Music of East Asia: Throat singing of Tuva

Tuva: autonomous republic within Russia.

Geography: mountains, forest and high plains

Traditional rural lifestyle: nomadic pastoralism (herding livestock)

Aspects of nomadic pastoralism in Tuvan music:

Mobility - music primarily vocal with portable instruments for accompaniment;

Land - vast areas of open land depicted in singing;

Animals – music concerns human connection to herd animals: cows, sheep

Horses are sacred - a key metaphor in song and instruments.

Throat singing: khoomei

Wordless singing of overtones (high harmonic pitches over fundamental tone);

Melodies are created entirely by altering the shape of the mouth;

Sound represents the natural environment: wind, streams, mountain echoes;

Rhythms represent the gallop of horses.

CD Example 26. Medley with khoomei, sigit and kargiraa

Popularization of throat singing:

Ondar - singer from Tuva who popularized throat singing;

His music maintains tradition of singing about horses and land.

Pastoralist fight against modernity (similar to American cowboy music).

CD Example 27. Ondar - Tuva Groove