I absolutely love this didge! Many years ago a fellow didge player I ran into asked me my favorite key. Turns out C# was both our favorite. I just love the way the note makes feel and this one has something special about it. It is one of the easiest didges to play and has such perfect back pressure and requires so little breath. The drone is so strong with amazing vocal and overtone capabilities. I carved the mouthpiece a little different on this one and love the way it looks and Canary and Padauk accent the other so well. I would highly recommend this one to any player out there. I might end up keeping it if it stays on here for a while:)
As you can see from the photos there is a ton of turquoise inlaid throughout this beautiful Old Soul. My friend described it as a galaxy of turquoise:) I love the challenge and how time consuming these older stalks are to make. I am sure most agave makers would look at it and see too much work but I love the process of turning all the bug holes into inlays and see the old wood transform with all its cracks and weathered wood end up being a polished instrument. There are over 70 inlays in this one! It must have been a very popular hub for bugs as I haven’t seen that much activity in many stalks. I love working stone into the wood and reminds me of the short time I did silversmithing. C# is such an amazing key and my first key I really felt resonated with me when I first started playing. This one has such a beautiful balanced drone with awesome vocals and overtones. It has such a calming presence when played and such nice back pressure and and takes hardly any breath and responsive to any slight manipulation. I just recorded a new sample for this one as I hadn’t played it in a while. It is even more special than I initially realized and really think this would be great for someone using didge for sound therapy for ones self or others. One aspect I really like about its drone is that you can reach overtones within the drone with ease and also harmonizing vocals sound so cool. This would be a great didge for anyone and it really sings when you play it!
This travel size didge would be perfect for the ultimate beginner to start the journey with this instrument. Also would be great for any level for summer adventures as it is a great size to take hiking or camping. This is a really beautiful older stalk that had a ton of bug activity. These have all been filled with turquoise which adds so much to its appearance. These old stalks bake for years in the desert and become so dense and resonant. This one most likely survived 3 plus years and has nice thick walls that protected it. This one has such an easy drone, clear overtones, and great vocal abilities. For its size also has good volume. A great little didge ready to start an adventure!
This monster didge has very thin walls and with that huge bell has so much volume. It is light as a feather despite being over 6 feet in length and having that big bore and bell. Thinner walled agaves in general have a bit more volume and this one has really strong back pressure. It is crazy how little air is required to create such a strong drone. With the shape of this one it allows for some really nice explosive rhythmic ability as well. Vocals are so vibrant on these big agaves and responds so well to every type of manipulation from diaphragm to cheeks to tongue. If using for sound healing this would be great with its soothing bass tones, volume, and only weighs in at about 3lbs! Just such an easy and responsive didge to play and a great fit for all players of any style looking at a deeper key.
I put advanced on this one for skill level as the higher pitch notes require a bit more control. This one also has a little bigger mouthpiece at a 1 3/8″ to play in a more percussive style. I haven’t had a fusion on the site for a while and excited to add this one. I chose a thick really old stalk with a fast taper for the top and the bell is one that is part of a 30 ft agave which adds nice bass and also acts as a sort of amp. This one has really easy overtones and percussive abilities with its shape. It can really play with pace and excels in a percussive quick rhythmic style. This would be an incredible performance didge or for playing in drum circles especially if no mic is available. Such a fun didge!
Lately I have been really into making didges from stalks that most would pass on. This one was so full of large cracks it almost looked impossible to make. After boring it out I was fortunately able to clamp these back together and fill. I experimented with one like this last year and was so blown away by its sound I started working on more like it. Last year I would have left these in the desert and now I have found so many new possibilities. I went to a reiki circle recently and a woman talked about how she uses her D# crystal bowl to raise energy in the body. I immediately was struck with how I love playing D# in a really rhythmic style and that this note got me out of a funk playing a few years ago. Seems this note lifts me up! This one has such a sold drone, vocals, and overtones and perfect for every level player. With its shape it takes very little breath has such nice back pressure, and a ton of volume as well. This Old Soul on top of it has a ton of sleeping beauty turquoise inlaid throughout telling many stories of years in the desert. A truly wise and awesome didge!
This and #298 were from the same 40ft flower! My dad’s neighbor sent me an email over a year ago letting me know their huge agave americana had shot up its flower and she would save it for me until it was ready to be harvested. When I went to collect the stalk I was blown away by its size and is the biggest agave I have ever harvested. I am actually also making a drum and possibly a third didge from it as well. Agave is just magical , I can’t believe it can shoot up a flower that towers over the ancient trees near it. This is one of the thickest and most dense agaves and this one plays with so much ease, power, and presence. The vocals are the real star mixed with that mesmerizing drone as they seem to project differently than on a lot of didges and seem amplified and travel so well out this didge. The same goes for #298 so must be something magical within this stalk. I would highly recommend this for meditative and sound healing style of play. Thanks Denise for keeping the stalk up for me and allowing it to live on forever!
Agaves in this shape have such explosive abilities and take such little breath to get the drone going. With the thin walls on this one it has incredible response and can really put out some volume for its size. D# has always been one of my favorites for more rhythmic play. Something about the note always inspires this kind of play and remember being in slump for a while and playing a D# brought me out of it. One interesting feature on this one is that the bell has a really interesting shape that I have rarely seen. I don’t know what caused this but love the look. #293 has a really solid drone, easy overtones, and awesome vocals that will inspire lots of new sounds and rhythms. This one is light as a feather but has a some real punch to it and would be great for every level of player!
Sold, Thanks Terry! in New Lowell, Ontario, Canada
One of my talented artist friends said that this may be the most beautiful of the ones she has seen. After all of the years of making them I have never seen this kind of coloration in an agave. I found it on a camping trip in an area far from where I usually collect. The agaves looked to be the same species but there must have been something environmental or perhaps cross pollination of different species to create this unique flower. Along both sides is a purple streak that runs the length of the stalk with many shades within the streak. It is complimented by very light wood that pops these colors and turquoise inlaid as well. I chose purpleheart as the mouthpiece as it matches it so well. Ok, enough about its physical beauty . This one is extremely sensitive to any slight movement. It takes so little breath and less is more with this one. Three easy overtones with its longer thinner bore. Nice rich bass tones in the drone and crystal clear vocals. One other interesting fact is that purple is the color associated with the crown chakra which is the key that this one is in. Seems it was meant to be. A truly unique agave didge!!
I am so amazed by this stalk. I found this ancient flower on a trail and it had been cut and left there it looked like for many years. As I picked it up I was blown away by the weight of the stalk. To this day this is the thickest most dense agave I have found. I estimate the stalk to have bloomed 3 or 4 years ago and because of this and being cut so long ago it had one of the biggest cracks I have seen. I was so mesmerized by it though that I took it with me anyway. Honestly I didn’t think it was possible to make it into a didge but knew there was something special about it. I decided to work on it when I was pretty much done for the day and the realization that it might be possible to make it work I was filled with such excitement. As I began hollowing out I realized I would be able to clamp it and seal it keeping the look of the crack and other features to show its age. In an area that was very badly split and scarred I was able to add a beautiful turquoise inlay. This one weighs more than any on the site despite its size and one reason I write in wall thickness is it gives the player an idea of its strengths. Thin walled agaves play with a bit more liveliness and in general have more volume as thinner wood projects more sound and don’t need much time to warm up. Thick walled agaves take a bit of time to warm up and have a deeper more meditative sound. I have a lot of both in my collection and tend to use the thinner walled more for performance and these thick walled more to for more trance like play. They both are so great but this one is so unusual and is so mesmerizing to play. It also has such bright overtones with these thick walls. To let you know how excited about this one I was I ended up buying some amazing(and expensive) rosewood just for this stalk. I can’t say enough about this one and might end up in my collection if it is still here for a while!
