Nightingale

Is it really the poet that composes poems, or is it the subject? As per my experience on that particular night, it was music that composed this poem. It merely used my mind and brain to process language and my hand to write down the words on a piece of paper. Thus, the poem belongs to this music, not to me.

Nightingale

Helplessly, I have drowned,
in self intoxication
I cannot see a way,
to break free,
nor have the intent
Lost among defilements, am I?
A heart that feels so heavy,
sighing, seemingly unending,
In my reminiscence,
I hear it playing,
perpetually, consuming me
It is no more the reality,
that I live in

Last week in this blog I posted a picture that belongs to some one else, although I started the blog with the intention of sharing my photography work. Today I am going to break the traditions again and post a piece of music in my 'hereafter so called' photoblog.

All the boundaries we know are created by our consciousness. In reality, every thing is just a result of conversion of other things. Matter and energy, in the universe as we know it, creates everything, and matter is convertible to energy and vice-versa. So, in that sense what is the difference between a photograph and a piece of music. They both are art. The way we perceive them, and the way they generate a sensation in our minds is the same. After all, it's our mind that creates everything we see, hear, smell, feel and dream.

With that somewhat controversial justification I am taking this opportunity to share a piece of mesmeric music. This track made me feel exactly the same as in the above poem, on that dark, peaceful night.

Didgeridoo player in Fremantle

Click PLAY to see the video


This guy is the best casual Didgeridoo player I came across while my stay in Western Australia. I met him in Fremantle while admiring these wonderful instruments at the store he was working in. Didgeridoo has always been an instrument of passion for me. Even before I came to Australia, I loved listening to its music.

My sister knew about this and one time she tried to buy one for me from Perth and bring it to Sri Lanka when she was visiting us. However, it did not really work out because of the bulkiness and the fragility of the item. Instead she bought me a CD of didgeridoo music by an artist named David Hudson, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

So, ever since I landed in Australia and got a chance to wonder around the shops, especially the aboriginal art and souvenir stores, I enjoyed admiring didgeridoos. Not just through my eyes, but also through my ears. Most of these instruments are painted with aboriginal arts making them look even more fascinating. Although, some original didgeridoos were supposed to be just a plain hollow wood. Some warm-hearted guys, like the one in the video, went to the extent of putting on a short performance for me, even when they knew that I was not going buy one.

As far as what I came across, one can buy a decent didgeridoo starting from around AU$75. Most of them are intended for tourists and casual players. Probably the professionals would own ones that are of much higher value.

Didgeridoo is an Australian aboriginal instrument. It is said to have originated in northern part of the continent. Traditionally the instrument was made out of Eucalyptus wood and can measure 1 to 3 meters in length[1]. The end where the mouthpiece is, usually have a smaller diameter compared to the opposite end to create resonance of the sound.

When playing a didgeridoo, a technique called circular breathing is necessary, which for my experience is not that easy to pick up. The aboriginal people considers the instrument to be sacred and do not like women playing it. In addition to that, I have heard that the intense breathing method creates a lot of stress on stomach mussels, and could affect negatively on women's womb.

Well, I guess that is it for now. I can guarantee you that there will be another article on didgeridoo soon on this blog.

Reference:
[1]. Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. Didgeridoo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didgeridoo. Accessed on June 6, 2010.