MAKE subscriber subatomic from Chicago, IL wrote in to share his PVC didgeridoos packing 11 interchangeable extension tubes to change the pitch.
I’ve built two didgeridoos, with extension pipes to change the pitch. With a 2nd player, we’ll be able to play chords together.
I had been thinking about buying a didj for a while, and came across some ideas to build one out of inexpensive PVC with interchangable sections. This idea appealed to me for many reasons, one which is that I really don’t know what note I will like, so this gives me an option to try out several. Another is that I once visited Hernan Battiato for a little jam session where he showed me how his alpine horn has a couple extra sections to add to the base horn to let him change the pitch. So after that it was always in the back of my mind that interchangable pipes would be cool. PVC’s color is very boring (white), so I scouted youtube a bit for designs and found one that I really liked.
More:
My one and only paid music gig was with a quirky fusion band and I sat-in on a couple of songs with my PVC didg. At I showed up with a hacksaw and did an on-the-spot tuning to match the key of the song. Note that this was a one-time, one-way pitch adjustment!
Also, circular breathing to play an “infinite” note is a great party trick.