extend the arm such that it is difficult to slide the bottom pipe back up. This is a problem with two piece variable pitch didgeridoos that people have tried to make them selves.

Thus, I determined the shortest length and the longest length didge sound I could play. I then determined a suitable length for the arm to extend out to. I made the notes such that they would not come off and were easy to see for both the player and other musicians.

I put a rib at the top of each pipe to raise it off the ground so the instruments surface has less chance of being damaged. The rib also acts as a basic connecting point for the seals, hand pieces and anything else that I wish to connect to the instrument in the future.

The mouth piece comes in any shape or size that is requested. Interchangeable mouth pieces will one day become a feature of the instrument. This will not be hard for any existing slide didge owner to do in the future.

Having three interlocking pipes that increase in size allows the sound to be amplified more. The sponge hand pieces let you slide the instrument hard without knocking your teeth out.

It was important for me to minimize the use of materials, produce a design that was long lasting, light compact, easy to carry and could ultimately be used as a hard shell for other designs. I am basically building my own Lego set that allows me to build around the slide didge. I am designing my didge for the Future Nomad. I love traveling, I have done much work with backpackers and I have had many tribal gatherings with people that are on the move. People that are attracted to the didge are open minded, easy going, future eaters that enjoy music and the energy of life.

This type of person with advent of Internet technologies will continue to grow and I will design for them. I have some basic rules in my approach to design.

It must utilize all materials to the fullest potential, be dynamic in an approach to design and design for change. Every action has a reaction those reactions are more often than not quite obvious so much so that actions of reactions and so on can be predicted.

[Ed] In looking at your wonderful web pages, It strikes me that you've been quite generous about helping to "get the word out", so to speak, for artists using slides. There are many CD reviews, sound samples, photos and movie clips from all these great didj players. Even if a person is not interested in slide didj technology, there is plenty of information about players and recordings to make a visit to the site entertaining and informative for anyone. Can you share a little about your approach to the world wide web and your contributions to it?

[Scott] My approach is to welcome people to my ideas, interests and perceptions of the world. The web and e-mail adds a new dimension to human existence. It makes the relationship building process between people more shared and spread out. A persons connection to a web of friends becomes so much greater. Relationships formed of the web are initially weak but still exist and have the potential to blossom into something really great.

I am the sort of person that gets entertainment and excitement from all most anything. The world wide web totally blows my mind any time I think about it.

My web site has only just started. I started it because I knew the web could help me and the only way to find out the details of how this would happen was to give it a go

The potential is limitless. I really get a kick out of the fact that I can make something and have someone use it at the other side of the globe. people a chat to me about the who, where, when, why, and how of them and the slide didge. It is great to meet people that have a Slide Didge ^TM. It is great as I already have a friendly bond with these people before we have physically met.

[Ed] The slidedidge comes with a lot of information. Can you tell me a bit about how you put that all together and why you feel it is important to include with the didgeridu?

[Scott] The information that I sent you was out of the norm. It was actually leftover info booklet I put together for a talk on the didgeridoo and Slide Didge at the Queensland Conservatorium for music. Most of that information was given to me from Karl Neuenfelt who has written a great book called From Arhnam Land to the Internet. The info at the back of the booklet was put together by me over the last year or so.

The Slide Didge is an instrument in it's own right. The instrument has had an obvious growth point from the didgeridoo. People interested in having a slide didge are generally didge players that want to tune the didge sound to other music. These people are well aware of the connection to the didgeridoo. However, a growing number of non didge players are interested in the Slide Didge because it lets' them make a new and very dynamic sound that is easy to play. It is important for these people to know about the didgeridoo and the ancient culture that the sound originates from. The didgeridoo is a great gateway for people to open up to and share information with. It is one way that indigenous Australian culture will continue to grow in a contemporary world. This is important to me as it will help stronger cultural ties with this land and climate develop which is what I need.

[Ed] Tell me about the didjeridu scene where you live in Australia. What kind of venues are there for didjeridu performance? Who are the prominent players in your local community?

[Scott] I live in Brisbane now where the didge is just starting to be recognized. Obviously didge is my life so I know many people that play and places to go and play. Like minds attract. There is one didge club taken by John Bowden. Other than this the only organized didge group that I have seen recently was an aboriginal performance where 10 didge players played together at a cultural show. One of these guys was a friend Jamie who I have known for some time, the others were all new faces aging from 10- 35 years.

Art Nicholas has a growing profile as a didge player for the Brisbane Cultural centre. Adrian Ross is a solo performer that plays didge at cultural events. Adrian Macavoy is a fantastic street performer that entertains most tourists. You will find him playing down at south bank and around the city most weekends Matt James from Tribal Trance is a hot didge player who lives up the North Coast. Terry Salach is local to me and makes the best didges I have ever seen and boy have I seen a lot of didges (they are also the most expensive).

On social terms I know many alternate lifestyles which represent a small demographic of Brisbane most of which play or appreciate didge music. If I ever get desperate for a live didge fix then I make my way down to the North coast of New South Wales where it all first happened for me. Didge playing is definitely on the up in this country but I think it is fare to say that the low population density and it's general conservative nature has greatly slowed didge progress compared to the US and Europe.

When I play didge I play in Caves, Big Drain pipes, world war two bomb shelters, bathrooms and anywhere else that the sound kicks back at you. My favorite spot is in the Glass House Mountains, half way up Mt Beerwah which is a 500m meter high Volcanic Plug that sticks up out of the earth like a body rising out of water. To local Aborigines the dream time story tells of a pregnant mother running away from the rising waters of the sea. Half way up, where her belly would be, you can find ancient Rainforest that is kept cool and damp from the shade of a basalt overhang that steps out 40 meters above. This Rainforest is isolated from the rest of the world and protected within a scoop of bare basalt rock. At the very back of the overhang where the roof meets the ground you are walking up, you can find thousands of wind eroded chambers each of which has it's own unique resonating sound that blends into the greater echo of this huge rainforest Amphitheatre. It is perfect place to take my Slide Didge as few other instruments would be light, compact and durable enough to take to such a beautiful but hard to get to place. Hours of fun can be had in a place like the one I have just described as you can find the resonating frequency of each natural wind eroded chamber. Some chambers you can climb within and find the sound that resonates most favorably around you. Others are in the sealing above you so you can position your self in the individual focal points that each chamber has at a given frequency. You can do one of two things. Either you change the frequency of the slide didge by sliding the pipes up or down. This way the resonating frequency focal point will come to your ears. OR You change the position of your ears by moving towards the focal point of any given frequency that you choose to play.

I hope this can inspire people to interact more with the sound and light of the environment around them.