Presented by Karl Kemm

Horn Story​

KEDT Radio interview with Karl Kemm on 11/30/15 about the history and development of the Alphorn​.

Yidaki (Didgeridoo) 

Bamboo with acrylic paints in crosshatch style.  42.5 inches pitched between C# and D

 Bamboo didgeridoos dominate the Torres Island culture zone and Indonesian Islands.  Since bamboo exists equatorially around the globe, it gets configured into a lip-blown instrument by several unrelated cultures around the world.  By simply punching through the nodal diaphragms of each segment of a bamboo stock, one easily creates a cylindrical pipe.  Given that the origins of the hardwood didgeridoo figure in the northern continent of Australia, it seems likely the bamboo instrument historically predated the eucalyptus one.  Some native names for the didgeridoo, bambu among the Warray and paampu for the Pintupi, circumstantially suggest an early predominance of the bamboo material for a didgeridoo in areas where bamboo did not naturally grow. 

Didgeridoo (Yidaki)
Yellow Boxwood Eucalyptus – Bb pitch
Termite hollowed, natural pigments
Raj (the snake) depicted with blended x-ray/dot style not typical of the Arnhem Land area near Darwin but occasionally practiced by some clans in more recent years.  Authentic yadiki, or mandapul as some call the instrument, used in ceremonial or festive situations would traditionally be thrown on the fire after the event.  Elaborate decorations were reserved for instruments sold or traded often to non-natives.


Detail of Didgeridoo artwork. Notice the cracked star pattern in the center of the dots. Yolngu artists will use cotton plant buds dipped in paint to make the dots.

Alphorn bell detail
From the shop of William Hopson – Rocky Mountain Alphorns, #’01 5 
Doug Paul – bell artist

I commissioned this carving wanting it to depict two hummingbirds and flora common to south Texas.  A hint of the Rio Grande is visible and the Mule’s Ears double peaks of Big Bend crown the encirclement. 

Wood Horns