It takes guts to be sold in the drum section of a Guitar Center when you are not a drum. It takes guts to be able to play only one note and still be called an instrument. It takes guts to be Australian. The didgeridoo is by far the gutsiest (and best) instrument around. As a didgeridoo-ist, I thought it odd that several of my classmates required an explanation to what the instrument actually was, which was always followed by a “oh, one of those things”.

“If I had any sort of musical talent at all, I would play didgeridoo as my first choice,” Maddie Schaerer, sophomore, said. Schaerer is one of several students who have taken well to the didgeridoo, and believes the instrument is under-hyped.

“I definitely think more students should play the didgeridoo,” Schaerer said. “It is a pretty cool instrument and has a unique sound. [I think] the designs on the instrument are cool.”

This interview made me cry. It is young, open minded people like these make me think that the future may not be so bleak. If more students actually played didgeridoo, or at least wanted to, the world would be a better place.

Jamie Fitzpatrick, sophomore, is another proponent for the didgeridoo and its awareness. Although having only encountered the instrument once, she developed a positive opinion of it.

“My friend in band brought it to an away [football] game. It looked African or Aboriginal and was very different from all the other instruments,” Fitzpatrick said. “I thought it was pretty cool and different. Everybody was like ‘wow, what is that?’.”

This didge player who worked towards this cultural awareness seems incredibly wise and intellectual. This is especially true because I know it is me. In fact, a majority of the attendants of  this game came not for the football, but likely for the didgeridoo.

Tom Kirk, junior, claims he is a fan of the didgeridoo (like everyone should be), but believes it has some flaws and undesirable qualities.

“Well, I think it has kind of a gross noise,” Kirk said. “I play bass trombone, which receives similar complaints: the sound is too low and rugged. The didgeridoo is an old instrument, which, granted, is cool, but I think everybody wants to hear something new, and not music that was originally made by cavemen.”

Everybody wants something new? I know a couple dozen hipsters  and other non-conformists that might fight that point. Plus, maybe the cavemen knew a thing or two. Back in those days, you didn’t have to worry about things like world wars, swine flu or the shenanigans of your favorite Jersey Shore character. Life was simpler, and so was the music.

Regardless of the naysayers and nonbelievers, the didgeridoo is old and still around. The fact that there are still people listening to the single drone note the instrument makes after a few thousand years proves something. The didgeridoo has stood the test of time, and it is here to stay.