Mongolians at a bar in Beijing perform overtone singing, in which one person sings two notes simultaneously; I remember hearing it done by monks visiting my elementary school years ago. It’s almost trance-inducing, and for reasons I can’t explain the song above -better in person, of course- caused me to tear up.
Regardingthis form of singing among the Tuvans: “[It] seems to have arisen as a result of geographic location and culture. The open landscape of Tuva allows for the sounds to carry a great distance. Ethnomusicologists studying throat singing in these areas mark khoomei as an integral part in the ancient pastoral animism that is still practiced today.”
Isn’t it beautiful to imagine “the open landscape” allowing such sounds to “carry a great distance,” part of an “ancient pastoral animism”?
Tuvan-throat-song reblog!
(seriously I get too excited about this sort of thing — thanks Mills!)
There is an excellent book Tuva or Bustabout physicist Richard Feynman’s quest to enter Tannu Tuva during the Soviet era. The book is worth a read for the insight into the mind of one of the 20th centuries brightest polymaths.
Also - Genghis Blues is a fine documentary about a quest to sing in the national Tuvan throat singing competition.
