Milkay Mununggurr – Hard Tongue Didgeridoo

Milkay Mununggurr – Hard Tongue Didgeridoo

The didgeridoo is known as yiaki by the Yolngu people of Australia’s Northeast Arnhem Land. Their ngäarr-äl, or harsh tongue, style has been described as the most difficult to master.

Milkayngu Mununggurr, the late renowned ceremonial and original Yothu Yindi musician (shown at left carrying the first CD out of the box back in 2005), distills yiaki playing to its essence on this record. The tasks are accompanied by both spoken and thorough written instructions and pictures. The instructions are given in English, however there are various translations accessible on this page – scroll down for connections. Rhythms are recorded at several rates, with both the yiaki sound and breathing audible.

This is the first and only album-length recording of a Yolngu musician demonstrating essential methods in simple English. It will make understanding and learning from other recordings much easier. The recording was created by Yirrkala’s Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre, with an unprecedented portion of the revenues going to the artist and the remainder going to the upkeep of this Yolngu-owned enterprise.

This is the primer you need if you play didgeridoo and have failed to master the Yolngu yiaki playing style. If you want to learn from Yolngu and purchase a didjeridu CD that directly helps them, this is the one.

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