Let’s go deeper into it.

The story started with looking for a didgeridoo that could play the soft drum (aka cushion percussion) sounds in all its variations, but particularly for the song Moons. I quickly and painfully discovered that none of my didgeridoos except a 269cm long A has that (super)power and a small E I used to play a while ago indicated it, but not with same excellence. I put my hopes in that small shape as a base and I did a drilling, playing and tuning process that has deep foundations in my know-how. The know-how that correlates highest level of playing and specifics of didgeridoo response and design. I am not a big fan of one trick pony, but neither I am of Jack of all trades and master of none. I was looking for a powerful master in many trades, and a Grandmaster in one. In other words, Sumo needed to wrap up vast world of sound and playing possibilities into one package, but with focus on the soft drumming.

The result of that search is a didgeridoo that is more versatile than I could ever have hoped for. Of course the soft drums are great, incredible,  but so is the thickness of the drone, which has a magical bassy aura. So is the backpressure which is beautifully strong for this kind of an open bore instrument. The same is true for the first toot which is so easy to play, so full and thick and is tuned to an octave, which is extremely rare in open bore didgeridoos that aren’t very long. Toots are well tuned to a minor scale.  For a D Sumo those would be D/D, C, F, A#, C.

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Aircode is strong and beautiful. Tuned to G for the first airdrum and D for the second. For the length it is as solid as it gets. The upper airdrums have a beautiful “wet” echo in the didge itself. Aircode to drone relations work really well and has great correlating tuning/intervals.

Drumming, and I don’t mean just soft drumming, but all drumming, is rewarded by the wet echoey sound and extra bass of Sumo. But don’t be fooled by the name to think that the bass is sloppy. Sumo is made of muscular fat and has incredible grip on the bass. Start means start and stop means stop and if you mean it, Sumo will mean it more.

Singing is supernaturally easy and clear on Sumo. Voice feels unrestricted and it is very easy to place it in both long and short notes. Because of harmonic structure, voice will be very easily audible.

Higher harmonics are prominent and if you are the type of guy that likes (to) wobble, prepare to be amazed. Especially how well it works with voice and if you want to transition from there to something different, you have possibilities of first toot realm or drum sounds that wobble has never met before.

The articulations are incredibly solid with regards to the amount of bass, and the didge allows you to “condense the drone” immensely. This sums up to distinguished articulations and overall clarity.

These are just some of the strong sides of Sumo and Sumo is super strong overall. To get a better understanding and more in-depth look and listen, please check out the video.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY: The particular Sumo presented in photos and video is made of Walnut and is in D, but other wood and other keys are possible. This particular one is sold. More Sumo didgeridoos are available or are in the making. Prices range from 1600-2500 euros, depending on the wood. For special wood eg. Cocobolo or Ebony, prices will be significantly higher, please ask. We will continue to make Sumo didgeridoos as Sumo is a result of more than 20 years of fanatic devotion to didgeridoo playing and correlating didgeridoo design development and is one of its brightest moments. We are excited, thrilled,  mesmerized and proudly offering it to you here, to discover its magic yourselves.

We will finish with an email we got, an early testimonial from one of the test-drivers…