SP-WD II
This beast has teeth!

Marco's Leather ML-WDII	Blondeenya Hamdidj BH-WDII	Chad Butler's CB-WDII
Steve Petree's SP-WDII	Wandering Didge Sound Files

SP-WD II - Steve Petree's WD II - "The Beast"

PARTICIPANTS COMMENTS:

STEVE DANIELS: 6/27/03 - What a stick! It's like a giant Tree Horn - quite unusual harmonics and intensely focused fundamental. I had lots of fun with it. The neighbors (and their neighbors) did too. For the time I had it in my house, it was the loudest didj here (proven by a sound level meter). I wish I still had it for a while, just so I could feel the sound again! Ahhhhhhhhhhh...

What a stick! It's almost 6 feet long, beautiful light-colored wood but with natural staining and grain. Some beautiful knots. Tapers up to about 6" in diameter at the far end. Solid and heavy, really resonates. It's like some giant Tree Horn - quite unusual harmonics and intensely focused fundamental. I had lots of fun with it. The neighbors (and their neighbors) did too. For the time I had it in my house, it was the loudest didj here (proven by a sound level meter and vibrating knickknacks on shelves two rooms away - once when I was playing it, and my wife was in another room working, she came in and informed me that the little papier mache' turtle has vibrating!).

DAVID BLONSKI: 7/0/03 = Well I'm in the unusual and perhaps enviable situation of having not one but two wandering didges staying with me at the moment. The first of the pair to arrive was the 'Hamdidj', a slender serpentine maple didge in the key of C and the next to arrive was the SP-WDII by Steve Petree that I have affectionately nickname "The Beast" while it is visiting me here in Garden Valley, CA.
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Steve Petree's WDII is quite a "beast" and is a big belled boomer. The fundamental is so strong that it overpowers vocals if your not careful so it was good that I got the "Hamdidj" first so that I got practice in soft expressive playing techniques before getting my hands on this didj. "The Beast" has great backpressure and is surprisingly easy to play for an instrument that has a big bell. It can get incredibly loud when you push it but I found I like it best when I played it side saddle at a modest volume level. That's when this didge performed with the best clarity, articulation and tonal quality with the techniques that I have at my disposal.

I had an opportunity to share both of the recent arrivals with an audience of about 400 at the "Drum, Dance and Didge Festival" that was held in Reno, Nevada on Saturday. I was able to tell the story of the original Wandering Didge and it's 4 year journey and disappearance and then talk of the new wave of instruments that are currently making the rounds. After my performance I was able to share the instruments with a dozen or more Reno didge players

BILL DEWY: 3/8/04 - The wandering didge has arrived, at the home of one fellow know as Bill Dewey, that's me. I just arrived home to find this great, honking box waiting for me. I quickly unpacked, boy do I hate packing peanuts, and found this absolutely glorious looking didgeridoo inside this great honking box. This thing scared me when I unwrapped it, it's as long as I am tall, just a touch short of 5'9". I, generally, have problems with big didges with large bores, so I was a touch concerned that I would have some troubles. Steve, I have no clue what you have done, or how, but this didge is an absolute treat :-). First "toot" already, easy to play, unbelievable. I will try to do this instrument justice over the next week or two. My daughter teaches at a local elementary school and one of the teachers has asked me to come in to a mixed 4/5 grade class and take, play and show a didge or two. I am hoping that I can now arrange it while I have Steve's didge with me. The hardest part is going to be sending it off the next lucky person. And think, this is all from just 5 minutes with the didge.

Steve, thank you for allowing me to participate.

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TO HEAR AN MP3 AUDIO FILE OF THE BH-WDII MADE WITH A $5 MICROPHONE USING A $40 SOUNDBLASTER LIVE CARD....
(495K)...
for a quicker download try this lower resolution file (187K)

HERE IS A MP3 FILE OF THE SP-WDII BEING PLAYED WITH A SIDE-SADDLE MOUTH POSITION...
(674K)
for a quicker download try this lower resolution file (255K)