May 25, 2023 • 44 mins
Join Divya Parekh and Pitz Quattrone to discover how the Didgeridoo saved Pitz’s life and three ways the world’s oldest instrument can lead you to a healthier lifestyle.
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Beyond Confidence is broadcast live Tuesdays at 10AM ET.
Beyond Confidence TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Beyond Confidence Radio Show is broadcast on W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
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(00:00):
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(00:24):
Radio. This is Beyond Confidence withyour host Dvaparnk. Do you want to
live a more fulfilling life? Doyou want to live your legacy and achieve
your personal, professional, and financialgoals? Well? Coming up on Diva
Park's Beyond Confidence, you will hearreal stories of leaders, entrepreneurs, and
achievers who have stepped into discomfort,shanner their status quo, and are living
(00:47):
the life they want. You willlearn how relationships are the key to achieving
your aspirations and financial goals. Movingyour career business forward does not have to
happen at the expense of your personalor family life, or vice versa.
Learn more www dot givaparnk dot comand you can connect with div you ant
contact at divapark dot com. Thisis beyond confidence and now here's your host
(01:10):
A Park. Good morning, It'sTuesday morning, and I'm so thrilled to
be here with you because I loveyou guys, and without you, the
show would not be possible. Iwant to thank each and every one of
you who have supported us by gettingour books. And two of my favorite
books are The Entrepreneur's Garden and Expertto Influencer The Entrepreneur's Garden. Regardless wherever
(01:36):
you are at, wherever in yourlife or an entrepreneur or in a corporate
it will help you because it helpsyou build those nine relationships for example,
relationship with yourself, relationship with money, relationship with results, relationship with time.
So that way, it allows youto live the life you deserve when
(02:00):
create the impact you want. Andnow you may be thinking about Expert to
Influencer in the background, And it'snot only about building communities. It's not
only about getting the likes, it'snot only about getting the followers. It's
about the impact. Because when youcreate the impact you create, you create
(02:24):
income as a side effect. Sowhy not have the impact first and income
as a secondar effect. And whenyou purchase our books, not only it's
going to help you. We takepartial profits from the book sales and help
entrepreneurs all across the globe through Kivadot org. So it's a win win
(02:50):
situation all around. I invite youto spend one hour of your time helping
somebody with no strengths attached every month. Think about it. Even if two
hundred million people did that all acrossthe world, it's two hundred million hours.
What could we achieve in that wecould create so much kindness and joys
(03:13):
of one onto it. So wehave something very special for you today and
we are going to bring in acast. Now welcome Pitts. Hi,
did you good to be with you? Thanks for the invitation on the show.
Oh pleasure to have you. Sowe start out from the childhood.
(03:36):
So Pitts, tell us when youwere a child, did you have any
moments that left their mark on youand that you remember even today. That's
a great question. And yes ithas to do with music. I'm a
musician and I visited my aunt anduncle's house and one of my uncles when
(03:57):
I was three years old. Innineteen sixty five, one of my uncles
was dancing around in his underwear playingair guitar to the Rolling Stones Satisfaction.
And I was a little kid andI still remember it. It was like
wow, and he says to me, He's like, Pitts, just listen
to the guitar. Listen to thatguitar. I still remember that today,
(04:18):
and I was like, wow,music is really powerful. This is my
uncle who I love and respect,and he's dancing around in his underwear to
the Rolling Stones and I was like, so, music is so powerful.
It's like wow, I need toknow more about music and maybe that's my
life path. And I can definitelyrelate to that because music transcends everything.
(04:46):
If you find a good beat,you may not you know, you may
be sitting with people from fifty differentcountries, you may not no single word
of their language, and yet youcan connect. It brings people together,
and it brings the joy. Isthis something about music that can have so
much benefits and impact in our lives? And I can't play anything. I
(05:13):
cannot say that said. I dolove music, and there's just so much
joy and music is something that's soclose and dear too, everyone's heart.
So as you grew up, whatmusical instruments were you interested in? Well,
I first played guitar for a littlewhile, and then I played clarinet
(05:35):
for a little while, and theyreally didn't stick with me. But then
my dad bought me a drum setfor one of my birthdays when I was
about thirteen and twelve or thirteen,and the drum set was like, Wow,
this is this is what I here'smy home, this is what I
(05:55):
should be playing. So I playedthat for about ten years. Drum kit
and also hand percussion, all kindsof different hand drums and bells and tambourines
and whistles and that sort of thing, just putting the icing on the cake.
Really, So I kind of gotaway from the drum set and then
moved on to hand percussion from allover the world, really different instruments.
(06:19):
M So, what was it aboutthe drums that made you stick with them
in comparison to guitar and planet?Yeah, you know, I just felt
a connection to it. It's likeI'm always tapping my foot or tapping the
table with my hand, and sometimesI drove my mom crazy at the dinner
table. I was tapping away andshe would just grab my hand and stop
(06:41):
me for a few seconds so shecan have some peace. But I just
felt like it was a natural fitfor me keeping rhythm m So, you
know, there are a lot ofpeople who may be thinking like, okay,
So for example, let's say,if I want to learn a musical
instrument, how can I find outlike that connect that's you know, I
(07:02):
think it's easier today because of theInternet. You can just search around and
check out different instruments. I thinkmaybe it would start with like your favorite
type of music, whatever artist ortype of music you like. Check out
that artist and try to figure outwhat instruments are within that ensemble, and
(07:25):
maybe that's your direction to a startingpoint. HM. That's very true.
I actually have single ongo. I'mnot sure what it's called, and I
have it in the house and sometimesI will go and look at YouTube's and
(07:47):
just kind of I call it banging. You know. I haven't gotten much
further on it, so, butI do like the sound of it,
that deep rhythmic sound. Like,especially since you mentioned about the drums,
what's a good way to bring themotivation in and get going on it?
(08:07):
Get going on a certain instrument.Yeah, well you'll the person will know
it when they feel it. That'swhat happened to me with the drums and
the did you redo eventually? ButI think it's a deep feeling inside and
I'm connected to music, and it'sjust when you feel it, you know
(08:30):
it, and it's like, oh, there it is. The light goes
on in your head. It's like, all right, cool, So that's
my direction right now, let's let'slearn more about that. Ah. So
you're talking about the connection. It'simportant to feel the connection and if you
feel the connection, you'll stay withit. It's okay. So like you
moved past the drums, what happenednext? Well, going back to my
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childhood with tapping and keeping rhythm oneverything, I was always making sounds,
different sounds. I love sound effectson movies and commercials and in different TV
shows. So I was making lotsof weird sounds with my voice in mouth.
And one of my cousins he usedto imitate a trumpet with his mouth
(09:22):
like he was really good at it. So that got my attention. So
I was like, all right,so where am I going with this?
Like I'm not really sure. Butwhen I first heard the Digity Do in
the nineteen eighties, the early nineteeneighties. That's when that sound grabbed me
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like a magnet and pulled me inand I knew it right away. Mm
So where did you get exposure toit? Well, there's a movie called
The Coca Cola Kid that it's inAustralia, and also and then a few
years later the Crocodile Dundeed movies.Oh oh yeah, based in Australia,
and you hear the did you dounderneath all these really cool scenes, and
(10:09):
then as like, what is thatthing? I need to know more about
it? And then I found outwhat it is, what it's called,
and the Internet was not happening then, so I kind of had to do
some organic research in the library andtalking with friends to find out more about
the instrument. So just kind ofveering off the topic. How do you
(10:33):
find the difference between when you wentto library to figure out things about did
you re do learn more about itnow when everything is available at fingertips,
Well, it takes more time andmore effort. You know, you really
you got to get in the car, drive to the library or someone has
to drop you off there. Yougot to physically search for things and research
(10:56):
in the card catalog and then youunder Australia or did you re do?
If you even know how to spellthat word? So it takes more time.
It took more time and more effort. Then, so it took more
time and more effort. M Howdid it make you feel once you got
the information? It was great,It was really rewarding. And then I
(11:20):
heard a really cool radio special thatfeatured lots of different types of music with
the didjury do so like? AndI was so excited. I called the
radio station and I asked them forthe set list of those songs and the
artists and every other information. Andso the guy was really nice. He
(11:43):
printed out the playlist for me andsend it to me in this in snail
mail. So about a week laterI got this list of so all right,
cool, I know all these differentartists who feature did youre do?
In their music? Now I havelike that was a gold mine of information
for me, of course, solike, now you have this goal line
of information, You have all theseplaylist and different names of different artists.
(12:11):
What did you do with it?Well? Then I started looking for music
by those artists and going to arecord shop Hey, do you have this?
Do you have that? Or maybeI could somehow find a world music
catalog and possibly one of those artistsis in that catalog and then purchase their
(12:31):
music and a week or so laterit will come in the mail and then
I could really check out and diveinto, dive into that artist music and
when did you buy did you intoand how did you learn it? Well,
here it is my wife who we'vebeen together for over thirty years.
(12:52):
She's an absolute angel, and shefound a world music instrument mail or catalog.
So for on Christmas of nineteen ninetythree, I played the Digredo for
the first time because it was aChristmas present from my wife Amy, and
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it came from Australia and it wasa really nice little Digredo. And the
really cool thing about that it camewith an instructional cassette, so and that
was the days of actual cassettes,So that's how long it was ago.
But the guy really went into greatdetail in describing what he was doing,
(13:37):
and it really really helped me getthe initial sounds and then just different things
you can put on top of thesounds and different techniques, traditional techniques as
well as more modern day avant gardethings. The disadvantage was I couldn't see
what he was doing, and Icouldn't ask him questions. So there was
(13:58):
a good amount of technique questions Ihad that I couldn't ask him that I
had to really figure out on myown. And some of those things came
to me by accident, and sometimesdiscovering those things kind of gives you a
deeper understanding. It does, andagain more rewarding because I had to work
(14:20):
to find that information and on myown. So yes, absolutely, so,
how did you become good at it? Practice? Just like any other
instrument, you gotta put in,you gotta put in the time. But
for me, it really I didn'tview it or it didn't feel like I
(14:43):
was working at it, although Iwas because I enjoyed it so much.
And that's the initial drone of thedigity do. I heard that and felt
locked into it. It's like Iwant to make that sound? How do
I do that? And it tooka while for me to get that sound,
but it's practice, practice, practice, And then after playing for three
(15:05):
years during that time, I startedmaking instruments, and after that three year
period, I was pretty good onit, and so then I started going
around to craft shows and music festivalsin the craft area and making instruments that
I offered to the public. SoI started selling instruments for five years on
(15:28):
the craft show circuit. And duringthe craft show I'm playing and playing and
playing eight or ten hours a dayand demonstrating, talking about the instrument,
asking or answering questions that folks had. So during that five year period I
got really good. So now let'ssay if somebody was an entrepreneur or in
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the corporate world, you know,leaders people, or doesn't matter for that
matter, anywhere in anywhere, whateverthey're like retail person or a person you
know, raising kids, It doesn'tmatter what they do or what they're What
are the few lessons that you learnfrom this journey for that could apply to
anyone from the Digre Do. Yeah, Well, the dig Re Do calms
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you down, whether you're playing itor even listening to it, So that's
number one. And if you're playing, you must relax and calm down to
get the proper tone. So that'sone benefit or lesson that is learned.
And we could all use some relaxationand a slower heart rate and a slower
(16:41):
breath rate. Let's let's explore thelessons that you learned personally that you you
know, people talk about like,oh, what are you passionate about?
You found that you were passionate about. You didn't have anybody to teach you.
What kept you going? I justyou know, it sounds crazy,
but I love the sound of it, you know, again going back to
(17:04):
my childhood with the different sounds thatI was making, and it was also
musical sounds, so I had thatmusic connection from when I saw my uncle
jumping around playing to the rolling stones. So it really it wasn't an effort
at all to keep going because Iloved what I was doing. M And
(17:25):
you mentioned earlier also that it didn'tfeel like work and you found so basically
what you're sharing is that if youknow what you love to do, and
then it's not work, and thenyou will find pathways. Like so,
for example, you figured out justto learn by the person who was on
(17:51):
the cassette without seeing them, andthen just being at it and then becoming
a deeper and deeper expert at it, and then also finding a way to
make those so all those digrey duesthat we see behind it, you have
you made them. Yes, absolutely, Oh they're beautiful, thank you.
(18:14):
And so tell us, like,you know what different types of digrey dues
there are in like what's their originand give us the whole story behind it.
Sure m well, going back tothe traditional digrey dues in Australia and
one let me back up even further. The word didgerido is not an Aboriginal
term. That word was made upby the first Europeans who showed up in
(18:37):
Australia and they made up a namebased on its sound automatopia, didgerido,
sospia, automatopia. It's the technique. It's the process of making up a
word based on its sound like ba, yeah, automatopia. Oh something new
alone, seeing it's that's bell.Every day you learn something newer. Yeah.
(19:03):
So, depending on where you arein Australia, the dig red has
about thirty eight to forty different namesthat is accepted in the original native communities,
and one term that is accepted prettymuch nationwide is the word yadaki.
That's y i d a ki yidaki. In some areas of Australia, yidraki
(19:27):
means short dig redo or mosquito.Didjurdo because the dig is like any other
instrument. The shorter ones are goingto be higher pitched and brighter, the
longer ones deeper, basier sounding.So you said about mosquito, did you
do? Yeah, that comes fromit comes from imitating the sounds. The
(19:52):
dig red is a sound effects machine, is the original sound effects machine.
Traditionally around the fire nighttime, there'sone person telling a story or singing a
story, and then there's two orthree sometimes four dancers imitating the movements of
what's happening in the story. Andthen there's one sometimes two did red players
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imitating the sounds of what's happening inthe story, mostly nature sounds, right
soever, whatever is in the story, the didred player's job is to imitate
that sound. And if there's amosquito, the didred player makes the mosquito
sound effects. So in the shorterones are a little bit easier to make
(20:37):
that sound or a little bit morerealistic sounding for the mosquito. Oh,
that is so fantastic and phenomenal becausethink about it, they're putting on a
musical every night and it's a partof their culture and just embracing storytelling in
music and passing it on to thenext generation. Sit So have you ever
(21:03):
done storytelling what dig red? Well, I have accompanied stories, and so
I'm the sound effects person. Andsometimes when I go to like a retreat
center or a university or some typeof presentation, I'll ask someone to read
a traditional story and then maybe notso traditional story as long as it has
(21:26):
all kinds of sounds in it,nature sounds or even man made sounds in
the newer stories. So the answeris yes, I have accompanied those stories.
And it's really nice when someone isreading aloud and then the dig Red
is underneath everything. It's just areally nice pairing of sounds, the human
voice and the instrument. Oh wow, that is amazing because it so.
(21:55):
Are there any specific areas where likeyou know the use like and are these
culled sound stories? Well? Yeah, the oral tradition it like you said,
it's passed down from generation to generation. Nothing is really written down except
artwork does tell stories as well,So there's there's different ways of passing that
(22:18):
on. Oh that's beautiful and wherecan let's say, you know, people
will be definitely interested after listening tothe show. If people were interested in
getting digity dues and learning. Howcan they go about it? Well,
on my website there's tons of information, so I have some handcrafted instruments that
(22:42):
I've made. And also if you'relooking for an Aboriginal Australia made instrument,
I have a link there to aresource in Australia. So yeah, on
my website it's my name dot com. It's Pitts Quatrone p I easy qua
t t R O n E PittsQuatron dot com. Or you can just
(23:06):
search by Vermont didgerido or Pitts digdig d I dge, so you'll probably
find that I'm like the first onehundred things that pop up if you plug
in just Vermont Didge, so youcan find me, Okay, fantastic and
so they can find you for sure. And then I'm assuming you also teach
(23:30):
people how to play. Yeah,I've been teaching folks how to play since
the mid nineteen nineties and a lotof my stuff now is on video chat
and I was I've been teaching onlinefor ten or twelve years, long before
COVID. But it's great because nowthe audio is much better, the cameras
are much better, So I havestudents all over the world and I teach
(23:55):
one on one or group setting inperson or video chat. Oh that's fantastic,
definitely, So Pits, let's maybedemonstrate something. So how about if
I come up with some story andwith a nature sound, and can you
play along with that? Because that'ssomething when somebody learns they can do with
(24:19):
their families. What do you thinkof that? Yes, you mean right
now, right now? Okay,I'd love to do that. With the
audio, it may not totally bein sync, but I have some certain
settings that I've locked in and itshould be very good, okay, and
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you have to lead me through itwhere I stop and where the sound comes
in. I'm just going to makeup the story as we go along because
I'm a storyteller. Storyteller and Ilove that. Okay. Are you ready?
Yeah? I'm ready, So togo? First, do you want
to start? Why don't you start? Set the stage and then I can
begin the story. I like it. Here we go. That was beautiful,
(25:41):
okay. So Mama and Papa Sparroware sitting around a fire and they've
got like a little little, tinylittle babies, and let's say they use
their beaks like a jackhammer. Idon't want. And now what happens is
(26:03):
that when they're opening up the shells, they pack upon the shell and eat
the contents. And now sometimes theymay be choosing to sit on a gutter,
and then the noise becomes very similarto as if somebody's knocking on your
front door. Thank you for playingalong. I really appreciate that, Okay,
(26:34):
and that cool. Yeah, Sofolks, you know those little Mamma
and Papa sparrows, mister and missusSmith. We are going to go and
you can have stories, especially withfamilies and especially if you're out, and
especially for family reunions. I cansee so many different possibilities because I'm such
(26:56):
a storyteller. Let's say, ifyou're on the beach and you just kind
of embroy in, or even ifyou're getting together with a group of friends,
this can be such a wonderful thingto bring the whole social connections to
life, or that social gathering tolife. So we have talked about it,
and you know, like people canplay with it. So tell us
(27:18):
how does it help with help incomparison to any other instruments. Ah,
okay, well, I've touched onit real quickly in order to play properly
in the beginning, you must relax, So that's number one. And there
was a really interesting study that cameout about fifteen years ago published by the
(27:38):
British Medical Journal. They studied adoctor in Switzerland who found out that playing
the dig red it's a physical instrument, So playing the digred really works the
lower throat muscles and as well asthis technique called circular breathing, which allows
(28:00):
the didre due player to play continuouslybecause that person breathes while they play,
so using that circular breathing technique andI can describe that in a minute.
All those things really work the internalmuscles in your throat that are usually the
problem with sleep apnea, obstructive sleepapnea. So just yeah, it's a
(28:25):
really groundbreaking stuff. So the doctorhad twenty five patients who had sleep apnea,
and he brought in a didre dudeteacher and that teacher taught the folks
how to play, and they playedsix days a week for about a half
an hour a day for a threemonth period. So meanwhile, those muscles
(28:48):
are getting a serious workout. Atthe end of that time period, there
sleep apnea episodes either totally disappeared ordrastically reduced, because those muscles are now
back in shape and they're nice andstraight and strong. They're not flabby and
loose and blocking the airway. Sothis study, this study was published,
(29:12):
and a lot of people it's areally nice alternative to the seapap machine or
other treatments for sleep apnea. Soa lot of people come to me and
say, Pitts, I just can'tstand that seapap thing. I don't want
to get jaw surgery or all theseother alignment things. Teach me how to
(29:33):
play digred to help with my sleepapnea. Oh, that is so fantastic
because you know, without sleep,Oh, and the day can be so
tough. So that's phenomenal. Sotell us about circular breathing. Okay,
circular breathing. So and to getthe initial sound on the did red,
(29:55):
I'm flapping my lips nice and looseand wide open, not tighten pressured like
a trumpet player, very loose,kind of like what a tuba player does.
So is that what is that howyou played? Did you do?
(30:15):
That's how you get started? Yeah, that's step one is you flap your
lips and it resonates down the digredoand it eventually creates that initial drone,
so that drone is your foundation ofsound. So I'm playing along. Eventually,
I'm gonna need air for my lungs, right, And if you remember,
(30:37):
like when we were children, weused to do that song. Yes,
that's a great point because when Igo to schools and teach kids how
to play, almost every kid isa natural did red player. That's what
I found. And it's so coolbecause you know, I guess as people
get older and older, they stopdoing that, or the adults kind of
(30:59):
like, oh I can't do that, I'll look silly, right, And
usually it used to happen when somekid did not like some of the kid
and what they're saying, and theywould just go and go yeah yeah right,
or it's the raspberry thing, orit's the raspberry thing, yeah yeah.
So that's how you get started onthe ditch. So I'm playing.
(31:22):
Eventually, I'm going to need airto breathe. So what I do is
on its way out, I catchsome air in my cheeks, and with
my cheek muscles alone, I squeezein one mouthful at a time, so
that's forcing the air out of mymouth. So I'm not actually breathing out.
I'm just emptying my mouth chamber withthe cheeks, and that little puff
(31:48):
keeps my lips flapping for just asecond or so. That's my opportunity to
breathe up my nose for my lungs. And I'll do it two or three,
maybe four times in a row whileI'm playing, because it's just a
little bit of air. So hereit is, I'm playing right, gets
some air in my cheeks and withmy cheek muscles alone, force it out
(32:10):
and breathe up my nose at thesame time, so that that motion that
that's the circle. That's where thename comes from, I see. And
it's if you kind of like breakit apart like from did you Do playing?
(32:30):
It's such a good way of breathingwhere you're pulling in more air and
you're building your muscles. Oh that'samazing. Absolutely, any amount I'm totally
convinced any amount of did you DoPlaying is beneficial health wise. But once
you start doing the circular breathing,it gets it catapults. The benefits like
(32:52):
expand amplify to great amounts, andthat's what really really helps with getting those
muscles internal workout. It's like apush ups for those muscles. It gets
them back into shape, so they'reno longer obstructing the airway. Oh I
see. So because they're not inshape, they obstruct the air wind.
(33:15):
That's why people have sleep at nearYes, that's what that's what this has
all been described to me from medicalprofessionals. I'm I'm I'm a musician.
I'm not a doctor or a healthcareprofessional. And but I've seen it in
all my students. Even if onething I start with right away day one
with my students, someone comes tome a new student, it's like,
(33:37):
okay, um, flap your lipslike that, and that's so much fun.
You get to do it. Itis a fun it's a fun thing.
And what I do ask the folksis like, okay, do that,
and then time yourself and see howlong that lasts. And there's no
right or wrong answer. Whether it'seight seconds, fifteen seconds, doesn't matter.
(34:00):
But write that down like Okay,day one, I went for fifteen
seconds. And then I asked,and I asked folks to play every day
in practice fifteen twenty thirty minutes andat the end of the first week do
that same exercise of timing your breathevery time that breath is longer. So
(34:22):
practice the benefits start happening right away. And this person is not even circular
breathing yet, so they're getting gettingwarmed up, building up capacity, opening
up the airways. And that's onlya good thing. Yeah, and here's
the beauty of it that you're enjoyingthere it is again yep. Well,
(34:46):
your family members maybe like, okay, what is that song you're making?
Our noise? You know? Yeah, So, but the better you get
at the instrument, the better andbetter the tone and and your technique gets.
So hopefully your family members won't mindtoo much after of course not of
course, a few days or acouple of weeks. It can be such
(35:08):
a great exercise where you're learning itwith your child. Yes, absolutely that
I love that idea. That's areally good thing. And so the parents
doing it, then the children imitatesthat technique and that sound, and it's
fun for them and it's also healthyfor both people. It's it's a great
(35:29):
way to bond with anyone for thatmatter. And so you mentioned about like,
you know, you gave us theexample of one sound like how it
comes out like so do different didyou redues make different sounds? Different tones?
Again, you know it's a musicalinstrument. The long ones are bassy,
short ones are higher. So wouldyou be open to sharing the test?
(35:52):
How does a short one sound?Yeah? Well the one I played
was rather short, but I canplay this other one here. This one
is really long. It probably won'tfit the whole thing in the camera,
but I'll play here. Wow,So it's it has That's just amazing.
(36:24):
So what is the signs behind aboutthe sound? Like? Is it like
a tunnel? That would love tolearn about that. Yeah, Structurally the
instrument is a tunnel. It's along, hollowed out tree branch. And
how these are made traditionally for thousandsof years and a lot of people agree.
(36:46):
A lot of music experts agree thedidgerido is the world's oldest musical instrument.
No one really knows how old,between fifteen hundred perhaps up to forty
thousand years. So how the traditionalinstruments are made is there's termites that eat
out the center of a tree limb. Interesting, so when the instrument maker
(37:09):
needs to make an instrument, they'llgo around and look for a termite mound
and different types of eucalyptus trees arearound. So if there's a termite mounds
and a tree of eucalyptus tree closeby, chances are those termites have done
their work. So what they termitesgo underground and they eat their way up
(37:31):
the trunk and out the branches ofthe tree, and the ditch maker will
go around and knock on that branch. You'll look for the termite and the
tree nearby, and then start knockingon different branches to hear how hollow it
is. And through experience that personwill know like, Okay, this one's
ready to go, this one's needssome more time, or this one might
(37:52):
be too far gone. So ifit's ready to go, then that the
ditch maker will cut that branch downand take it back home and sometimes peel
the bark off let its season andthen decorate it, or sometimes the bark
is left on it for a nicenatural look. And is that how you
get your vote as well? No, I don't. I don't want to
(38:17):
attract any termites to my house.Yeah, that's what I was kind of
thinking that. Yeah, it's onething to kind of get it, but
the termites insided, how does thatwork? Yeah, so what I do.
I found this really interesting tree.It's called Polonia, or princess tree
is a nickname for it. It'sa soft wood. It's an invasive species
from Asia, but it grows allover the world now and the really many
(38:42):
different aspects that's really helpful for meis the first two to three years of
its life, it grows mostly hollow. So yeah, so there's a little
pithy area where the branches come outintersection, but in between those branches is
it's rather it's a hollow tunnel.So I've learned. I have a really
(39:04):
long drill bit and what I've learnedhow to go in one end very carefully
so it doesn't blow out the sideand let that tunnel guide me. And
then I'll flip the instrument around andan approach it from the other direction to
complete that tunnel. Wow, that'sinteresting. And when you find your princess
trees, well in the I livein Vermont and they do grow here,
(39:29):
although they really it's a little bitcold for him. So, but in
the United States, all around southernNew England and throughout the mid Atlantic,
especially down in like New York,Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, and even
further south, it grows to afull blown tree. So I have different
(39:52):
places that folks let me harvest.In Vermont, it grows in one year,
it grows to full height and andthe stock dies. The root ball
stays alive, and next year itshoots out a new set of branches.
Oh what a fascinating story about that. So thank you for coming on our
(40:12):
show and sharing. You're welcome.Thanks. If you were to give the
last top two to three tips toour listeners, what might that be.
Well, another thing I'd like todo is I'm a musician, so I
create music. I put the dijurydo in a lot of different musical settings,
including my own, like rock,funk, really fun stuff. But
this instrument has taken me around theworld collaborating with different musicians. So I
(40:38):
really believe that the digur do isvery versatile instrument musically, so I put
it in all kinds of different settings. I'm not an Aboriginal from Australia,
and I don't pretend to be.I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia,
so that's my musical background. SoI played this really old instrument in
(40:59):
my music to go background and alsowith backgrounds from all over the world.
Well, that's awesome because what you'redoing is you're pulling everything together and that's
what needs to happen, and that'swhat brings us together as people. Then
we embrace and adopt and adapt todifferent cultures and make it mainstream. So
(41:21):
that's beautiful. Yeah, thank you, and make it accessible. And like
you said earlier, music transcends allboundaries. And even if I can't speak
to a person in West Africa theirlanguage, they can't speak mine, and
they're a fabulous musician, we gettogether and we can communicate with music and
(41:42):
we look over and smile at eachother and yeah, this is working.
So it's the great communicator in thisinstrument. I owe a lot to it.
It's really opened up a whole worldfor me and in turn life missions
and a successful rewarding career. Well, it's thank you so much for playing
for us and playing along for thestory. Yet now where can again find
(42:07):
you? If you can share withTassi your website, your link and how
like you teach them just full details. Yeah, well, if you want
to hear music, just ask yoursmart speaker to play Pitts Squadrone and I'm
on every musical platform that there is. And if you want to find me
on line, check out my websitewith all those different options you just described.
(42:31):
It's pitts quatrone dot com. Again, it's p I t Z qu
A T t R O n Epitts quatron dot com. Or just search
for Pitts p I t Z digd I d g E. Oh fantastic.
(42:52):
Thank you so much for coming anddoing what you're doing because, as
you mentioned, you know, sleepis such an important part and this is
a natural way to get rid ofit, and so thank you again.
You're welcome, Divia. Thank youfor inviting me on the show. It's
been my pleasure. Absolutely, it'sbeen a joy speaking to you and listeners.
(43:17):
Thank you for joining us, becausewithout you, the show would not
be possible. You are the soulof the show, so reach out to
us, let us know how canwe support you and how can we hope
you live the life you deserve withjoy, wealth, health and happiness.
And thank you one for making theshow possible. So folks be well and
(43:43):
take care until next time. Thankyou for being part of Beyond Confidence with
your host, Divia Park, wehope you've learned more about how to start
living the life you want. Eachweek on Beyond Confidence, you hear stories
of real people who've experienced growth byovercoming their fears and building me four relationships.
During Beyond Confidence, Diva Park shareswhat happened to her when she stepped
(44:05):
out of her comfort zone to workdirectly with people across the globe. She
not only coaches people how to formheart connections, but also transform relationships to
mutually beneficial partnerships as they strive tolive the life they want. If you
are ready to live the life youwant and leverage your strengths, learn more
at www dot dvapark dot com andyou can connect with Diva at contact at
(44:28):
dvapark dot com. We look forwardto you joining us next week.
The topics and opinions expressed on thefollowing show are solely those of the hosts
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We make no recommendations or endorsement forradio show programs, services, or
products mentioned on air or on ourweb. No liability, explicit or implied
shall be extended to W FOURWN RadioIt's employees or affiliates. Any questions or
comments should be directed to those showhosts. Thank you for choosing W FOURWN
(00:24):
Radio. This is Beyond Confidence withyour host Dvaparnk. Do you want to
live a more fulfilling life? Doyou want to live your legacy and achieve
your personal, professional, and financialgoals? Well? Coming up on Diva
Park's Beyond Confidence, you will hearreal stories of leaders, entrepreneurs, and
achievers who have stepped into discomfort,shanner their status quo, and are living
(00:47):
the life they want. You willlearn how relationships are the key to achieving
your aspirations and financial goals. Movingyour career business forward does not have to
happen at the expense of your personalor family life, or vice versa.
Learn more www dot givaparnk dot comand you can connect with div you ant
contact at divapark dot com. Thisis beyond confidence and now here's your host
(01:10):
A Park. Good morning, It'sTuesday morning, and I'm so thrilled to
be here with you because I loveyou guys, and without you, the
show would not be possible. Iwant to thank each and every one of
you who have supported us by gettingour books. And two of my favorite
books are The Entrepreneur's Garden and Expertto Influencer The Entrepreneur's Garden. Regardless wherever
(01:36):
you are at, wherever in yourlife or an entrepreneur or in a corporate
it will help you because it helpsyou build those nine relationships for example,
relationship with yourself, relationship with money, relationship with results, relationship with time.
So that way, it allows youto live the life you deserve when
(02:00):
create the impact you want. Andnow you may be thinking about Expert to
Influencer in the background, And it'snot only about building communities. It's not
only about getting the likes, it'snot only about getting the followers. It's
about the impact. Because when youcreate the impact you create, you create
(02:24):
income as a side effect. Sowhy not have the impact first and income
as a secondar effect. And whenyou purchase our books, not only it's
going to help you. We takepartial profits from the book sales and help
entrepreneurs all across the globe through Kivadot org. So it's a win win
(02:50):
situation all around. I invite youto spend one hour of your time helping
somebody with no strengths attached every month. Think about it. Even if two
hundred million people did that all acrossthe world, it's two hundred million hours.
What could we achieve in that wecould create so much kindness and joys
(03:13):
of one onto it. So wehave something very special for you today and
we are going to bring in acast. Now welcome Pitts. Hi,
did you good to be with you? Thanks for the invitation on the show.
Oh pleasure to have you. Sowe start out from the childhood.
(03:36):
So Pitts, tell us when youwere a child, did you have any
moments that left their mark on youand that you remember even today. That's
a great question. And yes ithas to do with music. I'm a
musician and I visited my aunt anduncle's house and one of my uncles when
(03:57):
I was three years old. Innineteen sixty five, one of my uncles
was dancing around in his underwear playingair guitar to the Rolling Stones Satisfaction.
And I was a little kid andI still remember it. It was like
wow, and he says to me, He's like, Pitts, just listen
to the guitar. Listen to thatguitar. I still remember that today,
(04:18):
and I was like, wow,music is really powerful. This is my
uncle who I love and respect,and he's dancing around in his underwear to
the Rolling Stones and I was like, so, music is so powerful.
It's like wow, I need toknow more about music and maybe that's my
life path. And I can definitelyrelate to that because music transcends everything.
(04:46):
If you find a good beat,you may not you know, you may
be sitting with people from fifty differentcountries, you may not no single word
of their language, and yet youcan connect. It brings people together,
and it brings the joy. Isthis something about music that can have so
much benefits and impact in our lives? And I can't play anything. I
(05:13):
cannot say that said. I dolove music, and there's just so much
joy and music is something that's soclose and dear too, everyone's heart.
So as you grew up, whatmusical instruments were you interested in? Well,
I first played guitar for a littlewhile, and then I played clarinet
(05:35):
for a little while, and theyreally didn't stick with me. But then
my dad bought me a drum setfor one of my birthdays when I was
about thirteen and twelve or thirteen,and the drum set was like, Wow,
this is this is what I here'smy home, this is what I
(05:55):
should be playing. So I playedthat for about ten years. Drum kit
and also hand percussion, all kindsof different hand drums and bells and tambourines
and whistles and that sort of thing, just putting the icing on the cake.
Really, So I kind of gotaway from the drum set and then
moved on to hand percussion from allover the world, really different instruments.
(06:19):
M So, what was it aboutthe drums that made you stick with them
in comparison to guitar and planet?Yeah, you know, I just felt
a connection to it. It's likeI'm always tapping my foot or tapping the
table with my hand, and sometimesI drove my mom crazy at the dinner
table. I was tapping away andshe would just grab my hand and stop
(06:41):
me for a few seconds so shecan have some peace. But I just
felt like it was a natural fitfor me keeping rhythm m So, you
know, there are a lot ofpeople who may be thinking like, okay,
So for example, let's say,if I want to learn a musical
instrument, how can I find outlike that connect that's you know, I
(07:02):
think it's easier today because of theInternet. You can just search around and
check out different instruments. I thinkmaybe it would start with like your favorite
type of music, whatever artist ortype of music you like. Check out
that artist and try to figure outwhat instruments are within that ensemble, and
(07:25):
maybe that's your direction to a startingpoint. HM. That's very true.
I actually have single ongo. I'mnot sure what it's called, and I
have it in the house and sometimesI will go and look at YouTube's and
(07:47):
just kind of I call it banging. You know. I haven't gotten much
further on it, so, butI do like the sound of it,
that deep rhythmic sound. Like,especially since you mentioned about the drums,
what's a good way to bring themotivation in and get going on it?
(08:07):
Get going on a certain instrument.Yeah, well you'll the person will know
it when they feel it. That'swhat happened to me with the drums and
the did you redo eventually? ButI think it's a deep feeling inside and
I'm connected to music, and it'sjust when you feel it, you know
(08:30):
it, and it's like, oh, there it is. The light goes
on in your head. It's like, all right, cool, So that's
my direction right now, let's let'slearn more about that. Ah. So
you're talking about the connection. It'simportant to feel the connection and if you
feel the connection, you'll stay withit. It's okay. So like you
moved past the drums, what happenednext? Well, going back to my
(08:58):
childhood with tapping and keeping rhythm oneverything, I was always making sounds,
different sounds. I love sound effectson movies and commercials and in different TV
shows. So I was making lotsof weird sounds with my voice in mouth.
And one of my cousins he usedto imitate a trumpet with his mouth
(09:22):
like he was really good at it. So that got my attention. So
I was like, all right,so where am I going with this?
Like I'm not really sure. Butwhen I first heard the Digity Do in
the nineteen eighties, the early nineteeneighties. That's when that sound grabbed me
(09:43):
like a magnet and pulled me inand I knew it right away. Mm
So where did you get exposure toit? Well, there's a movie called
The Coca Cola Kid that it's inAustralia, and also and then a few
years later the Crocodile Dundeed movies.Oh oh yeah, based in Australia,
and you hear the did you dounderneath all these really cool scenes, and
(10:09):
then as like, what is thatthing? I need to know more about
it? And then I found outwhat it is, what it's called,
and the Internet was not happening then, so I kind of had to do
some organic research in the library andtalking with friends to find out more about
the instrument. So just kind ofveering off the topic. How do you
(10:33):
find the difference between when you wentto library to figure out things about did
you re do learn more about itnow when everything is available at fingertips,
Well, it takes more time andmore effort. You know, you really
you got to get in the car, drive to the library or someone has
to drop you off there. Yougot to physically search for things and research
(10:56):
in the card catalog and then youunder Australia or did you re do?
If you even know how to spellthat word? So it takes more time.
It took more time and more effort. Then, so it took more
time and more effort. M Howdid it make you feel once you got
the information? It was great,It was really rewarding. And then I
(11:20):
heard a really cool radio special thatfeatured lots of different types of music with
the didjury do so like? AndI was so excited. I called the
radio station and I asked them forthe set list of those songs and the
artists and every other information. Andso the guy was really nice. He
(11:43):
printed out the playlist for me andsend it to me in this in snail
mail. So about a week laterI got this list of so all right,
cool, I know all these differentartists who feature did youre do?
In their music? Now I havelike that was a gold mine of information
for me, of course, solike, now you have this goal line
of information, You have all theseplaylist and different names of different artists.
(12:11):
What did you do with it?Well? Then I started looking for music
by those artists and going to arecord shop Hey, do you have this?
Do you have that? Or maybeI could somehow find a world music
catalog and possibly one of those artistsis in that catalog and then purchase their
(12:31):
music and a week or so laterit will come in the mail and then
I could really check out and diveinto, dive into that artist music and
when did you buy did you intoand how did you learn it? Well,
here it is my wife who we'vebeen together for over thirty years.
(12:52):
She's an absolute angel, and shefound a world music instrument mail or catalog.
So for on Christmas of nineteen ninetythree, I played the Digredo for
the first time because it was aChristmas present from my wife Amy, and
(13:13):
it came from Australia and it wasa really nice little Digredo. And the
really cool thing about that it camewith an instructional cassette, so and that
was the days of actual cassettes,So that's how long it was ago.
But the guy really went into greatdetail in describing what he was doing,
(13:37):
and it really really helped me getthe initial sounds and then just different things
you can put on top of thesounds and different techniques, traditional techniques as
well as more modern day avant gardethings. The disadvantage was I couldn't see
what he was doing, and Icouldn't ask him questions. So there was
(13:58):
a good amount of technique questions Ihad that I couldn't ask him that I
had to really figure out on myown. And some of those things came
to me by accident, and sometimesdiscovering those things kind of gives you a
deeper understanding. It does, andagain more rewarding because I had to work
(14:20):
to find that information and on myown. So yes, absolutely, so,
how did you become good at it? Practice? Just like any other
instrument, you gotta put in,you gotta put in the time. But
for me, it really I didn'tview it or it didn't feel like I
(14:43):
was working at it, although Iwas because I enjoyed it so much.
And that's the initial drone of thedigity do. I heard that and felt
locked into it. It's like Iwant to make that sound? How do
I do that? And it tooka while for me to get that sound,
but it's practice, practice, practice, And then after playing for three
(15:05):
years during that time, I startedmaking instruments, and after that three year
period, I was pretty good onit, and so then I started going
around to craft shows and music festivalsin the craft area and making instruments that
I offered to the public. SoI started selling instruments for five years on
(15:28):
the craft show circuit. And duringthe craft show I'm playing and playing and
playing eight or ten hours a dayand demonstrating, talking about the instrument,
asking or answering questions that folks had. So during that five year period I
got really good. So now let'ssay if somebody was an entrepreneur or in
(15:52):
the corporate world, you know,leaders people, or doesn't matter for that
matter, anywhere in anywhere, whateverthey're like retail person or a person you
know, raising kids, It doesn'tmatter what they do or what they're What
are the few lessons that you learnfrom this journey for that could apply to
anyone from the Digre Do. Yeah, Well, the dig Re Do calms
(16:18):
you down, whether you're playing itor even listening to it, So that's
number one. And if you're playing, you must relax and calm down to
get the proper tone. So that'sone benefit or lesson that is learned.
And we could all use some relaxationand a slower heart rate and a slower
(16:41):
breath rate. Let's let's explore thelessons that you learned personally that you you
know, people talk about like,oh, what are you passionate about?
You found that you were passionate about. You didn't have anybody to teach you.
What kept you going? I justyou know, it sounds crazy,
but I love the sound of it, you know, again going back to
(17:04):
my childhood with the different sounds thatI was making, and it was also
musical sounds, so I had thatmusic connection from when I saw my uncle
jumping around playing to the rolling stones. So it really it wasn't an effort
at all to keep going because Iloved what I was doing. M And
(17:25):
you mentioned earlier also that it didn'tfeel like work and you found so basically
what you're sharing is that if youknow what you love to do, and
then it's not work, and thenyou will find pathways. Like so,
for example, you figured out justto learn by the person who was on
(17:51):
the cassette without seeing them, andthen just being at it and then becoming
a deeper and deeper expert at it, and then also finding a way to
make those so all those digrey duesthat we see behind it, you have
you made them. Yes, absolutely, Oh they're beautiful, thank you.
(18:14):
And so tell us, like,you know what different types of digrey dues
there are in like what's their originand give us the whole story behind it.
Sure m well, going back tothe traditional digrey dues in Australia and
one let me back up even further. The word didgerido is not an Aboriginal
term. That word was made upby the first Europeans who showed up in
(18:37):
Australia and they made up a namebased on its sound automatopia, didgerido,
sospia, automatopia. It's the technique. It's the process of making up a
word based on its sound like ba, yeah, automatopia. Oh something new
alone, seeing it's that's bell.Every day you learn something newer. Yeah.
(19:03):
So, depending on where you arein Australia, the dig red has
about thirty eight to forty different namesthat is accepted in the original native communities,
and one term that is accepted prettymuch nationwide is the word yadaki.
That's y i d a ki yidaki. In some areas of Australia, yidraki
(19:27):
means short dig redo or mosquito.Didjurdo because the dig is like any other
instrument. The shorter ones are goingto be higher pitched and brighter, the
longer ones deeper, basier sounding.So you said about mosquito, did you
do? Yeah, that comes fromit comes from imitating the sounds. The
(19:52):
dig red is a sound effects machine, is the original sound effects machine.
Traditionally around the fire nighttime, there'sone person telling a story or singing a
story, and then there's two orthree sometimes four dancers imitating the movements of
what's happening in the story. Andthen there's one sometimes two did red players
(20:14):
imitating the sounds of what's happening inthe story, mostly nature sounds, right
soever, whatever is in the story, the didred player's job is to imitate
that sound. And if there's amosquito, the didred player makes the mosquito
sound effects. So in the shorterones are a little bit easier to make
(20:37):
that sound or a little bit morerealistic sounding for the mosquito. Oh,
that is so fantastic and phenomenal becausethink about it, they're putting on a
musical every night and it's a partof their culture and just embracing storytelling in
music and passing it on to thenext generation. Sit So have you ever
(21:03):
done storytelling what dig red? Well, I have accompanied stories, and so
I'm the sound effects person. Andsometimes when I go to like a retreat
center or a university or some typeof presentation, I'll ask someone to read
a traditional story and then maybe notso traditional story as long as it has
(21:26):
all kinds of sounds in it,nature sounds or even man made sounds in
the newer stories. So the answeris yes, I have accompanied those stories.
And it's really nice when someone isreading aloud and then the dig Red
is underneath everything. It's just areally nice pairing of sounds, the human
voice and the instrument. Oh wow, that is amazing because it so.
(21:55):
Are there any specific areas where likeyou know the use like and are these
culled sound stories? Well? Yeah, the oral tradition it like you said,
it's passed down from generation to generation. Nothing is really written down except
artwork does tell stories as well,So there's there's different ways of passing that
(22:18):
on. Oh that's beautiful and wherecan let's say, you know, people
will be definitely interested after listening tothe show. If people were interested in
getting digity dues and learning. Howcan they go about it? Well,
on my website there's tons of information, so I have some handcrafted instruments that
(22:42):
I've made. And also if you'relooking for an Aboriginal Australia made instrument,
I have a link there to aresource in Australia. So yeah, on
my website it's my name dot com. It's Pitts Quatrone p I easy qua
t t R O n E PittsQuatron dot com. Or you can just
(23:06):
search by Vermont didgerido or Pitts digdig d I dge, so you'll probably
find that I'm like the first onehundred things that pop up if you plug
in just Vermont Didge, so youcan find me, Okay, fantastic and
so they can find you for sure. And then I'm assuming you also teach
(23:30):
people how to play. Yeah,I've been teaching folks how to play since
the mid nineteen nineties and a lotof my stuff now is on video chat
and I was I've been teaching onlinefor ten or twelve years, long before
COVID. But it's great because nowthe audio is much better, the cameras
are much better, So I havestudents all over the world and I teach
(23:55):
one on one or group setting inperson or video chat. Oh that's fantastic,
definitely, So Pits, let's maybedemonstrate something. So how about if
I come up with some story andwith a nature sound, and can you
play along with that? Because that'ssomething when somebody learns they can do with
(24:19):
their families. What do you thinkof that? Yes, you mean right
now, right now? Okay,I'd love to do that. With the
audio, it may not totally bein sync, but I have some certain
settings that I've locked in and itshould be very good, okay, and
(24:40):
you have to lead me through itwhere I stop and where the sound comes
in. I'm just going to makeup the story as we go along because
I'm a storyteller. Storyteller and Ilove that. Okay. Are you ready?
Yeah? I'm ready, So togo? First, do you want
to start? Why don't you start? Set the stage and then I can
begin the story. I like it. Here we go. That was beautiful,
(25:41):
okay. So Mama and Papa Sparroware sitting around a fire and they've
got like a little little, tinylittle babies, and let's say they use
their beaks like a jackhammer. Idon't want. And now what happens is
(26:03):
that when they're opening up the shells, they pack upon the shell and eat
the contents. And now sometimes theymay be choosing to sit on a gutter,
and then the noise becomes very similarto as if somebody's knocking on your
front door. Thank you for playingalong. I really appreciate that, Okay,
(26:34):
and that cool. Yeah, Sofolks, you know those little Mamma
and Papa sparrows, mister and missusSmith. We are going to go and
you can have stories, especially withfamilies and especially if you're out, and
especially for family reunions. I cansee so many different possibilities because I'm such
(26:56):
a storyteller. Let's say, ifyou're on the beach and you just kind
of embroy in, or even ifyou're getting together with a group of friends,
this can be such a wonderful thingto bring the whole social connections to
life, or that social gathering tolife. So we have talked about it,
and you know, like people canplay with it. So tell us
(27:18):
how does it help with help incomparison to any other instruments. Ah,
okay, well, I've touched onit real quickly in order to play properly
in the beginning, you must relax, So that's number one. And there
was a really interesting study that cameout about fifteen years ago published by the
(27:38):
British Medical Journal. They studied adoctor in Switzerland who found out that playing
the dig red it's a physical instrument, So playing the digred really works the
lower throat muscles and as well asthis technique called circular breathing, which allows
(28:00):
the didre due player to play continuouslybecause that person breathes while they play,
so using that circular breathing technique andI can describe that in a minute.
All those things really work the internalmuscles in your throat that are usually the
problem with sleep apnea, obstructive sleepapnea. So just yeah, it's a
(28:25):
really groundbreaking stuff. So the doctorhad twenty five patients who had sleep apnea,
and he brought in a didre dudeteacher and that teacher taught the folks
how to play, and they playedsix days a week for about a half
an hour a day for a threemonth period. So meanwhile, those muscles
(28:48):
are getting a serious workout. Atthe end of that time period, there
sleep apnea episodes either totally disappeared ordrastically reduced, because those muscles are now
back in shape and they're nice andstraight and strong. They're not flabby and
loose and blocking the airway. Sothis study, this study was published,
(29:12):
and a lot of people it's areally nice alternative to the seapap machine or
other treatments for sleep apnea. Soa lot of people come to me and
say, Pitts, I just can'tstand that seapap thing. I don't want
to get jaw surgery or all theseother alignment things. Teach me how to
(29:33):
play digred to help with my sleepapnea. Oh, that is so fantastic
because you know, without sleep,Oh, and the day can be so
tough. So that's phenomenal. Sotell us about circular breathing. Okay,
circular breathing. So and to getthe initial sound on the did red,
(29:55):
I'm flapping my lips nice and looseand wide open, not tighten pressured like
a trumpet player, very loose,kind of like what a tuba player does.
So is that what is that howyou played? Did you do?
(30:15):
That's how you get started? Yeah, that's step one is you flap your
lips and it resonates down the digredoand it eventually creates that initial drone,
so that drone is your foundation ofsound. So I'm playing along. Eventually,
I'm gonna need air for my lungs, right, And if you remember,
(30:37):
like when we were children, weused to do that song. Yes,
that's a great point because when Igo to schools and teach kids how
to play, almost every kid isa natural did red player. That's what
I found. And it's so coolbecause you know, I guess as people
get older and older, they stopdoing that, or the adults kind of
(30:59):
like, oh I can't do that, I'll look silly, right, And
usually it used to happen when somekid did not like some of the kid
and what they're saying, and theywould just go and go yeah yeah right,
or it's the raspberry thing, orit's the raspberry thing, yeah yeah.
So that's how you get started onthe ditch. So I'm playing.
(31:22):
Eventually, I'm going to need airto breathe. So what I do is
on its way out, I catchsome air in my cheeks, and with
my cheek muscles alone, I squeezein one mouthful at a time, so
that's forcing the air out of mymouth. So I'm not actually breathing out.
I'm just emptying my mouth chamber withthe cheeks, and that little puff
(31:48):
keeps my lips flapping for just asecond or so. That's my opportunity to
breathe up my nose for my lungs. And I'll do it two or three,
maybe four times in a row whileI'm playing, because it's just a
little bit of air. So hereit is, I'm playing right, gets
some air in my cheeks and withmy cheek muscles alone, force it out
(32:10):
and breathe up my nose at thesame time, so that that motion that
that's the circle. That's where thename comes from, I see. And
it's if you kind of like breakit apart like from did you Do playing?
(32:30):
It's such a good way of breathingwhere you're pulling in more air and
you're building your muscles. Oh that'samazing. Absolutely, any amount I'm totally
convinced any amount of did you DoPlaying is beneficial health wise. But once
you start doing the circular breathing,it gets it catapults. The benefits like
(32:52):
expand amplify to great amounts, andthat's what really really helps with getting those
muscles internal workout. It's like apush ups for those muscles. It gets
them back into shape, so they'reno longer obstructing the airway. Oh I
see. So because they're not inshape, they obstruct the air wind.
(33:15):
That's why people have sleep at nearYes, that's what that's what this has
all been described to me from medicalprofessionals. I'm I'm I'm a musician.
I'm not a doctor or a healthcareprofessional. And but I've seen it in
all my students. Even if onething I start with right away day one
with my students, someone comes tome a new student, it's like,
(33:37):
okay, um, flap your lipslike that, and that's so much fun.
You get to do it. Itis a fun it's a fun thing.
And what I do ask the folksis like, okay, do that,
and then time yourself and see howlong that lasts. And there's no
right or wrong answer. Whether it'seight seconds, fifteen seconds, doesn't matter.
(34:00):
But write that down like Okay,day one, I went for fifteen
seconds. And then I asked,and I asked folks to play every day
in practice fifteen twenty thirty minutes andat the end of the first week do
that same exercise of timing your breathevery time that breath is longer. So
(34:22):
practice the benefits start happening right away. And this person is not even circular
breathing yet, so they're getting gettingwarmed up, building up capacity, opening
up the airways. And that's onlya good thing. Yeah, and here's
the beauty of it that you're enjoyingthere it is again yep. Well,
(34:46):
your family members maybe like, okay, what is that song you're making?
Our noise? You know? Yeah, So, but the better you get
at the instrument, the better andbetter the tone and and your technique gets.
So hopefully your family members won't mindtoo much after of course not of
course, a few days or acouple of weeks. It can be such
(35:08):
a great exercise where you're learning itwith your child. Yes, absolutely that
I love that idea. That's areally good thing. And so the parents
doing it, then the children imitatesthat technique and that sound, and it's
fun for them and it's also healthyfor both people. It's it's a great
(35:29):
way to bond with anyone for thatmatter. And so you mentioned about like,
you know, you gave us theexample of one sound like how it
comes out like so do different didyou redues make different sounds? Different tones?
Again, you know it's a musicalinstrument. The long ones are bassy,
short ones are higher. So wouldyou be open to sharing the test?
(35:52):
How does a short one sound?Yeah? Well the one I played
was rather short, but I canplay this other one here. This one
is really long. It probably won'tfit the whole thing in the camera,
but I'll play here. Wow,So it's it has That's just amazing.
(36:24):
So what is the signs behind aboutthe sound? Like? Is it like
a tunnel? That would love tolearn about that. Yeah, Structurally the
instrument is a tunnel. It's along, hollowed out tree branch. And
how these are made traditionally for thousandsof years and a lot of people agree.
(36:46):
A lot of music experts agree thedidgerido is the world's oldest musical instrument.
No one really knows how old,between fifteen hundred perhaps up to forty
thousand years. So how the traditionalinstruments are made is there's termites that eat
out the center of a tree limb. Interesting, so when the instrument maker
(37:09):
needs to make an instrument, they'llgo around and look for a termite mound
and different types of eucalyptus trees arearound. So if there's a termite mounds
and a tree of eucalyptus tree closeby, chances are those termites have done
their work. So what they termitesgo underground and they eat their way up
(37:31):
the trunk and out the branches ofthe tree, and the ditch maker will
go around and knock on that branch. You'll look for the termite and the
tree nearby, and then start knockingon different branches to hear how hollow it
is. And through experience that personwill know like, Okay, this one's
ready to go, this one's needssome more time, or this one might
(37:52):
be too far gone. So ifit's ready to go, then that the
ditch maker will cut that branch downand take it back home and sometimes peel
the bark off let its season andthen decorate it, or sometimes the bark
is left on it for a nicenatural look. And is that how you
get your vote as well? No, I don't. I don't want to
(38:17):
attract any termites to my house.Yeah, that's what I was kind of
thinking that. Yeah, it's onething to kind of get it, but
the termites insided, how does thatwork? Yeah, so what I do.
I found this really interesting tree.It's called Polonia, or princess tree
is a nickname for it. It'sa soft wood. It's an invasive species
from Asia, but it grows allover the world now and the really many
(38:42):
different aspects that's really helpful for meis the first two to three years of
its life, it grows mostly hollow. So yeah, so there's a little
pithy area where the branches come outintersection, but in between those branches is
it's rather it's a hollow tunnel.So I've learned. I have a really
(39:04):
long drill bit and what I've learnedhow to go in one end very carefully
so it doesn't blow out the sideand let that tunnel guide me. And
then I'll flip the instrument around andan approach it from the other direction to
complete that tunnel. Wow, that'sinteresting. And when you find your princess
trees, well in the I livein Vermont and they do grow here,
(39:29):
although they really it's a little bitcold for him. So, but in
the United States, all around southernNew England and throughout the mid Atlantic,
especially down in like New York,Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, and even
further south, it grows to afull blown tree. So I have different
(39:52):
places that folks let me harvest.In Vermont, it grows in one year,
it grows to full height and andthe stock dies. The root ball
stays alive, and next year itshoots out a new set of branches.
Oh what a fascinating story about that. So thank you for coming on our
(40:12):
show and sharing. You're welcome.Thanks. If you were to give the
last top two to three tips toour listeners, what might that be.
Well, another thing I'd like todo is I'm a musician, so I
create music. I put the dijurydo in a lot of different musical settings,
including my own, like rock,funk, really fun stuff. But
this instrument has taken me around theworld collaborating with different musicians. So I
(40:38):
really believe that the digur do isvery versatile instrument musically, so I put
it in all kinds of different settings. I'm not an Aboriginal from Australia,
and I don't pretend to be.I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia,
so that's my musical background. SoI played this really old instrument in
(40:59):
my music to go background and alsowith backgrounds from all over the world.
Well, that's awesome because what you'redoing is you're pulling everything together and that's
what needs to happen, and that'swhat brings us together as people. Then
we embrace and adopt and adapt todifferent cultures and make it mainstream. So
(41:21):
that's beautiful. Yeah, thank you, and make it accessible. And like
you said earlier, music transcends allboundaries. And even if I can't speak
to a person in West Africa theirlanguage, they can't speak mine, and
they're a fabulous musician, we gettogether and we can communicate with music and
(41:42):
we look over and smile at eachother and yeah, this is working.
So it's the great communicator in thisinstrument. I owe a lot to it.
It's really opened up a whole worldfor me and in turn life missions
and a successful rewarding career. Well, it's thank you so much for playing
for us and playing along for thestory. Yet now where can again find
(42:07):
you? If you can share withTassi your website, your link and how
like you teach them just full details. Yeah, well, if you want
to hear music, just ask yoursmart speaker to play Pitts Squadrone and I'm
on every musical platform that there is. And if you want to find me
on line, check out my websitewith all those different options you just described.
(42:31):
It's pitts quatrone dot com. Again, it's p I t Z qu
A T t R O n Epitts quatron dot com. Or just search
for Pitts p I t Z digd I d g E. Oh fantastic.
(42:52):
Thank you so much for coming anddoing what you're doing because, as
you mentioned, you know, sleepis such an important part and this is
a natural way to get rid ofit, and so thank you again.
You're welcome, Divia. Thank youfor inviting me on the show. It's
been my pleasure. Absolutely, it'sbeen a joy speaking to you and listeners.
(43:17):
Thank you for joining us, becausewithout you, the show would not
be possible. You are the soulof the show, so reach out to
us, let us know how canwe support you and how can we hope
you live the life you deserve withjoy, wealth, health and happiness.
And thank you one for making theshow possible. So folks be well and
(43:43):
take care until next time. Thankyou for being part of Beyond Confidence with
your host, Divia Park, wehope you've learned more about how to start
living the life you want. Eachweek on Beyond Confidence, you hear stories
of real people who've experienced growth byovercoming their fears and building me four relationships.
During Beyond Confidence, Diva Park shareswhat happened to her when she stepped
(44:05):
out of her comfort zone to workdirectly with people across the globe. She
not only coaches people how to formheart connections, but also transform relationships to
mutually beneficial partnerships as they strive tolive the life they want. If you
are ready to live the life youwant and leverage your strengths, learn more
at www dot dvapark dot com andyou can connect with Diva at contact at
(44:28):
dvapark dot com. We look forwardto you joining us next week.
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