[Enemyz]

Hello Duduk.com and fellow forum members. This week my "A" key duduk arrived from ebay in the mail. Im 25 and live in Sydney Australia. Ever since I first heard the duduk in the film Gladiator it has left me enchanted with the rich and soulful sound it can produce.

Now to my problem. Im not a musican at all. Never played any instrument in my life haha, so will it be possible to teach myself to play the duduk. If so then how should I start? What techniques should I practice?

I have 3 reeds, one being larger then the other two. So far i can make sound with all three however only one can produce a resonating sound when its in the instrument and i have four or more fingers pressed down. Strangely enough it is this reed that sounds weakest when blown out of the instrument. Why is that?

Are there any breathing excercises I can do to improve my lung capacity?

Also I'm left handed so should my left hand be placed first?

P.s If anyone knows of a teacher in Sydney please let me know, cheers!

My thanks.

~Steve

[Enemyz]

So im guessing because i didnt buy from you guys i'll get no response?? Typical i guess.....

[hrimnir]

So im guessing because i didnt buy from you guys i'll get no response?? Typical i guess.....

Hi Enemyz,Australia. Your questions need an answer, so I will try. First, nearly all your questions have been answered before. Just read many of the questions on this site and read the answers. Left handed, just reverse the way you put your fingers,right hand upper holes, left the lower ones. You can also look up the duduk group at Yahoo.com, there is some more help. And you may even get help or education near you ? See the letter from Mick Gordon, he managed to find a duduk player in Australia for his recording project.

Best regards
Hrimnir

This post has been edited by hrimnir: Apr 6 2009, 03:13 PM

[RonsMusic76]

I'll try and help some...

You'll probably want to buy a new reed I'm afraid, I can tell you from experience the reeds from the sets sold on eBay *cough*mastersimon*cough* are often barely more than decorative and it will be totally random luck if they're even in the right key for the duduk they came with! Most pro sites (including this one) sell individual reeds for $30-40 and it's well worth the money, even if you don't want to go the full investment and buy a whole duduk right away.

Check through some of the info posted on this site about conditioning reeds and checking if it's even the right pitch for your instrument, it may help the playable one you have get a little better.

As for practicing, follow any tutorials or video examples you can find online for fingering and hand position and at first just practice holding long single notes consistently to build up strength of breath and get your lips used to playing--you'll find your lips go tired easily in the beginning and it's difficult to get any sound once they go numb! Practice with 7 fingers down (3 on each hand plus the thumb hole) at first, and as you get more comfortable with that you can work in your littlest fingers later. Also, it's a very good idea to practice playing along with a reference pitch as a drone, such as on a synthesizer keyboard or a recording. As you play, small breath and lip adjustments are needed (as well as adjustments to the reed) to stay on pitch, having a reference note to hear yourself against can be very helpful!

Other than that it's just like learning any other instrument: practice scales, check your intonation, and find some simple songs to learn or recordings to play along with.

Good luck!

[Duduk]

So im guessing because i didnt buy from you guys i'll get no response?? Typical i guess.....

no need to get angry new friend

Welcome to Duduk forum

[Enemyz]

no need to get angry new friend

Welcome to Duduk forum

Not angry mate i was just disapointed my post had gotten 30 views and no one had replyed. But its all good now, thanks guys.

[Duduk]

Not angry mate i was just disapointed my post had gotten 30 views and no one had replyed. But its all good now, thanks guys.

don't pay attention to views most 90~95% of the views are search engines