Hold the breath pad and the drone begins. Slide left and right to change the shape of your mouth, from a dark oo to a bright ee; slide up for more pressure. Add the overblown toot and a growling voice, or loop a rhythmic pulse and play over it.
The didgeridoo plays one main note, and all its music lives in how that note is coloured. This page gives you the colours.
Press and hold the pad: the drone starts and keeps going. Left to right moves your mouth from oo to ee, which moves the resonances of the sound, the wah that didgeridoo players make with their cheeks and tongue. Up and down changes the pressure, from a soft hum to a strong buzz.
Blow harder and the tube jumps to a higher note, the toot, about a tenth above the drone. Sing into the tube while playing and a growling voice joins the drone. Press Toot or hold Voice, or use T and G on the keyboard.
Didgeridoo rhythm comes from the mouth, the tongue and the breath, not from changing notes. Loop one of three pulses written by GOONS and hear the drone come alive with vowels, toots and growls on the beat, then play the pad over it.
A didgeridoo plays the note set by its length and bore, usually low in the bass. Choose a drone in C, D, E or F, as if you picked up a longer or shorter instrument.
Players keep the drone going by breathing in through the nose while pushing air out with the cheeks, a technique called circular breathing. Here the drone never runs out of air, with the slow swell of the breath underneath.
On a phone or tablet, hold the pad with one finger and press Toot with another. On a computer, hold Space for the drone, tap T for toots, hold G for the voice, and press 1 to 5 to jump between vowels.
Press and hold the breath pad, or the Space bar: the drone starts.
Slide left and right while holding: oo, oh, ah, eh, ee.
Press Toot, or T, in rhythm while the drone keeps going.
Press Play the pulse and listen, then hold the pad and play over it.
| Type | Didgeridoo (yidaki), playable on this page, free |
|---|---|
| Drone | C2, D2, E2 or F2 (65 to 87 Hz), continuous |
| Shaping | Mouth vowels oo, oh, ah, eh, ee and breath pressure on a two-axis pad |
| Effects | Toot (overblown note, about a tenth up), growling voice |
| Pulses | Walking pulse, Gallop, Toot and growl; 60 to 160 BPM; GOONS originals |
| Sound | Buzzing lips, tube resonance, mouth formants, breath noise, slow breathing swell, reverb |
| Keyboard | Space drone, T toot, G voice, 1 to 5 vowels |
| Requirements | Any modern browser with Web Audio - Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari |
The didgeridoo is a wind instrument of the Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia, known as yidaki to the Yolŋu people of north-east Arnhem Land and by other names in other languages. It is made from a eucalyptus branch or trunk hollowed out by termites, often with a beeswax mouthpiece. The player buzzes the lips into the tube to make a low drone and shapes it with the mouth, the tongue, the voice and circular breathing.
The didgeridoo has deep ceremonial and cultural meaning for Aboriginal communities, where it accompanies song and dance, and its use follows protocols that vary from one community to another. The rhythmic pulses on this page are originals made for practice and do not reproduce traditional or ceremonial music.
For another wind instrument, try the pan flute of the Andes, or pair the drone with the handpan. The world music studio gathers every instrument on one map.
Yes. The didgeridoo at the top of this page is free, with no account and nothing to install. It runs in your browser with the Web Audio API.
Hold the breath pad and slide left and right: the sound moves through the vowels oo, oh, ah, eh and ee, as when a player changes the shape of the mouth. Slide up for more pressure.
A higher note made by blowing harder, so the lips buzz at the next resonance of the tube, about a tenth above the drone. Players use toots as accents in their rhythms.
A technique for keeping the drone going without a break: the player breathes in through the nose while pushing air stored in the cheeks out through the lips. On this page the drone never runs out of air.
No. The three pulses are originals written by GOONS for practice. Traditional didgeridoo music belongs to Aboriginal communities and is learned from them.
The didgeridoo is free, with no account. GOONS Studio adds a looper, synths, drum machines and a sequencer that play together - free for 7 days, no card required.
Free on this page, no account. Play the online pan flute →