AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (7) A Mother, A Friend, A Rock Solid Bitch (Poetry) A poem about my always interesting relationship with my mother. [402 words] [Relationships] Nothing New (Non-Fiction) One woman's experience with surviving domestic abuse and moving on with life. [2,352 words] Postage Stamp Dreams (Poetry) An accidental LSD dose at the age of seven years can have effects that last a lifetime. [308 words] [Mind] Rainbow Storms (Poetry) Playing with poetry magnets and then doing a little bit of judicious editing resulted in one of the best poems I've ever written. [67 words] [Erotic] Sanctify (Poetry) A poem about being on the outside of society, about being blessed with unconditional love, and about acceptance. [230 words] [Mystical] See The Light? (Non-Fiction) Random memories about a father from a daughter who loved him. [1,807 words] [Biography] Six Years Of Valentines (Poetry) Six poems, one written each Valentine's Day from 1996 to 2001. They form a whole when read together, tracking the course of my long distance relationship with my now husband. Oddly enough, 2002 was ou... [560 words] [Relationships]
Didgeridoo Jenn Thomas-Orr
In the darkness, the silence surrounded me. The only lights came from above, a scattering of small twinkling lights in the distance.
Quietly, a buzzing drone began to fill the air, increasing in volume as two reddish lights appeared before me, focusing in on two men. As the lights rose, one of the men began playing a synthesizer, and his drum synth began to thrum in a complex rhythm that sent my mind reeling, my body beginning to move slightly in time with the beat. The other man, a long tube of wood set against his lips, continued the droning, varying it through the motion of lips and tongue, as well as how he placed his hands on the beautifully painted piece of wood known as a didgeridoo.
Behind the men, on a panoramic screen, stunning visual images of red desert, red rocks, rainforest, oceans, coral reefs, people, and amazing artworks in dots and swirls began to stream by, fading in and out as the music faded in and out.
This concert took place in a small theater in a store in Sydney, Australia. The musicians were two men who had discovered the intense primal magic in Aboriginal music and were dedicated to showing the world the incredible beauty of this amazing stuff.
I have always been a fan of unique forms of music. Native American chants, Peruvian mountain music, African drums, Indian sitar, you name it, I have found great joy in listening to it. But none of it struck the same chord in my soul that this Aboriginal music has struck. This stuff is deep. It speaks to the primitive spirit within us all, but more than that, it speaks also to the 'civilized' part of us.
Words are insufficient to describe the full range of feeling evoked by Australian Aboriginal music. That it draws you into it is obvious. But the thoughts and emotions provoked by it are probably intensely personalized and unable to be explained. The only way that I can really describe it is with one word: "Wow."
I don't remember the names of the two men who played music for me that day. I don't recall much of anything from that entire day, except the music and the emotion. Not bad, for a thirty minute concert.
Submit Your Review for Didgeridoo
Required fields are marked with (*). Your e-mail address will not be displayed.