Uploaded March 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Here's a short clip of Malngay playing yidaki, shot from an angle that shows the musculature at work when playing technical, fast-paced yidaki.
The take home points here are:
1) Breathe frequently. Don't wait until you are almost out of air before taking a breath. In order to maintain high internal pressure within the oral cavity and within the instrument frequent breathing is a must for those interested in the traditional Yolngu playing styles and techniques of eastern Arnhem Land. Mikey Gurruwiwi and Gapanbulu Yunupingu have also emphasised this point.
2) Know what you are going to play for the first few seconds before you start, even if you are playing freestyle. Hold the pattern in your mind then play. This is important because the introductory part of your yidaki playing sets up the rest of the tune or song, gives it structure, and establishes the musical meter. Once you have the introduction down pat, you can then more easily and spontaneously build upon the rhythms and riffs you are going to use in a freestyle context.
For comparative purposes, here are some older clips of Malngay on the iDIDJ Australia channel:
youtube.com/watch?v=LFHy2WmajIA
youtube.com/watch?v=F7oIk9aYAPg
youtube.com/watch?v=JyXPcmNoF-A
Here's a short clip of Malngay playing yidaki, shot from an angle that shows the musculature at work when playing technical, fast-paced yidaki.
The take home points here are:
1) Breathe frequently. Don't wait until you are almost out of air before taking a breath. In order to maintain high internal pressure within the oral cavity and within the instrument frequent breathing is a must for those interested in the traditional Yolngu playing styles and techniques of eastern Arnhem Land. Mikey Gurruwiwi and Gapanbulu Yunupingu have also emphasised this point.
2) Know what you are going to play for the first few seconds before you start, even if you are playing freestyle. Hold the pattern in your mind then play. This is important because the introductory part of your yidaki playing sets up the rest of the tune or song, gives it structure, and establishes the musical meter. Once you have the introduction down pat, you can then more easily and spontaneously build upon the rhythms and riffs you are going to use in a freestyle context.
For comparative purposes, here are some older clips of Malngay on the iDIDJ Australia channel:
youtube.com/watch?v=LFHy2WmajIA
youtube.com/watch?v=F7oIk9aYAPg
youtube.com/watch?v=JyXPcmNoF-A
