Throat Singing It's origin and Mechanisms
Musical art of the Tuvans, people inhabiting the
western Sayans in the Upper Enisey, is notable for its big
originality.
The Tuvan singing presents a special interest. The
peculiarity of the art of the Tuvan musicians lies in the fact that
the singer simultaneously extracts by voice, two or even three
sounds. The solo two/three-voice singing emerges thanks to the
simultaneous sounding of the fundamental which has a gutteral timbre
colouring and its upper overtones which are caught and amplified by
the head resonator. For all this the fundamental performs the
function of the bass pedal and the upper subsounds also carefully
draw a crystal pure melody on natural overtones in a high register.
Sometimes a special additional subsound joins the lower sound. In
such cases this produces the effect of the solo three-voice singing.
There exist a number of styles of the Tuvan
throat-singing, sometimes a singer can perform several styles. The
styles differ by the pitch of the sound extraction and timbre
peculiarities of the phonation connected with it. Each style has its
own distinctive expressive properties.
The highest, brightest style is 'sygyt' in which the
highest register of the voice is used. The head subsounds have a
singing 'glass' timbre shade.
Songs in the 'khoomei' style sound somewhat softer.
The timbres in the style are slightly muffled.
Singing in the 'borbannadyr' style attracts by its
velvet sound. The bass pedal in the middle register has an
additional subsound affecting the quint overtone over an octave, as
a result of that, there appears a peculiar three-voice singing.
Usually the performing of the melody with
corresponding words foregoes an inclusion of the head subsounds on
the bass pedal. There are a lot of different songs that can be
performed in each style.
In a number of cases, the throat singing can be
accompanied by an instrument, either the stringed pizzicato -
doshpuluur or the stringed bow - igil, byzaanchy.
In every-day life the throat singing songs are
usually performed while a herder, watching a flock of sheep, is
having a rest, the throat-singing in the mountains can be heard far
away. According to a singer he is sending greetings with his song to
his people who are staying in a yurt far away from the pasture.
From: Liner notes for the LP "Pesni I Instrumentalie
Melodii Tuvi"
Melodiya D030773-74, 1969
Recorded by Vyacheslav Shchurov.
(Translation from Russian, supplied by
Bernard Kleikamp, Pan Records).
All styles of
Tuvan Khoomei involve controlled tension in and manipulation of the
diaphragm, throat, and mouth. However, there are great differences
between the different types of throat-singing; for example, some
styles are multiphonic whereas other styles are not. Even this
description must take into consideration the hearing, or conditioned
hearing of the listener as much as the intention and execution of
the singer.
There is no real
consensus on Khoomei categories; this is a complicated issue due to
a number of confusing factors. For one thing, affecting western
scholars, there have to date been very few texts about Khoomei in
Western European languages. The most commonly cited source was
translated from Tuvan Folk Music, a book published in 1964 by A. N.
Aksenov, a Russian composer who surveyed Tuvan Khoomei styles in the
1940-50s. More recently, there have been such resources such as Mark
van Tongeren's quite interesting Overtone Singing, various CD liners
of varying quality and accuracies, and WWW sites.
There are major
discrepancies between Aksenov's descriptions and other older
sources, and those of other more contemporary observers, and several
plausible explanations. One is that Aksenov's survey of Tuvan styles
was limited in scope, though he was a highly educated and skilled
composer and musician, who seemed to take his research most
seriously. Although a definite factor, it is also apparent that
there has been an appreciable development and metamorphosis of
common Khoomei styles since Aksenov's time. Also, many performances
now include mixtures of styles much more extensively than in the
past. Whereas many singers in the old days tended to sing mostly in
one or two styles, and there was greater regional differentiation,
many modern singers perform in numerous styles, hybrids, and develop
their own takes on "the classics."
So, although
there is no widespread agreement, many contemporary Khoomei
cognoscenti designate three or five major styles:
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1.
Khoomei
2. Kargyraa
3. Sygyt
4. Borbangnadyr
5. Ezengileer
|
 |
As noted below,
#4 and 5, Borbangnadyr and Ezengileer are sometimes considered to be
proper styles, and sometimes to be ornamentations added to Khoomei,
Kargyraa, or Sygyt. I would add to the top of the list Xorekteer, as
it underlies most of the various styles.
Xorekteer means
singing with the chest voice... Now, this can be confusing to
beginners: What does "chest voice" mean? And why isn't it the
"throat voice?" This term can carry several meanings. It can be
used, like khoomei, to mean ALL THROAT-SINGING, in any style. It can
also be used as a metaphor for "with feeling," as in "more heart."
Plus, it can refer both to the feeling of pressure one feels when
throat-singing, and also to chest resonance, which is obvious in
person but not on recordings.
In its common
sonic sense, "Chest voice" has a totally different meaning than the
western vocal context, and the two should not be confused. Those
familiar with Tuvan music have noticed that often entire songs are
sung with this voice. It usually serves as the springboard to launch
into khoomei style and sygyt.
Khoomei is not
only the generic name given to all throat-singing styles, but also
to a particular style of singing. Khoomei is a soft-sounding style,
with clear but diffused-sounding harmonics above a fundamental
usually within the low-mid to midrange of the singer's voice. In
Khoomei style, there are 2 or more notes clearly audible.
The stomach
remains here fairly relaxed, and there is less laryngeal tension
than harder-sounding Sygyt. The tongue remains seated quietly
between the lower teeth. The pitch of the melodic harmonic is
selected by moving the root of the tongue and the attached
epiglottis.
Phrasing and ornamentation come
from a combination of throat movements and lip movements. Lips
generally form a small "O." The combination of lip, mouth and throat
manipulations make a wide spectrum of tones and effects possible.
Kargyraa is
usually performed low in the singer's range. There are two major
styles of Kargyraa, Mountain (dag) and Steppe (xovu). Both feature
an intense croaking tone, very rich in harmonics. This technique is
related technically to Tibetan harmonic chanting.
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Nothing feels
like Kargyraa; you really feel a "mouthful of sound." The term
refers to all styles of singing which simultaneously use both the
vocal and ventricular folds inside the larynx, as dual
sound-sources. When the larynx is constricted slightly just above
the level of the vocal folds while the vocal folds are engaged, the
ventricular folds will usually resonate, producing the second sound
source. The ventricular folds' fundamental vibrates at half the
speed of the vocal folds, producing the extra sound one octave lower
than the usual voice.The ventricular folds also produce many
midrange and upper harmonics.
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While not yet proved, I suspect that
each set of folds produces its own harmonic series, which intereact
and are affected by the formants of the vocal system. Careful
listeners will note the "constant" sound produced by the vocal
folds, and a periodical, pulsating complex of sounds created by the
ventricular folds. Kargyraa often sounds more traditional, or
authentic, when the vocal folds are in Xorekteer mode, as above, and
when the sound is somewhat restrained, rather than freely exiting
the mouth.
Kargyraa is the
one Tuvan style that I know of that is closely linked to vowel
sounds; in addition to various throat manipulations, the mouth
varies from a nearly closed "O" shape to nearly wide open. Except
for the throat technique, this style is vaguely related to western
overtone singing styles that use vowels and mouth shapes to affect
the harmonic content. However, unlike most western styles, there is
no dependable correlation between the vowel and the pitch.
Generally, western overtone singers link pitch to the vowel, so that
"ooo" gives the lowest harmonic, and rise in pitch from "ooo" to "o"
to "ah" to "a" to "ee," and so on. In Kargyraa, an "ah" can be
higher than "a", etc.
Dag (Mountain)
Kargyraa is usually the lower of the styles in pitch, and often
includes nasal effects; this sometimes sounds like oinking! It
should feature strong low-chest resonance, and not too much throat
tension.
Xovu (Steppe)
Kargyraa is usually sung at a higher pitch, with more throat tension
and less chest resonance. It also has a generally raspier sound.
Sygyt is usually
based on a mid-range fundamental. It is characterized by a strong,
even piercing, harmonic or complex of harmonics above the
"fundamental," and can be used to perform complex and very distinct
melodies, with a tone similar to a flute. The ideal sound is called
"Chistii Zvuk," Russian for clear sound. Part of achieving this
ideal is learning to filter out unwanted harmonic components.
For sygyt, you
must increase the tension a bit at the same place as in khoomei. The
tongue rises and seals tightly all around the gums, just behind the
teeth. A small hole is left on one side or the other, back behind
the molars, then you direct the sound between the teeth (which
produces sharpening effect) and the cheek towards the front of the
mouth. With your lips, form a "bell" as in a clarinet or oboe, but
not centered; rather off just a bit to the side of your mouth where
you direct the sound from that hole in the back. You change pitch
with the same technique as khoomei, and the rest of the tongue
moves slightly to accommodate this action. The raised tongue serves
as a filter to remove more of the lower harmonics, and in sygyt, it
is possible to nearly remove the fundamental.
Borbangnadyr is
not really a style in quite the same sense as sygyt, kargyraa, or
khoomei, but rather a combination of effects applied to one of the
other styles. The name comes from the Tuvan word for rolling, and
this style features highly acrobatic trills and warbles, reminiscent
of birds, babbling brooks, etc. While the name Borbangnadyr is
currently most often used to describe a warbling applied to sygyt,
Sygyttyng Borbangnadyr, it is also applied to some lower-pitched
singing styles, especially in older texts.
Ezengileer comes
from a word meaning "stirrup," and features rhythmic harmonic
oscillations intended to mimic the sound of metal stirrups clinking
to the beat of a galloping horse. The most common element is the
"horse-rhythm" of the harmonics, produced by a rhythmic
opening-and-closing of the velum. The velum is the opening between
the pharynx and the nasal sinuses. The velum is not named, but is
located just to the right of the soft palate, between the
nasopharynx and oropharynx. Or, if you prefer, you will recognize it
as the location of Postnasal Drip.
Read more:
The Throat Singers of Tuva
Scientific American
Magazine - September, 1999
Concert in University of Heidelberg,
Germany
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