Aborigine Instruments of Australia Workshop at Gibraltar.

Brian Pertl (left) explains to Sammy Johnson (right) what a didjeridu is

It was obvious how deeply interested the Aborigine Instruments of Australia workshop leader, Brian Pertl, was in the culture and sounds of Australia. “Music and painting and dance and song are so interval to their life that they don’t even have separate words for these things, and they all come together,” Brian mentions as he explains how the use of instruments and songs made it possible for their culture and society to come together as a whole.

Brian compares the singing of the Aborigines to the use of their most common instrument, the didjeridu. He even demonstrates himself how the songs from then, are very different from the songs that are very common today in our society.

The students break off into a different room, where they begin measuring, and sawing what looks to be their own drumming sticks. After all the sawing is done, most of the girls go into the other room where there’s paint available to decorate their drum sticks. However the boys seemed to be easily entertained by making different rhythms with their unpainted drum sticks. Mrs. Desotell approaches me and says, “Give them noise makers and they’re all happy!” referring to the guys.