During acoustic didgeridoo performances, if the space is not acoustical enough and the environment not quiet enough, quiet sounds (listen to a few in this video) can be lost in the noise. Another problem might be that even loud didgeridoo sounds are not loud enough, so they are (a) either not heard at all in the worst case scenario, or (b) might not be heard well enough, strongly enough.

The second situation can be solved relatively easily. Choose good acoustical spaces and instruments as loud as possible (not neglecting sound quality, naturally), because didgeridoo is very rarely too loud acoustically. This can be a matter of compromise, because sometimes loudest instruments are not the best sounding instruments, and sound is never to be neglected.

The prime challenge in any acoustical situation is in fact the first question. What about the quiet didgeridoo sounds? And further than that, what about their relation to the big sounds?

It is a fact that loud instruments can produce quiet sounds louder, so it is again wiser to take louder instrument to acoustic performance, and it is the only solution of making small sounds louder. The ultimate answer about dynamics – relation between quietest and loudest didgeridoo sounds – is not easily given.

This question and answer actually depend on the player, the instrument and the song. How well these levels can be controlled depends on the player, and a part of the solution is being able to play loud didgeridoo sounds with partial power, and quiet sounds louder than they naturally are. This way, one can reduce the dynamics dictated by certain techniques. An example would be if you wanted to further excite a song using tip-of-the-tongue sounds just after a hammering diaphragm phrase had ended. You can practice the ‘hammering’ feeling even though you are not at your full power, as well as the loudest possible tip-of-the-tongue sounds still possessing their silky quality. Here we also come to the most ethereal point, and that is song composition. It is the last point regarding dynamics: how to put all the didgeridoo sounds together to make it well articulated and listenable. And that is all up to you, of course.

The end conclusion of this text is similar to the one about frequency balance. If a didgeridoo has a high dynamic range, it is possible to reduce it by adjusting the playing technique in a much more natural way than expanding the dynamic range of a didgeridoo that does not have it.