I had a few yiḏaki from Yalpi in my hands, all of them have similar characteristics: the simple finish, the marks of the machete that is used to shape the instrument, the extremely good playability and the feel that you hold a ‘classic’ traditional yiḏaki in your hands.
It has a comfortable mouthpiece, well-balanced backpressure and rich sound. The transition between the drone and the ‘dups’ is very easy, and sound really good.
If you read Yalpi’s bio (click on his name above) you can be sure, that you found an instrument with high cultural integrity. The miny’tji (design) depicts one of the most powerful Gumatj totem, the gurtha (fire). I recommend this yiḏaki for traditional players.
Listen to this mago here:
