Dr Didg's final jam

December 30, 2016 6:54 AM

Graham Wiggins was a researcher in solid-state physics who contributed to the technologies in MRI scanners, though he was better-known as Dr. Didg. He passed away in September this year after leaving us a demonstration of didgeridoo playing on a vacuum cleaner tube (interview and music), the invention of the keyed didgeridoo (interview and music), and a lot of good music fronting Outback and Dr. Didg. An occasional fixture on the jam band circuit (taking breaks for the sake of his day job), he managed to both perform at Glastonbury and with the Grateful Dead. (Captioning in all videos is auto-generated; all videos are music-only unless noted)

His personal YouTube channel covers didgeridoo playing and diverse interests, including piano improvisation, radio controlled planes, and 3D printing. There's also a Dr. Didg channel for the band, with a few brief performance videos.

posted by ardgedee (5 comments total)

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posted by Artw at 7:28 AM on December 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

I am not very conspiracy-minded, and I am sure this was probably a natural death, but can Dr. Vuvuzela account for his whereabouts in September?
posted by thelonius at 7:50 AM on December 30, 2016 [4 favorites]

Not to turn this totally into a discussion about the Dead show he played at, but Dr. Didg drops in to comment in this link to another source of the show that BentFranklin links above. I'm not familiar with him but I'll definitely check some more of this out later, especially the Dead show. Thanks!
posted by friendlyjuan at 8:53 AM on December 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

A friend of mine can didge out on pretty much anything tubular that roughly figs around his mouth. It's funny until it's annoying. Then minutes later it's funny again. Rinse, repeat.
posted by nevercalm at 3:02 PM on December 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

Graham took a class I offered in Boston around 1982 called "participatory ethnomusicology" in which we attempted to manufacture a Bolivian mine worker's 16 piece panpipe orchestra using PVC tubing for pipes and trash cans for drums. He really took to DIY instrument making and ran with it. I lost track of him for a few years and then, while living in Hungary around 1991, the BBC World Service broadcast a special report on his work in Didgeridoo research in Australia and his band Outback.

Wiggins lived an amazingly accomplished life. He was a scientific genius for whom love of music had an elevated place in pursuit of career. I can look forward to great jam sessions in the Great Hereafter.
posted by zaelic at 5:01 AM on January 1, 2017 [2 favorites]