My name is Troy Page and I’m a didgeridoo enthusiast and video production artist. This blog follows my experimental journey of making and playing didgeridoos, recording music and making videos, as well as stories of the people I meet and the places I visit along the way.Click here to e-mail me.
- Troy Page on Flickr
- Troy Page on YouTube
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Mongrel Studios
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Troy Page Didgeridoo Solo, “Cascade”
This is my first video playing the djembe and didgeridoo at the same time, something I’m still getting used to. I called this song Cascade because it reminded me of a waterfall, steady but moving and tumbling forward.
I challenged myself on this video project from the start by tilting the camera on its side, giving the longest width of the image to the vertical space rather then the normal shape of video. I did this because I knew it would force me to creatively find ways to fill in the blank areas on either side of the video clip. Plus I’d have more resolution to work with when digitally zooming in.
In the editing process I first started experimenting with duplicating & mirroring the original video image. Once I ran out of ideas for the mirroring effect, I looked to my collection of photos. Adding colorful Hawaiian nature photographs was just what the video called for. Worked out perfectly because I happen to be wearing a Aloha shirt the day I shot the performance.
My friend Tim Flood gave the audio track a good EQ mix and got the levels just right. I also incorporated a couple Big Island photos that my friends Michael Peters and Kanoa Kimball took. I’m happy about how this one turned out and I plan on making more videos like it. Aloha!
Video by: Troy Page
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Mouthpiece Design
Didgeridoo mouthpiece on the left by Troy Page,
Didgeridoo mouthpiece on the right by William Thoren.
Didgeridoo design and playing styles are relatively new in the west, and it’s exciting for me to be crafting and playing in this era of exploration and refinement. William Thoren is a talented didgeridoo player, didgeridoo crafter, photographer and inventor of this mouthpiece design. I’ve adopted this shape after meeting Will and trying out his didgeridoos at InDidjInUs 2010.
My mouthpiece design has been evolving slowly since I started crafting them in 2008, but there have been two notable changes that have helped my playing tremendously.
The first came after I took a workshop with Ondřej Šmejkal, Ondřej describes the importance of a mouthpiece that has minimal contact with your face. Basically you don’t want to smash your face up against your Didgerdioo to make an airtight seal. Thinning down my mouthpiece walls gave me freedom of my jaw and around my lips.
The next big improvement in my mouthpiece design came after meeting Will Thoren. Will uses a larger opening then most didgeridoo crafters, where the largest part of the opening is side to side. He also uses a concave for the ease of a tight seal against one’s rounded face. Before I met Will I had already adapted my design to a concave shape but it was Will’s larger oblong opening that has done a lot for my vibrations.
William has developed a playing technique that he calls Drop Octave and Multi Drone. He’s able to play drone notes with his didgeridoos that are an octave lower than standard drones and several more notes in between. Although I haven’t yet learned how to play Drop Octave or Multi Drone there has been a flurry of new sounds and a new style emerging in my playing since I’ve adapted his design.
Thanks to Ondřej and William I’ve taken leaps forward in what’s possible in didgeridoo design. I’m learning from the best, and I have a long ways to go.
To read more and see videos about the Drop Octave and Multi Drone technique and craft please visit William Thoren’s website: www.wetdidgeridoo.com
Photos by: Troy Page
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Aussie “Rasta” Didgeridoo
There was solid rock on three sides of me and the lapping sound of ocean waves from the front. No one on the beach, nothing to distract from my concentration. I feel centered, I feel alive. To be all the way down under and not have an experience like this would have been a regret.
In the spring of 2010 I took a trip to Australia to help my friend Justin Krumb film a couple of projects. On one of the projects we were working with Dave Rastovich, a professional surfer and marine conservation activist who lives in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Among many other amazing instruments, Dave plays didgeridoo. Rastovich stoked me out by letting me borrow one of his personal didgeridoos for the duration of our nearly three-week stay. Thanks to Dave I was able to continue my daily practice on the road. So grateful for the generosity and hospitality I received from Rasta and his friendly Ozzie mates.
Shortly after I took these photos I bought a fresh bar of bees wax and re-waxed the mouthpiece nice and clean. Again, so grateful for the opportunity.
Photos by: Troy Page
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“All Fly Like Eagles” - Healing Vibrations For Japan
This project came about when my friends Tim Flood and Michael Joseph Ferguson asked me to join them in a concert event they arbitrarily planned for March 19th, 2011 titled “Music For The Planet”. They started preparing for this event months ahead of time and just one week before the concert, a devastating 9.0 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.
Japan was on every one’s mind but there were also a number of other things happening at the same time. On the night of our performance, a multi-state coalition led by US, British and French forces started a bombing campaign against the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his army. Also the night of our show we were experiencing a full moon that happened to be closest to earth since 1992. I got a glimpse of the moon as it rose over the eastern hills that late afternoon and it was noticeably larger then I had ever seen before. Plus, March 19th happened to be the eve of the Spring Equinox placing our event on the last hours of winter. Good night to slow down to songs of positive intention.
This song is an American Indian chant call, “All Fly Like Eagles” and this performance was my first time playing along to this chant. Pre-show during rehearsal & mic-check, Michael asked me, “Do you have a b-flat didgeridoo?” My favorite didgeridoo at the time was in the key of b-flat, but I left it at home because b-flat wasn’t going to be used in any of the other songs we planned that night. Luckily my roommates attended and brought my b-flat didge just before the show started, and we were able to sneak one last song into the mix. “All Fly Like Eagles” became my favorite performance of the event. I especially liked hearing the audience join in.
Our performance was held at a little yoga studio in Del Mar, Bindu Yoga. The next day a large storm rolled in and my friend Matt and I took a trip back to Del Mar to film the weather. Over the duration of the week- long storm I picked up shots here and there and added them to the video.
Drawing from my experience working for truthout.org, I searched the photo website flickr.com for creative commons photos related to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. (Creative commons photos are photos that have been authorized by the photographs owner, enabling others to legally re-purpose the image {under preset guidelines} without having to pay royalty fees). Thanks to these photographers contributing to creative commons I was able to add a montage of disaster, rescue and relief images to the video.
I hope that my efforts in creating this video leads to more donations towards those Japanese earthquake and tsunami survivors in need.
Michael Joseph Ferguson - lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Tim Flood - electric guitar, backing vocal
Troy Page - didgeridoo
Prem Das - tabla
Jill Jancic - backing vocal
Video Shot & Edited By
Troy Page
Audio Engineer
Tim Flood
Chris Del Moro’s “Dream Time” Didgeridoo
My friend Chris Del Moro and I decided to collaborate on a didgeridoo project and display the final product at a show alongside Chris’s other works of art at the Western Union Pacific Surf Gallery in Cardiff. This didgeridoo originated in my neighbor’s front yard in Del Mar and I began constructing it long before I ever met Chris.
I split the agave in half, hollowed either side, then became busy with other projects. The two halves sat in my room for months and the wood started to warp. After resin-ing and gluing the warped half’s back together, an obvious seam revealed itself down either side. It was playable, but I planned on decorating the outside to hide the seam. I procrastinated… then moved on to other projects and it sat uncompleted for over a year.
Once I met Chris and we talked about collaborating, the unfinished didgeridoo came to mind. It was waiting for him all along. I sanded down two strips on either side, smoothing out the seam and giving Chris a place to create his magic of paint and wood-burning.
In the construction of this didgeridoo there are a couple unique things that I most likely will never attempt again, primarily because of how much work it ended up being. First, at the bell of the didgeridoo I layered applications of resin, fiberglass and colored pigment (black, red, yellow & green) to create the layered effect. The second unique aspect of this instrument is inside the mouth piece where I used a similar method of applying pigmented resin and fiberglass to create rings of color.
I picked black, red, yellow and green because I was inspired by the music of Bob Marley. Once Chris had the didge he spent time playing it and was inspired by the music of Jimmy Hendrix. He decorated the outside with the words, “Are U Experienced” and used the psychedelic colors of Hendrix’s records. I find it interesting that Chris’s art direction was also inspired by cultural music especially because I had not told him about my motivation for picking Rastafarian colors. It’s Reggae on the inside and Rock’n Roll on the outside.
We decided not to sell this piece of art and Chris keeps it as his own. To read more and see a video about this art show please click here.
Photos by: Keziah Benson & Troy Page
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Troy Page Didgeridoo Solo, Desert Meditation
So many crazy things happening in my world and the world at large… so much all at once, it can sometimes make me feel disconnected and uncertain. My remedy is to take time, slow down, meditate by focusing on my breath and the sound of the instrument. Didgeridoo meditation helps me let go of the negative thoughts before they have a chance to alter my direction.
March of 2011, a small group of friends and I headed out to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to celebrate the birthday of our good friend Nathan McConnell. We pulled up to an absolutely picture-perfect campsite just as the evening sky turned golden. We ate, drank and kept warm around a blasting hot fire in celebration.
I initially got up early after a good night’s sleep to capture the sound of the morning birds in the frigid winter air. After setting up my audio gear I realized it wouldn’t be much more trouble to set up a camera to shoot a performance video as well. As I began to play I could feel the wildlife around me reacting to the sound of the didgeridoo, especially the birds. After I finished the meditation I turned the camera around and shot a series of scenic shots in the adjacent area and WALLA!… a simple video that I feel well represents the emotions and energy I received while playing in this beautiful desert landscape.
Video by: Troy Page
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I make it a habit to play didgeridoo everyday. It’s time I use to clear my head, meditate, recharge, and create something from nothing.
Photo by: Lance Page
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