One of Australia's best didgeridoo players, Alan Dargin, has died in Sydney, aged 40.

Dargin performed with high-profile artists including James Morrison and Tommy Emmanuel.

But he was best known for his solo work and his tireless efforts to share his knowledge about the didgeridoo.

Born in Arnhem Land, Dargin began playing the didgeridoo when he was five.

He recorded a number of albums and performed around the world - at London's Royal Albert Hall, in the US, China and Germany.

Long-time friend and fellow performer Charlie McMahon toured with Dargin in Europe.

"Alan was a fabulous didge soloist," McMahon said.

"He played a very original, fast, complex and quite loud style. All his own.

"That really impressed people very much at the time - in the mid to late 80s when people were starting to get a lot more aware of Indigenous culture, especially overseas.

"A lot of people would play didge [in] what the Top End people would call that lazy aeroplane style - you know, which is a soft, kind of new age droning sort of thing. Whereas Alan was really a gun player."

Dargin's album Bloodwood: The Art of the Didgeridoo with Michael Atherton was released in the late 80s and received critical acclaim.

He was also a versatile actor.

He had roles in several films including The Fringe Dwellers and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

In one scene, he invites three drag queens to a nearby camp. There they put on an impromptu show.

Dargin also spent a lot of time teaching people about the didgeridoo.

He often visited schools to pass on his skills.

McMahon says Dargin had been unwell for the past couple of years.

He says his passing is a massive loss to Indigenous music.

"Al was a very sensitive sort of person. He was [a] very soft-hearted, very kind-hearted sort of person," McMahon said.

"I've had a couple of people ring me up from Europe in tears over Alan ... and I think the loss is actually going to be felt more overseas than here."

A memorial service will be held at Sydney's Circular Quay on Thursday.

Please feel free to add your respects or comments by clicking on the "make comment" at the end of this article..

Copyright: ABC News. AU

New treatment for asthma: the didgeridoo

Playing the didgeridoo and singing can help alleviate the symptoms of asthma, new research suggests

A study by Australian scientists found that regularly playing the wind instrument can lead to improved breathing and better overall health.

Robert Eley, from the University of Southern Queensland, gave 10 Aboriginal boys weekly didgeridoo lessons for six months and found that their “respiratory function had improved significantly”.

Girls were excluded from the lessons because it against the culture of many Aboriginal groups for females to play the instrument.

However, Dr Eley found that both boys and girls reported a general improvement in well-being after singing lessons and he suggested that could be a new way to help relieve the symptoms of asthma.

More than five million people in the UK suffer from the condition which currently costs the NHS £950m a year.

The research was published in The Journal of Rural Health.

Thought I would start a tooting thread in which people can share their tooting experiences. Is tooting a technique you like to use? Are there didges you play that have much better toots than others? How many levels of toots do you use when playing a particular didge? What toot notes does your didge play? Do you circular breathe while tooting? And anything else you would care to share on the subject
of tooting.