Special Reports

Instrument Of The Outback

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 1, 2001 / 1:16 PM EST / CBS

What is that strange, haunting sound heard at the beginning of CBS' Survivor: The Australian Outback?

It's the music of the didgeridoo, one of the world's oldest wind instruments, says CBS News Reporter Bob Winsor.

For centuries the didgeridoo, a large bamboo musical pipe, has played a major role in aborigine ceremonial culture.

Performed at weddings, funerals, social ceremonies and dances, the didgeridoo has provided a droning background, sacred to the people of Australia's outback.

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Made from a tree that's been eaten out by terminates, the didgeridoo is not exactly an easy instrument to master.

Dave Hudson, an aborigine, is considered to be the world's greatest didgeridoo player. His work can be heard in each episode of Survivor.

"The way to blow the didgeridoo is to blow it very softly. Do a raspberry. Don't blow it like a trumpet," he advises.

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And, Winsor reports that this sacred instrument is seeing an upsurge in popularity throughout the country – not just in the outback. With a sound reminiscent of "new age" music, the didgeridoo is appealing to a widening group of fans. Stores everywhere are carrying the pipes. And tourists are snapping them up as souvenirs from their trip "down under."

Just don't expect the didgeridoo to replace the clarinet any time soon.

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