Pamela Mortensen

This week sees a break though for me in the world of  technique. A couple of days ago I put out this video called “Brother Ondrej.”

In it, I play a rhythm that is very much inspired by Ondrej Smeykal. I never thought in the world I would play like this but here it is. I’m elated at this because it opens many doors of possibilities to me not to mention challenging me in ways I did and didn’t expect.

Fun Exploration

I’ve been having a good time working with this technique and seeing what I can do with it. As of now, I’m piecing together rhythms with this technique in both in even and odd time signatures. I find the odd signatures more interesting but the even signatures groove more. For those of you not prone to musician speak, time signature is the way music is counted as a pulse. For example you can think of a four beat as a square and a three beat as an Isosceles triangle. These are common signatures. Odd signatures would be seven, nine, 21 and so on. I find that I throw all sense of symmetry out the window and play in seven a lot. It’s not planned, it just happens that way. Perhaps a testament to my character. Anyhow, there have been a plethora of rhythms coming at me with this new-to-me way of playing, which leads me to my next subheading……

What to Do With This

Every time I learn something new, “I ask myself am I really going to use this?” Perhaps yes, perhaps no but I’m intrigued enough to keep going on it. My guess, is I probably will use it but not in the way our brother Ondrej does. You see, I thoroughly believe that we can incorporate a technique into our playing and use it in our own way. This is what makes didge playing so unique. I totally believe other instruments like piano or guitar can be played differently as well if we would just open ourselves to the idea. So, with that said, my next biggest challenge is finding ways of integrating these techniques into what I do already and get it to groove in a musical way that makes sense to me. No doubt it has it’s own groove but I’m up for exploring ways of getting a groove out of it that sounds like me instead of someone else.

“Yes, yes, yes, but how is this done?”

The unexpected has been happening over the last 48 hours or so since releasing this creature on You Tube and that is some folks are asking me about how this rhythm goes. Perhaps I should have expected this. Ha! Chalk it up to my self-image of being running-in-the-pack didge player. Anyhow, I’m thinking a video of how this rhythm works would make the most sense. For now here is the main rhythm:

Twa twa tuka toot tuka toot tuka (repeat)

Breaths are on the toots. Impossible you say. Well, think of the toots like a circular breath, squeeze the air out using jaw and tongue through a tight embouchure rather than diaphragm. Two things that can help are to practice this dry first, meaning practicing without a didge. This frees you up to practice anywhere– in your car, the shower, making dinner, grocery shopping….. I do this  a lot. Ask my friends. They can tell you.

The second thing is to look in a mirror to see what you’re doing. I find mirror work is beneficial because feeling what’s happening is one thing, seeing it is another. When I’m trying something new and I can’t quite feel what’s going on, then I watch what I do in a mirror. To see what’s happening sometimes has made all the difference in the world.

Going Where No Didge Has Gone Before……Maybe

I think of the possibilities of what I can do with this and I get excited. Working with the Middle Eastern rhythms I’ve been working with, vocals, toots…..articulations and……erm……Gottagonowbye!

Your didge servant,

Pam

For six and a half years now, didgeridoo has graced me with its presence. I never thought on that one day in May of 2005 when I listened to David Hudson’s “Rainbow Serpent” I would ever be doing what I’m doing now even though I was so totally captivated by this instrument. Six months into learning, I thought to myself “it’s just a passing fancy and I’ll probably get bored with it.”…….BOY was I WRONG!

My love for this instrument has done nothing but grow deeper. Through the first year or so, I found myself hiding in practice rooms where I teach every spare moment I had playing away on some rhythm. I still do. Driving my car down the freeway, I found myself practicing some sort of breathing exercise or technique. I still do. On You Tube, I looked every didge video I could find to see what I could learn. I still do. I listened to “Rainbow Serpent” (in fact it’s on now) for nearly a full year straight and learned many rhythms and techniques from it. I still do and I should mention to this day, this album is my favorite didge album. I frequented as many didge websites as I could find to learn as much as I can about playing, physics, building, etc. I still do. I practiced every spare moment sometimes forgetting to eat. I still do.

Ok, I’m obsessed. Who wouldn’t be? Didgeridoo has done more than just provide for me an instrument to express myself with. It’s introduced me to myself and has shown me my place in the kosmos meaning where the gifts I can bring can best fit in to the greater scheme of things. So here is where I make some wishes.

I wish everyone could have an experience, whether it’s with didgeridoo, painting, sewing, making music or making love, to find that place deep inside that sparks the flame of creative fire. Spontaneous combustion that whips time and everything into a hot whirlwind resulting in something so purely divine that there is no mistake of where you fit in the universe. To find this place, is a precious gift that makes the soul cry and leap for joy at the same time while shouting “YES!”

I wish everyone could experience the connection that this kind of love making produces. Think of it. There would be no need for conflict, no need for want, no need for gratification, no need for more. Now wouldn’t that be amazing? I totally believe we are capable of this. We just need to find it for ourselves.

I wish everyone would allow themselves to experience the fearlessness of creativity. I’m not talking about making something to make a living. I’m talking about making creating for pure joy of it. It’s something you have to do not because someone tells you to but because you just have to. It’s a primordial need to create. It’s what the universe does through the trees, plants, animals, water, air, stars, planets, people and other beings we’ve yet to learn about. I’ve often said to myself that I would make music even if I didn’t have to make a living at it. It’s just something I have to do.

I totally believe we are capable of so much more than what we’ve allowed ourselves to be. We’ve bound ourselves up so much with systems of belief and rules to go with them that we are now starting to strangle in this web. We’re looking for a way out. We’ll find it and when we do, look out! We’ll find a potential that we never believed existed in us. When I say this, it means EVERYONE not just a “chosen few.”

Anyhow, bringing things back to surface, I find it funny that some people regard me as a master of didge. I say, what is a master but a student? One who takes time to learn…..always learn. Exploring paths never taken before. Adventuring through forests, deserts, oceans and mountains of time and space. It’s a journey I could never dreamed of even with my wildest imaginings. Amazing! So, now that I’ve ranted and raved like a lunatic let me ask one question…..what are you willing to do?

With much love

Your (crazy)didge servant,

Pam

It’s been awhile since I’ve written. So excuse me for a moment while I brainstorm.

To say we are living in an interesting time is probably the understatement of the century. This is a time where there is an ever increasing amount of pushing and pulling over many things. Balance is shaky and chaos seems to be the order of the day, at least for the moment. I liken times like this to the breaking up of an ice sheet that has long held many things frozen. This melting of ice is the tremendous release we’re all feeling as it unlocks potential for the undiscovered and unexplored. We all deal with is in many different ways. On a personal level for me, it feels like the clearing of a stuffy head from a really bad cold that’s held its grip on the body for a long time.

Finding the way
Like many musicians, I’ve been trying to find ways to express through music what I see and feel. What is coming out is something I can’t explain. When I put my lips to the didge, there are sounds that come out that I didn’t expect. It’s almost as if the deepest farthest cosmos is trying to speak through me. For all I know, perhaps it really is. It’s quite strange but at the same time comforting. Why? Because it reminds me that I’m an integral part of the Kosmos. We all are. And that can be nothing but beautiful and Loving. You see, all sentient beings really are all an expression of Love and we’re no exception. We can express that love through our own creativity. Think of how fortunate we are to be able to make art, music, dance and design. No other being on this planet can do this quite the way we do. I often think, if we spent half the time making art, we wouldn’t have the time to make war with each other. Our minds would be preoccupied with expression of the universe. Actually, I think our minds would give way to our hearts to do this and that can’t be a bad thing.

The bottom line is…..
I believe we have so much more potential and that we’ve barely scratched the surface. Why else would we have been given the gift of creativity? It’s been a long held dream of mine to start teaching people this. Teaching that each one of us has some capacity to create something magnificent whether it’s a piece of music or a knit cap. Even better, I wish to build a sangha of people who would be willing to explore their potential, could bounce ideas off of each other and collaborate. It would be a group of people who never thought they could be creative and it would transcend borders and differences. Encouragement and support of each other would be the order of the day. We would laugh, love and spend time together as well as spending time with nature and see what comes out of it. We would be INSPIRED.

So,  if you wish, take a moment and let me know what you think of this little brainstorm. Am I crazy? Most likely. Am I passionate about this idea? You bet. In my estimation, a little craziness comes with passion and I Love that. Would you be willing to be crazy with me?

With love from your didge servant,

Pam