Feeling annoyed about an open mic night jam

[Sigmund Floyd]

Open mike + didgeridoo =
Giant onions
What next my friend? Swim with sharks, free climbing, wing suit, date Hale Berrie?
Go forth my son , the world is your oyster.

 

[PaisleyWookie]

The didgeridoo was a pretty random element, in a jam out of the blue it may or may not gel. Just my 2c

Maybe not in New Zealand. In the US it'd be out of place, for sure.

 

[Danzego]

I think I’d love it. I love playing droning type stuff or airy stuff that tends to center around a note/chord or theme. Color me intrigued. Do you happen to have (or can whip up) a recording of what you do on didgeridoo? I’d love if you shared that with me!

 

[DrSax]

Ah, “open jams”. Less fun than smashing one’s toes with a sledgehammer.

 

[TheDropout]

 

[JoeInOttawa]

I've been playing Didgeridoo between a year and a half and two years now...Tonight I decided to take it to an open jam...the guitarist dude burst into this fast paced bluesy funk...The drummer also just jumped into this fast paced really basic 4/4 beat that I felt didn't fit the feel...Now I know this could all kinda make me sound like a Karen..."

Okay, first problem: These days, we try not to offend Karens with this characterization. Now we say "Ivanka" ("Do something else...").

Second -- and you know this -- it's an open jam and people get hijacked all the time. Chances are the guitar player and the drummer had been jonesing to do some sort of acid-jazz interpretation of the theme from Game of Thrones all night, and if you're up there playing bagpipe riffs on a Didgeridoo you should probably just take solace in the fact that they tried (I gather, unsuccessfully) to do something cool over top of it, and didn't launch into a stilted version of AC/CD's "Long Way to the Top" in some sort of inappropriate hipster key (like Ab-min).

And finally, Didgeridoo? With other people? C'mon, man, you were asking for it: Everyone knows Didgeridoo is best-appreciated as a solo instrument!

But, then, as others have said, if an open mic annoyed you, then it's done its job.

Sorry, just kidding around, tongue firmly in cheek (except for that Ivanka comment -- that one's dead-nuts serious). Good on you for getting up and playing through it!

 

[rollyfoster]

Sorry it didgerididn’t work out

 

[McShred]

I can't imagine any jam or open mic that I've been to that would have a place for a Didgeridoo.
I initially thought this was a joke.

Dude is from New Zealand, its probably way more common there than stateside

 

[Ramblin' Ghost]

Expecting a random collection of musicians to gel around one person’s vision is expecting a lot, especially on the first attempt. I’d say don’t give up on the open mic if people were receptive, it could end up sounding great.

yeah agreed. Cool they were up for trying it out. I say try it again.

 

[William Braddell]

From Miriam Webster:

first world problem
noun
variants: or first-world problem or less commonly First World problem or First-World problem
Definition of first world problem
: Didgeridoo player from New Zealand feels annoyed about an open mic jam

Dude, being on a forum about guitar gear is about as first world as you can get, talk about throwing stones from a glass house.

 

[William Braddell]

I really don't think it's the other players' fault in this case. I mean a didgeridoo...come on man.

Playing constantly without any gaps at all (and in the drummers case doing one unmusical beat the entire time) is what it is regardless of what instrument someone is working with.

With that being said, my expectations probably were to high and I'll probably just stick to jamming with my bandmates since they don't seem to have had any of these issues jamming with it for the first time. Just don't really want to risk another unproductive evening like this with an open mic when I could be doing something else honestly.

 

[William Braddell]

I think I’d love it. I love playing droning type stuff or airy stuff that tends to center around a note/chord or theme. Color me intrigued. Do you happen to have (or can whip up) a recording of what you do on didgeridoo? I’d love if you shared that with me!

This was rushed for a Uni asssigment and also isn't my best work but might give you some idea:

 

[William Braddell]

You shouldn't be going to an open mic night during a pandemic.

Edit: I was wrong about OP's location. Please disregard this comment.

No worries, just a misunderstanding.

 

[William Braddell]

I wish there had been a saxophonist honestly, jammed with one at a Full Moon Drumming get together on the beach one night and man it was glorious. They sat perfectly together frequency wise and his harmonic minor melodies went so well with a slow rhythmic drone.

 

[Kriskov]

The featured instrument (usually the vocalist) calls out the key and the style of the song ie. shuffle, rhumba, slow blues, quick change or not etc. I think if you were going to be the main guy, you should have had an opportunity to convey what you had in mind to the others, so they knew where you wanted to go.

One time I was up with a jazz guy at a jam and he just wanted to noodle around with some of his "killer" licks. I had no problem doing that, he was going to be front and center. What I did ask is that he play a few bars for me so I could hear what he had in his mind. Assumptions in that situation could wind up where it seems you did.

By the way, he did well and we came somewhere in the vicinity of what he wanted to hear. He also appreciated being showcased.

 

[Howzaboppin]

Actually, tenor guitar didjeridoo funk sounds kind of rad.

 

[Rivercitystrat]

Surprised this didn't lead to discussing the best eucalyptus species as tonewood for cutting thru the mix.

 

[William Braddell]

Actually, tenor guitar didjeridoo funk sounds kind of rad.

Possibly would have been if he'd let it build up a bit first and if the drummer actually had the skill for that stuff.

 

[William Braddell]

Surprised this didn't lead to discussing the best eucalyptus species as tonewood for cutting thru the mix.

And here I am being the heretic using an Agave one lol...

 

[Ry@n]

I am assuming they just had no idea what to do with a didgeridoo, and probably also didn’t realize you were bringing specific artistic intentions to it. I think “jam” means something a lot looser to most people, and, for a lot of guitar players, that seems to usually mean bluesy stuff, for some reason. My guess is that what you were meaning to be ambient, they heard as a bass line for a sorta-trippy blues jam.

I wouldn’t sweat it, just get your stuff together with your band and execute your vision there.