O'Meara Didgeridoo Story
I’ve been playing and making didgeridoos for almost 20 years. I've spent countless hours working to perfect my craft and have learnt my skills through my own trial and error and from both aboriginal and contemporary makers of didgeridoos and other traditional instruments all over the world. I have worked with many different techniques and philosophies using a blend of contemporary and traditional practices to refine my personal method. Each O’Meara branded didgeridoo has been hand chiselled, tuned, carved, shaped and fine sanded with care to make the best possible instrument out of that log.
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The “O’Meara Didgeridoos Australia” company started from my passion for music, travel and playing the didgeridoo and the fact that after purchasing my first didgeridoo whilst traveling around Australia as a young 21 year old man busking and doing odd jobs to make my way, I had no money to purchase these wonderful instruments in the many different keys that i wanted to play in! So i searched out people who could hopefully show me how to make them from the trees in the bush, i figured thats where they come from, so why not just make them all myself if i cant afford to buy all the didgeridoos I want.
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Over a couple of years of exploring for and meeting some makers of these amazing instruments I was taught how and where to find the correct termite hollowed trees for making didgeridoo and learnt to craft and tune them into the didgeridoos i still make today. After 2 years of practice i had accumulated quite a lot of didgeridoos!! Too many in fact! I had no intentions of becoming a full time committed didgeridoo maker, my life just followed that path in its own way, and now almost 20years later… I am still heading out into the bush every year to go hunting for the best termite hollowed logs I can find to continue my passion for making the best didgeridoos available :)
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I spend 6 to 10 weeks per year living in the bush under the stars, working dusk til dawn 7 days a week to harvest the finest termite hollowed didgeridoo logs available in the world. Once I have the timber, I get back to the workshop and start making didges one at a time with love, care and patience to create an instrument, that is not just an instrument, but is a unique piece to be showcased, cherished and played for a lifetime.
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When I’m not in the workshop making didgeridoos I am travelling Europe and Australia performing my original music in city streets and street festivals. The didgeridoo is a core instrument in my music which I combine with guitars, banjos, ukuleles and vocals to sing and share my music with anyone who cares to join me for the show. Please click ***HERE*** to listen to my music or learn more about tour dates and recorded albums available.
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When I’m in Australia I spend my time living between the Northern Territory and the Byron Bay Hinterland in Northern New South Wales making didgeridoos, riding horses, playing with the timber mill, surfing what waves can be found and playing music or listening to records in my cabin.
Please feel free to get in touch or come visit me either on the streets in Europe or in my workshop in Byron Bay and play some didgeridoos with me!
Welcome to my workshop! Please watch the video below to hear my story and see how I make didgeridoos!