This chapter is about how to combine good use of modern technology and timeless tube called didgeridoo to get the desired sound. In our case, we will be shown how to get a good „kick-didge“. Even more than that, this article will show you how to transform your well gamma radiated „ Dr Bruce Banner sound“ into „The Incredible Hulk sound“, which we will shortly call „THE PULSE“. (For those who are catching up – Didgeridoo Bass Generation Chapter 1 and Chapter 2)
Global WARNING! Sounds presented here are based on bass. You will not be able to experience the essence without good enough speakers and sounds played sufficiently loud. If you don’t have good speakers, try listening on the headphones. If you can’t hear strong differences, try to find a good sound system for reproduction of these sounds.
Reminder is ‘sense finder’
So just to remind ourselves of our great accomplishments we made so far. First we presented the question of getting the different sounds of an orchestra/band in a didgeridoo. We focused on the kick drum. Among 4 quite different didgeridoos and 4 different sounds/techniques we chose the one which is most „bass impressive“. Then we compared two sounds to the real kick drum and found out we somehow miss relatively lots of kick drum quality.
So now what?
Now we can get good inspiration about what to do with the sound to make it closer to the kick drum. We can alter three things:
– Playing
– Way of recording
– Sound in post processing
One quality of the kick drum that comes quite in front is the „kick“ part of it. This part we can sense in strong quick transients, and 100 Hz bass sound. So what we might be inspired to do is to make stronger tongue/diaphragm attack and make sound as short as possible. Still, there is a factor of time to generate sound/bass in didgeridoo – see next paragraph.
About recording, I chose not to alter anything as I had a feeling it was already fine. But you can do it for yourself, if you feel there is a hidden catch there.
In post processing, we can do something to balance the frequencies and draw out the most desirable ones.
Something not to forget
We do not want to forget that kick drum is a drum wheras kick didge is a didge. Drum generates sound in a different way than tube and has different laws of physics that apply. Even without understanding physical background, imagine how different these sound generations are. Therefore one very important aspect of this research is to have a good overview and therefore not get stuck in the unimportant details. We do not wish to reproduce exactly the drum with the didge. What is underneath all this is finding a way to understand didgeridoo sound and didgeridoo playing possibilities better. So we need to extract the essence from the observed and use it to our best knowledge.
Getting flushed by the sound…
As mentioned, I have noticed two qualities I would like to incorporate into the „kick didge“. First is that I wanted lots of transients. Transients are one strong factor that reveals the instrument. In this sense transients also give us the power and explosion of the kick sound. Another thing I tried to accomplish is to have my kick didge sound last as short as possible. So as soon as the bass would be generated- which lasts longer than in kick drum –the bass would be diminished, as fast as possible.
So this was the first part of the process, playing part. The post processing part consists of two stages:
– Compression
– Equalization
By compressing the kick sound I want to get more transients out. By equalization I wanted to adjust especially first harmonic of didgeridoo to be stronger, to give the kick. Apart from that I wanted to draw out more presence, again to have more transients and produce more of „kshsss“ sound.
In a way it is like approaching this sound in two dimensions. One is glass breaking of huge water tank which produces high penetrating sound and makes us close our eyes in anticipation of the force. Second is unleashing of this extreme amount of water which pushes us back instantly. So we want to be „flushed by the sound“.
Doing the kicks
My personal choice for kick drum sound was didgeridoo sound 3A. Because to my ears it was the closest to kick drum. But you can try with any of your favorite sounds.
First I tried to play the sound as kick-full as possible. Then I processed it with compressor and EQ. This is what I got:
Improved kick didge sound
Now let’s compare it to the kick drum:
Improved kick didge and kick drum comparison
To my ears it sounds much better than before. I hope we managed to satisfy your ears as well.
Still we did not use „the most bass impressive“ sound. Let us hear what is there for us.
Turning Dr Banner into The Incredible Hulk
The most bass impressive sound was voted to be didgeridoo sound 1B. I did not use it as my first choice of kick didge as it has too much of sub bass compared to kick drum. Still I followed the principle of explosive playing – meaning that I played it with very strong attack and as short as possible.
Now I have two versions of this sound. One with milder (but still strong) sub bass, and one with super-strong sub bass. This is how it sounds:
1b goes almost Hulk sound
1b turns into the Incredible Hulk sound
Incredible Hulk meets kick drum
Weather you like the Incredible Hulk sound or not, is a matter of your preference to green;-) This is just a demonstration of what can be achieved if you wish for bass invasion.
The bass invasion
The Didgeridoo Hulk sound has too much of sub bass to compare it properly to kick drum, so I chose another sound to compare it to. It is the sub bass of Minimoog (synthesizer). This is how they sound together:
Didgeridoo Hulk meets Minimoog
Again I am by not trying to get/find „better“ sound. I only look to understand what qualities didgeridoo bass can have. At this point I perceive it as a complete, primordial pulse which exists in its own space and no time.
The PULSE
So this is the last bass sound I will offer you.
The Pulse is similar to “The Hulk” didgeridoo sound, only it is played with no restriction. This means I gave enough time for the bass to generate fully and I played it more relaxed, with less attack. I admit, ThePulse is a didgeridoo sound I enjoy very much. It is simple, with underlying complexity and potential, direct, profound and clear. In a way it is a unit of primordial didgeridoo sound.
The Pulse
Spiraling in and spiraling out
There is nothing special I would conclude about this sound journey. Once we spiraled out it is time to spiral in again. Leaving open space around things we perceive might be crucial in perceiving them in the deepest possible way. Anyway, I hope you had fun reading this. I still have some articles in preparation about which refer both to more general and more specific sound, with more or less resemblance to other instruments. It takes lots of time and energy for me to write articles like this, so know that you can motivate me with your always great comments and insights! 😉
Spiraling out!