Posted by jeff miller on January 29, 2004 at 13:02:32:
In Reply to: Didge players posted by Steve Dedman on January 28, 2004 at 22:25:21:
I don't think the mouthpiece has to be placed to one side; this is probably more likely to be personal preference on the part of the player. When I play didj, I place it where it sounds and feels the best. In my case, that's pretty much dead center. This allows the maximum movement of your chops. My theory is that people who play on the side do so for the same reason that beginner trumpet players do: it's easier to control if you haven't spent years developing a brass instrument embrouchure.
Didj mouthpiece size can very a lot, but a tuba-sized opening would be about as small as you would expect. My didj's have the "mouthpiece" size maybe a centimeter bigger than a tuba mouthpiece. This lets you get loads of meat flopping around, which is what you want to maximise the buzziness of the sound. I have seen didj's with 2" mouthpieces, but I find those to be unplayable.
Also, regarding the air - there are two fundamental types of didj playing: slow, droning white noise, and fast, rhythmic energetic playing (and everything in between, of course!).
While the fast playing uses air fairly quickly, for slow playing the airstream is very, very slow compared to my tuba air. I find that the slower the air and the more open the aperature, the bigger and fatter the sound.
Hmmm...that sounds familiar....
In general, I find that the best didj embrouchure is no embrouchure.
Jeff