Our partners Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr and Djamut Brian (“Badi”) of Yirrkala School in Australia's Northern Territory (  / yirrkalaschool  ) introduce us to the Aboriginal instrument the yidaki, known also as the Didgeridoo.

A "drone" is an effect or accompaniment that sounds continuously throughout a piece of music, grounding the composition, providing a sonic, and occasionally a spiritual foundation. Drones appear in many forms of vocal music in many parts of the world, but they're almost ubiquitous in South and Central Asia where Tibetan monks chant mantras and in India where several key classical instruments such as the sitar have strings that resonate in a constant tone. Drones also make their mark by being built into many instruments. In Australia, the Aboriginal people and Torres Straits Islanders create a drone using a Yidaki (Didgeridoo), an instrument made of a hollowed-out tree branch or tube. As you'll hear in this video players blow through tube to make a low, deep, otherworldly sound.