Located in Sydney, Australia. Grappling variously with whistle, pipes, low whistle, flute - as the weather permits! (Playing uilleann pipes in 40 degree heat isn't such a great idea. Reeds and players both tend to pack it in around the same time.)
Someone doing a PhD thesis here not so long ago found that the word 'didgeridoo' was one of the very few Australian Aboriginal words which couldn't actually be found in any of the native dialects themselves. Suggestion was that the word seems to be an import from the Irish language! Seems duijera dubh might have been a reference to the player, not the pipe, by some of the earliest Irish-speaking immigrants, and the name stuck, and been Anglo Australianized as didgeridoo. D'nno, but it's a bloody good session story.
Piping 101:
You will likely find yourself reasonably frequently in this situation in the middle of a set:
Q. They’re the ooleyan pipes aren’t they!
A. Illen.
Q. Excuse me?
A. It’s pronounced illen.
Q. How do you spell it?
A. u i l l e a n n
Q. Willeyan?
A. Illen.
Q. Jeez. What does that mean?
A.. It’s about elbows. See...?
Q. ...How do you keep the bag full? Ah, right. You press that, and oh yeah, it goes through that pipe there and blows up that bag. Hey, it’s a bit like a fire bellows isn’t it?
Can you walk around with them?
A.Yes, but not while you’re playing really.
Q. So you can only sit down while you're playing...why would they want to do that then?
etc, etc, etc.
Q. They're hard to play eh?
A. They take a lot of concentration.
Q. Why aren’t you playing?
A. Because I am going to sing this for you:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=T4_MsrsKzMM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpjNLjBbVd4
Tunes in Duijera Dubh's tunebook: 0
| Gaelic Club Sydney (city), Oz | October 16th 2009 |
| The Best of British Bodhran, with a 7th century gold hoard ambience can of worms | September 25th 2009 |
| Clare Impressions - Spring 2009 | May 10th 2009 |
| “An Phalistín” Roisin Elsafty | March 12th 2009 |
| Bothy tube | January 19th 2009 |
| Discussions | Re: Setting Up A New Irish Pub Band in London | November 6th 2009 |
| Discussions | Re: Setting Up A New Irish Pub Band in London | November 6th 2009 |
| Discussions | Re: Setting Up A New Irish Pub Band in London | November 6th 2009 |
| Discussions | Re: Setting Up A New Irish Pub Band in London | November 5th 2009 |
| Discussions | Re: Setting Up A New Irish Pub Band in London | November 5th 2009 |