Throat Singing - An Ancient Tuvan Music

I was googling around bloggers' posts yesterday when I came across Tuvan Throat Singing... I find the ancient art of singing very interesting and would like to post an article about this topic here today.

Throat singing is one very interesting genre, and one with a very complicated and rich history. Throat singing, also known as overtone singing, is a method in which the singer manipulates the harmonic resonances created; as air travels up the pipe and out the mouth. It is the abrupt open-and-shut of the vocal cords that apparently charges the higher harmonics with increasing energy, resulting in separation between up to six simultaneous tones. This practice was mostly invented out of, Tuva - a Russian republic north of Mongolia.

Tuvan throat singing, is said to physically connect the singers to the spirituality of the Tuvan mountainside. The people of Tuva are nomadic sheep and cattle herders and this tactic was originally formed to herd the cattle to and fro. The singing styles were supposedly modelled on the harmonic resonances herders would find naturally occurring around valleys or waterfalls, with some vocal styles configured to mimic the sounds of animals, wind or water.

There are few main disciplines of Tuvan overtone singing.

Tuva throat singing is not for everyone... but when you hear this music it just might jar something very primal and pure inside of you.

Singer Kongar-ol Ondar is regarded as one of the style's most famous practitioners, often appearing on Western TV shows to perform. Here's a clip of Ondar from 1999 on David Letterman.

Watch as this Throat Singer performs a few of the many different tones involved in the practice. You'll hear the remarkable range of highs, lows and growls that this style can encompass.