By Alash Ensemble
The Tiny Republic of Tuva is a giant when it comes to mastery of the human voice. Tuvan throat singers can produce two or three, sometimes even four pitches simultaneously. The effect has been compared to that of a bagpipe.
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In Tuvan throat singing, dual tones are produced simultaneously. The unique style of singing originated in central Asia, where Tuvans have been practicing for generations.
For years, the territory that makes up Tuva spent hundreds of years changing hands. The semi-autonomous republic is now technically part of Russia.
A traditional throat-singing skill is being imparted in Beijing by Mongolian masters eager to preserve the countryside art form. Chen Nan reports.
Overtone singing – also known as throat singing or harmonic singing – is one of the oldest forms of music. But what exactly is it and where does it come from?
Khoomei is a unique singing style originating from the republic of Tuva in central Asia. Singers produce two pitches simultaneously: a booming low-frequency rumble alongside a hovering high-pitched whistle-like tone.
To understand how throat singing works, one must first understand some basic sound and singing physics. Sound is a wave of moving air. When people speak or sing, the sound is created when the air flowing into or out of the lungs is disturbed by the larynx, or voice box.
As singer Anne-Maria Hefele states, “overtone singing is a voice technique where one person sings two notes at the same time.” This is accomplished by manipulating the placement of your tongue and the shape of your mouth. Such manipulation produces a low note and a high note.
Overtone singing is a vocal technique that creates the auditory impression of polyphony by filtering individual overtones from the sound spectrum of the voice by controlling the resonances in the vocal tract in such a way that they are perceived as separate tones.
A unique vocalization from three cultures.
It is believed in Tuvan tradition that all things have a soul or are inhabited by spiritual entities.