the sound of the didgeridoo reverberates in this small studio in singanallur a workshop on didgeridoo and other exotic instruments from different parts of the world is in progress at the helm of affairs is theatre artist and musician leon james who is teaching a bunch of music enthusiasts at this twoday workshop conducted by udalveli its not often one gets to play these exotic instruments in life i began my music journey with the guitar and keyboard but once i discovered these exotic instruments there has been no looking back talking about the ancient australian instrument he says didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by aboriginal australians the instrument is made out of a hollow trunk of eucalyptus tree interestingly the trunk has to be termitebored the termites usually get trapped inside due to the presence of oil after the trunk is chopped off a heated rod is inserted into it to smooth the surface inside a rim of beeswax is applied towards the end this not only forms a better seal but is also easy on the lips aboriginals say that the instrument is more than 1500 years as some of the cave paintings have engravings of the instrument in the traditional setup only men play the didgeridoo women are forbidden to touch it i on the other hand am trying to break the tradition by teaching it to everyone didgeridoos are expensive and not everyone can afford it a regular digeridoo can cost up to rs rs 15000 that is why i started making replicas of the instrument using fiberglass they are washable unbreakable and light weight a normal didgeridoo usually weighs around 7 kg the fibre glass version is easy to handle talking about his first brush with the exotic instrument leon says my tryst with digeridoos began over a decade ago when i got the instrument as a gift from australia there were not many teachers around who specialized in the instrument and i had to rely on online videos it took me few months to get it right but its an instrument that one can easily learn apart from didgeridoos there is djembe peruvian rattle tank drum kalimba croaking frog to name a few the tank drum is known as a poor mans hand drum this metal drum is round is shape and is played using the fingers the instrument can be tuned according to a set note the croaking frog is a carved wooden frog with ridges on its back and mouth he adds the djembe is a goblet shaped drum from africa and is shaped like a wine glass traditionally the djembe too was played only by men but things are changing now the body of the djembe is made of wood and the drumhead is made of goat skin it is said to be one of the most versatile drums the kalimba is an african thumb piano made of wood its a round little box that fits perfectly into ones palms