"The New Didgeridoo," with Andy Graham (Best of "The Secrets of Mastery")

On this edition of “The Secrets of Mastery,” a production of Craftsmanship Magazine, we talk with musical inventor Andy Graham, whose long-term fascination with a centuries-old Australian aboriginal wind instrument, the didgeridoo, has yielded several off-the-wall new musical creations. 

The Electric Stringed Didgeridoo, the Didge-ly Bow, the Fiddleridoo and the “Didge Bass” all are just a few iterations of the ancient instrument that Graham has fashioned over the past 25 years. 

From his Santa Rosa-based studio, his experimentation has also created the Nixa Wobbler, a percussion instrument composed of a magnet on a rod. And he sells the SlapStick, which he patented. It looks like a metal walking stick with frets, and Graham plays it as if holding a guitar. 

Graham can be seen performing as a one-man band with his wild-looking instruments, everywhere from Maker Faire in the San Francisco Bay Area to the annual National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) musical trade show in Anaheim. 

I sat down with Graham to learn more about how he sees himself fit into the historical tradition of the didgeridoo, and what motivates him to devote his life to creating new musical sounds.

LINKS: 

Andy Graham’s website: http://www.andygraham.net

Craftsmanship Magazine: https://craftsmanship.net/

Other episodes of Craftsmanship Magazine's “The Secrets of Mastery” series: https://craftsmanship.net/interviews/

Sign up for Craftsmanship Magazine on Substack: https://craftsmanship.substack.com/

Transcript

Pauline Bartolone: This is the Secrets of Mastery, a series of conversations with artisans about what it takes to master their craft and what their journey has taught them. I'm Pauline Barone, and this is a production of Craftsmanship Magazine, a multimedia publication about artisans and innovators who are creating a world built to last.

On this edition, we bring you sounds you've never heard before.

That's an electric stringed didgeridoo, an adaptation of the traditional wind instrument of the Aboriginal Australians. Only a few have been made by this Bay Area inventor and musician. 

Andy Graham: Alright, my name is Andy Graham and we're in my, little home studio slash workshop in downtown Santa Rosa. 

Pauline Bartolone: Graham demonstrated his strange and beautiful didgeridoo creation for me when I visited him in his small studio in a shed behind a family home in Santa Rosa.

The electric string didgeridoo looks like a horizontal Irish harp. The base is a several foot long metal pipe, and the harp-like structure on top is made of piano strings. He soldered on tuning knobs at the end. Graham is sitting down, blowing into it from the left side of his mouth. He taps the strings with a small metal wand.

This didgeridoo creation is just one of the instruments Graham has made over the past 25 years.

Andy Graham: Oh boy. We see all kinds of stuff. This is… 

Pauline Bartolone: He gave me a tour of many of them, which are on display in his studio. 

Andy Graham: Most of this is instruments that I've created myself or they are modifications of existing instruments that I've put together for my own kind of unique purposes. Yeah, so what I will do here is play it a little bit.

Pauline Bartolone:: There's the slapstick, basically a metal walking stick with a thin metal band and frets to make tunes.

Andy Graham: Kinda like a, a Bass…

Pauline Bartolone: Graham patented these and sells them now. Then there's the Nixa Wobbler. 

Andy Graham: Yeah. It's just a solid pedestal, and it's a magnet with a coil inside, so it balances a metal rod on the top… 

Pauline Bartolone: Less melodic, and among the more peculiar of his creations, he's sold several of them to a college sound department in Canada.

But where Graham stands out, at least to me, is with his didgeridoo inventions. Other than the electric stringed one --- which you heard first --- there's also the fiddleridoo…

Andy Graham: …That looks like a skinny violin. You can blow into it like you would a did do and bow the strings at the same time like you would a violin.

Pauline Bartolone: He also made a didge bass, same idea as the fiddle and the digitally bow, which he's done solo shows with.

Finally, there's the Triple Didgeridoo Rack. Which isn't an instrument in and of itself, but a prop that allows drummers to play more than one didgeridoo while playing drums at the same time.

Some of his didgeridoos are carved out of the spear of a giant flowering agave plant. Yes, that asparagus-looking thing that grows out of the middle. You could say Graham is obsessed with didgeridoos. It all started in the mid-1990s. 

Andy Graham: I heard it over a big PA system. That's what really hooked me. When it's real loud through a system, it's just like, what is going on?

Because it's so otherworldly and sounds futuristic and ancient at the same time. I always thought that was fascinating. So because it doesn't fit with anything, it kind of fits with everything. 

Pauline Bartolone: After that, Graham taught himself to play a didgeridoo on a PVC pipe while watching TV with his roommates.

He says he plays it more like a beatboxer than in the traditional way, bringing his crazy Western drummer boy style, he says. He started making, didgeridoo instruments during lunch hours at his day job as a metal worker in a high-end furnishing shop. Soon he became a one-man band with his wild looking instruments performing at Maker Faire, a TED Talk in Sacramento, and even America's Got Talent… 

Andy Graham: ...back on the fourth season. And Piers Morgan thought I was too weird. So it did never aired. 

Pauline Bartolone:: Graham's also done the musical trade show circuit, like the Annual National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) in Anaheim. He says there's always a lot of excitement about his instruments, but it doesn't turn into cash. 

Andy Graham: Musical instruments. It's a weird business 'cause they love innovation, but they don't. At the same time you go to the NAMM show and everyone's losing their mind around the booth and it's causing chaos. But the corporate people stand off to the side. They just kind of look at it with this kind of Homer Simpson stare. You know, it's very interesting to see how oddly conservative, a lot of the music world is. 

Pauline Bartolone: Ultimately Graham has only tried to push his non didgeridoo instrument out into the marketplace, the Slapstick.

He says he mostly makes his instruments for himself, although he would love to make more money off of them. His interest in the craft of instrument making is driven by his passion for the creative process, the joy of experimentation and tinkering rather than stressing about the final product and how to sell them.

I sat down with Graham to learn more about his fascination with the didgeridoo. I wanted to know how he sees himself fitting into the historical tradition of this instrument and what motivates him to devote his life to creating new musical sounds. Thank you for agreeing to talk with us for the Secrets of Mastery.

Andy Graham: Thanks for having me on. 

Pauline Bartolone:: So you have made several instruments or instrument props based on the didgeridoo, right? Yeah. So what about the didgeridoo inspires you? 

Andy Graham: It was an accidental discovery. I mean, I played drums for most of my life, and digger do was not at all something that I even knew about before 1995.

And if someone told me that I would actually become a, a person who plays a wind instrument, I would probably have laughed at the time 'cause I'm like, oh well the horns are cool, but I have no 'cause It's really just a horn. I never had any interest in. Playing it all until I saw it at a performance with Stephen Kent back in 95, 96 up in Seattle.

It can put you in a trance kind of state and it’s like no other instrument I've ever played, even drums, which is, you know, can do that too. But I think for me, just the didgeridoo, the fascination with it was just the, the, from a physical perspective, just the fact that it's just an empty tree branch and yet it makes these sounds that sound like they're from the future and they're from the ancient times as well. But really it's just a, a, a trippy instrument that I discovered kind of by accident. 

Pauline Bartolone: So with this series on The Secrets of Mastery in July, we're talking about music and how people are kind of building on tradition and, and moving beyond tradition. And so that's one of the reasons why I thought what you were doing was interesting is because did do is kind of like this traditional instrument that Aboriginal people in Australia use. So is that how you see it, that you're kind of moving beyond tradition with these did do instruments that you're making? 

Andy Graham: Oh, definitely. I mean, I don't even think in terms of tradition typically, I just always take, it's always been about my own, putting my own take on whatever I do. I mean, probably the most traditional thing I do is probably playing when I'm playing rock music.

And even then I listened to bands that were not mainstream. So it's kind of like, I, I don't really have a traditional approach to things. I do like the idea of trying something that's never been done before. And I like the idea of yeah, doing the innovative thing where it's like, I'm just have this brand new thing.

I have no idea how to classify it, the music, but let's see if we can create something new with it. So I'm kind of the opposite of a traditional person in that way. 

Pauline Bartolone:: So this question may be slightly uncomfortable, but the didgeridoo is a traditional instrument of Aboriginal Australians, and in recent years as a society, we've had this kind of reckoning with cultural appropriation.

And I'm wondering how you see this use of did do. Do you feel like you're doing justice to this instrument that has a tradition? Among Aboriginal people. 

Andy Graham: Yeah, no, that's a big subject I've heard, discussed a lot. And it even relates to other instruments like the drum set, which has like five different cultures combined with that.

And even rock music, which is, you know, all those genres are all kind of taken from people of color, most of 'em, and transformed into, so yeah, it's a hard one. I tend to, I respect the Aborigines tradition. I tend to think that doing my own thing with an instrument is a way to respect the instrument and, and if I was trying to do like real Aborigines-type of rhythms and stuff, not knowing what their history is and what their the ritual and the meaning was, then I'd feel kinda weird about it if I was trying to sound like that by doing the real more repetitive patterns that you see a lot in that I think they're fascinated and I practice 'em and it's fun and it's put me in a trans state, but I never really incorporate 'em into what I do because.

For one, it's just not my style. But also, yeah, there is something about like, I don't want to duplicate anybody's tradition. I'm just using the same instrument in my own way. But I consider what I do and anyone who plays in a rock band or anyone who plays drums is appropriating a bunch of culture right off the bat.

If you're just playing AC DC's covers, you're appropriating culture 'cause you're playing four -four, you know? Backbeat rhythms on a drum kit, which has Turkish symbols and based Tom Toms from Africa and snare drum from military marching tradition. There's always gonna be someone who's gonna get upset about it.

But I found for the most part, I just treat it with respect. Like, Hey, this is just a great, cool thing and hopefully it'll just sound like me and not sound like, it's like I'm trying to duplicate someone else's rituals. 

Pauline Bartolone: So we've talked to a lot of artisans and what we've heard from them is that trial and error plays a big part in their creative process. Does that resonate with you? Has there been a lot of trial and error in the creation of these instruments? 

Andy Graham: Oh, you haven't seen my scrap bin, you know? Yeah. That's why I tell people, they say, you make these great things. I'm like, yeah, but I've made a lot of mistakes. Oh, total trial and error. I mean, a lot of it's weird 'cause some things I kind of see 'em come in their completed state, like the slapstick was like that. That instrument is about 90% of what I saw in my head the first time I, all the little parts and how the tensioner was gonna work. I kind of had an idea, and I don't know why that one came to me so clear.

But then stuff like the electric string didge is a totally different thing. That was just a, it was intended to be something else, and then the rest of it was just like, well, let's weld this beast metal on and see what happens and let's, oh, let's make it this shape. And like, whoa, let's five strings. Let's try.

Yeah, let's do four strings. 'cause that's what it feels like in the moment. So it's different for different things, you know. But I think most of my projects that are kind of one-offs for myself, were more along that line of just like making it on the fly. You know, engineering on the fly. And a lot of people don't relate to that.

'cause mostly it's like, well you gotta make the entire thing on paper first, and then you start making the parts and it's like, that's, I do the opposite. I'll make the thing and then I'll like, oh, I'll make the drawing afterwards. You know, if in case I want to make another one. 

Pauline Bartolone: That's so interesting. I wonder what lends itself to creating more, people who like the creative process or people who don't like the creative process and are more goal oriented.

So some of your instruments, they look really unusual. And I'm wondering if you have any stories about funny moments or reactions that you've gotten from people when you're performing or anything notable or memorable? 

Andy Graham: Yeah, I mean, any performance usually there's always some people that just kind of going, what the hell?

What the hell is this guy doing? Mostly the electric string didge got a lot of it when I did that TED thing 'cause it was just so unusual 'cause its kind of a more beautiful instrument. And then the others are more technical. The slapstick, I've gotten a lot of reactions when I start playing a rhythm on, I would do a whole lot of these performances, especially at Maker Faire.

Where I would start out with the spacey thing and then I'd turn the effect off and just start doing, you know, the whatever pattern. And that's when people would be like, you could feel it in the audience sometime. You could feel like this gasp, like what's he do? How was he making it? Probably like I felt when I first saw the digital do being played rhythm clean and I was just like, you know, it's same.

I get a lot of that when I start kicking into rhythms on the slapstick. And as far as an individual goes, Dr. Lonnie Smith was probably the most comical reaction when he first saw me play. He, he had these really big eyes and he was looking like, what are you doing, man?

What is that? And then we talked at the NAMM show, and then I mentioned offhand, I don't know where it came from. I was like, I can make this into a walking stick probably. And he just freaked out 'cause he uses a walking stick. And then that evolved into me making a few canes for him. But his initial freak out was actually really entertaining because he was just like, how are you making a stick? Make all that sound, you know? And so that one was just the most memorable because I really love him too. You know, before he passed away, he was a very, just a funny guy and a good friend. But kids, kids just lose their mind.

Like when I was playing at the Maker Faire, I'd start doing something and you see the kids was like, what? You know? And especially if, make it theatrical with the big ones and start putting my foot on it and playing it. The did redo drum combination is definitely, people go, whoa, that's cool, and kind of freak out.

Pauline Bartolone: And do you like that? Do you like that response or do you seek that response or you don't really care, you just like making it, 

Andy Graham: You know, it's funny, I gotta admit it's a part of me that likes it because it's just kind of a affirming, you know, in a weird way, I don't really get too ‘ego’ around it. I mean, there's a part of me as a performer I guess, that does kind of like that. But I like shocking people 'cause I like being shocked myself and I just love that feeling when you see something. And I think as the years go by, I feel a little jaded, like. Things don't shock me as much as they used to.

You know? And maybe in the edge of YouTube and everything, it's like everyone's seen everything. So when I do come across some video or some performance where I see someone do something that really is just, I love that adrenaline rush of going, wow, what the hell is that? So if I can be someone who makes that happen in someone else, it feels rewarding.

It kind of makes me relive the moment when I first started playing with and going, wow, this is really cool. 

Pauline Bartolone:: That's cool. I'm wondering what the most difficult part of this craft is for you. 'cause it seems like some of it becomes easy to you because you're a metal worker and you like the creative process, but what's the most difficult part for you?

Andy Graham: Wow. The most difficult part for it is, going through periods where I don't have a project is definitely part of it. Because it's not all the time, but, and I think when I try to combine it with how do I make a living with it, it ultimately, there's that whole thing about the, that those two different worlds that, so that, that's probably the hardest part is like the part of me that still knows that there's, I.

Marketability and there's ways to bring in other income. Because I'm looking to do more of that stuff. So, yeah. The hard part is, you know, turning it into dollars without the creative process being somehow lost in the process. 

Pauline Bartolone: So what has been your proudest achievement?

Andy Graham: Well, the most surreal, I think was when Stevie Wonder came into my booth at the NAMM show because it was always known that he was there every year and it was always like, I want to get Stevie to come into my booth. And, and I still had the video of him, like, coming in, hearing it and having his people guide him in. 

There’s been a lot of moments. I mean, patenting, the slapstick was a big one. It was like an achievement. I was like, wow, I actually have something I can look up on the internet forever now. But I think that was a big one. It was just like when, because it was just like such a goal to have him come in and to have him actually hang out and really like it. He was playing around with it and I gave him a couple and he was just fun. And it was just like, wow. I felt like I kind of arrived at some moment, like, whoa. I got this thing that like a few years earlier I was just messing around with in my garage. And now it's like the biggest famous person in the world was like, not only playing it but seemed to like it too, you know?

So we talked about it. For the longest time, me and my sales guy were just joking. Like, we're like, oh yeah, what we wanna do. Stevie Wonder came into the booth, oh yeah, we want to go out this week. Hey, Stevie Wonder came to the booth. It became this whole like language and we just kept saying, Hey, you know, Stevie Wonder came into the booth.

Like a year later we were still making that joke 'cause we were still kind of just shocked that it even happened. So yeah, it, it, it that, I'd say that one moment was. One of a few, but that's the one that stands out right now. 

Pauline Bartolone:: Thank you so much Andy Graham for talking to us and showing me your amazing instruments.

Andy Graham is a musician and inventor based in Santa Rosa, California. You can check out all of his inventions on his website. andy.graham.net, or slapoo.com. That's andy.graham.net, or slapoo.com. From more stories about how musicians are pushing the boundaries of tradition, check out craftsmanship’s archive on Substack, you'll find a story about a Navajo trumpet player who says. Music is more than just hitting the notes. If you haven't already, subscribe to the Secrets of Mastery podcast series at craftsmanship.net. That's craftsmanship.net, and you'll find plenty of other stories there too. Music in the series is by Blue dot Sessions.

Thanks for listening.