A newsletter for the Portland area Didjeridu player......Aug 2000 Volume 6 Issue 8
This is the first of what I hope to be a series of follow ups with people I've interviewed in the past few years. Since our playing, and our lives, are always changing - I think it will be quite reward to check in with people periodically to stay current on what is going on with them. I interviewed Jason in April of 1999. If you want to read or re-read that interview, it is at http://www.rdrop.com/~mulara/issues/ao54.html .
[Ed] So what's been up with you since we last talked about a year ago?
[Jason] Well after I did that interview I felt that what I was trying to do was very scattered. I also felt that my woodworking skills needed to be refined before I felt comfortable with selling them. So essentially I haven't focused on selling any pieces this past year.
Instead I've been studying the kinds of wood and appropriate skills that I needed in order to feel good about selling them. I felt I really needed to re-think where I was coming from, with making didges and what I hoped to get across with them. I spent so much time fretting about different glazes that I nearly drove myself crazy. It took about nine months to settle on three different types for different types of didges. I'm still looking into making my own for very special pieces. I think I spent like, $300.00 just on testing the glazes, not to mention time spent wet sanding and buffing etc... This is pretty much what I wanted to do.. Spare no expense on the extras and don't think about the time spent on a piece till it was finished. I want to make gourmet didges that professional performers (not just didge performers) would want to put next to their $2000.00 Fender Strat. I didn't want to keep trying to make pieces that sounded as good as a nice authentic. I wanted to make these pieces with acknowledgement to where the sound originated from while keeping with the idea to incorporate my own perception of the world that is around me and influences my art. Anything else for me would cross the boundaries of appropriation and be false.
Also Last year I was getting ready to launch a web site and I put that off with everything else... However I feel pretty good about doing one now so hopefully it should be up and running by the time this interview is on-line. That interview really made me sit down and figure out how and when to do what I really wanted. So thanks again for it...
[Ed] - I see from your work that you've done a bit of innovative design, like a dream catcher in the bell? The individuality of the piece seems quite important to you. I wonder if you could talk a little about how each piece starts out and if it "speaks" to you to guide you in your work?
[Jason] Yes, I believe each piece speaks to me and I speak to it. Each piece is different for me right from the start. The synthetics are harder to deal with in this regard as you have to kind of put a piece of yourself into it in order to start the process. I guess its the thought of its uniqueness that rules my motives from the start, with a synthetic piece. Where as wood and bamboo or agave already have that individual sense in them. Everything in nature is interconnected while retaining individual aspects at the same time. Achieving a harmonious balance between the two, is a life lesson that our ancestors knew, and one that I try to communicate through "the didge experience"...LOL...
My perspective starts from the idea that each of my didges needs to be as much of an individual as the person playing it will be. From there it depends on whether it's natural or synthetic... Synthetics require a bit more thought but by the end of the process have that uniqueness built into them in different ways. Natural stuff demands something more of an equal partnership. It almost says "follow my grains and make use of the swirls around the knots, flow as I flow and you will know me". That's a quote from a journal I keep on my didge work.
Of course the down side to all this is that some didges just won't play right for certain players. For the kind of work I do though, it works out better in the end. I'm trying to sell to people who know how to play and already own one. People who know they want a particular sound and style. The trick is in anticipating this and then working with in the given boundaries of the piece. Also the belief that someone out there is absolutely going to love this didge and give it a good home.
Then there's the spiritual process that they go through. I put each group of didges through a personal ritual process that includes prayers of significance both for the individual didge as well as the group and myself. Basically each piece is an artists prayer of thanks and humbleness for the chance to create these things. It's wholly an interpersonal thing but it serves to reinforce the belief in each piece being alive in a way...
As an aside here I find a bit of conflict with this in didge circles. There seems to be this belief that when several didges are played together they should all be in the same key are at least traditional sounding to the western ear. While this does make for incredible sessions it is not the only way. Some of the best didgein' I've ever heard comes from circles where you have people playing in many different keys that are otherwise to flat or sharp or off for whatever reason. The synergy that can be generated is awesome, everybodys' individual sound gathering into one momentous song that spirals outwards on all levels. It's at these kinds of circles that I've seen the most incredible reactions take place. People breaking down and crying or lifted so high from the sound itself, they thought they were floating...You know, your typical transcendental experiences. At least that's been my experience...Basically there is only rule in didgeing: if it sounds good, then play it...
[Ed] You said you spent quite a bit on testing your glazes and I'm wondering how much you think that affects the over all sound relative to the shape and material?
[Jason] Depends on the density and interior features and of course prep and glaze. I also take into consideration the character of the exterior art. Even if the medium dictates a specific glaze the art that is on that piece might suffer or it. Its another way for each piece to be completely individual.
I'm currently in love with enviro-tex lite and tung oils. Though I have constant trouble with bubbles and dust specks. Even after using a fanned torch, they still pop up some. This drove me nuts, I wound up refinishing a particular didge four times, and I mean taking off like 3 or 4 layers at a time. I did everything to prevent it, including a special tarped room that I keep immaculately clean. I finally said screw it, until I get a room that I can stick some sort of sucking filter thing in, this as good as I can do it.
It took me a long time to get to that point. You spend so much time on one particular didge that that final glaze becomes all important. Hmm looks like I strayed a little....
If the didge I'm glazing is thin walled in parts, the thickness of envirotex comes in very handy. I feel it sharpens the sound by creating a more solid harmonic as well as a bit more back pressure. That is the only real physical modification I've heard for exterior. Now interior is a different story, if I've got a didge with a rough interior I feel I'm better off drowning it in a natural non toxic oil. Sometimes I'll plunger a cloth through the length of the didge to mop up excess oil but mostly I wait for that oil to seep in real good. After that I'll make a two part water soluble glaze with weldbond or a good strong white glue, then I'll pour as many glazes on the inside as it takes to get it sounding right to my ears.
The trick is not to overglaze and fill up or round off any holes or rough edges to the point of nullifying any of the warmth. Keep it thin and work in layers. Unless of course its kind of a smooth bore, if that's the case I 'll lay on some envirotex which in theory gives it a crisp tight harmonic.
I also haven't noticed any change of sound with my synthetic pieces.
[Ed] If you work with a variety of materials, does the material itself influence the final shape of the instrument? Are their particular shapes which you associate with certain goals in tone, pitch, etc?
[Jason] Yes and yes...Material decides from the get go what the shape is going to be in general. I touched on this a little already... Wood has more of an innate design already there. I just have to listen and feel for what the wood wants. I add my own touches in the last half of making a wooden piece. Now starting off with synthetics is more like taking a seed of inspiration and cultivating it to get to the point of determining shape and design.
I feel a need to try to imbue a sense of "aliveness" in to the synthetics, that really wasn't there to begin with As far as shapes in association with tone and pitch are concerned..well we all know that big bells are louder. Yet every formula I've seen for determining such things always leaves me a little off. My bells and mouth pieces always seem to be a little different and with wood my interiors are definitely unique from piece to piece. So again it comes down to the individual piece. What worked on the last didge, might not work so well with this one. However the cheapest pieces I do are these dual belled bondo and PVC. The two bells make them fairly loud with outstanding harmonics. Makes them perfect for drum circles as they're cheap, loud, and take damage better than most. I usually start those knowing exactly what they will be like when finished...
[Ed] Where did you get the idea of two bells? And have you made multiple mouthpiece ones?
[Jason] Essentially it came from a desire to combine that little ball of vibrations at the end of an effective length of pipe ( I think the formula is length plus the width) with another. I've actually put diagonally cut bells right next to each other to really combine the vibes. I found the back pressure to be to intense for my tastes so now one of the bells is offset both with a horizontal cut. It effects the volume a little on the off set bell, but the pieces are still remarkably loud. Sometimes I tune them so that both bells are in the same key, others sound good being in different keys. Out of all the types of didges I make these are probably the most standard, so on the individual level, I really concentrate on its shape and the exterior art.
I've made multiple mouthpiece didges, as well as single mouthpiece double bore didges. The multiples are highly specialized but very limited especially if they have more than two, (maybe three if you're proficient with the piece). The obvious reason is that you have to put your hand over the other mouth pieces if you play solo. I've known a few people who can jam like there's no tomorrow with this type of didge. However I think they're best at what they were designed to do. You get three or four people blowing on the same piece into one bell, you'll also get people stumbling on and canceling one another out. So in order to play one well, the players have to be very aware of where the others are at. It is a very good training device, and when the players on one click it can become a symbol for the power of synergy.
The single mouthpiece double bore is a mouthpiece that splits off into separate didges within a few inches, I'm having a lot of fun playing with these. Whether or not to bring the didges together for one bell or keeping them separate for two. Twisting them around each other or, making smooth straight lines. I plan on developing these a little more to compliment the dual belled ones.
Jason's Website is at : www.rhythmarmy.com
Questions about this and other articles should be sent to Ed Drury