Michael,
The Winnipeg Folk Festival brought in the Tuva singers a few years
ago and I had the opportunity to see them several times. In fact
they were so popular that the festival brought them back the
following year so I had the chance to see them once again. I have
never figured out how they managed to produced two notes at the
same time despite having had it explained to me by the Tuva
singers (through an interpreter) at the festival.
The term 'throat singing', however, is a bit misleading -- or perhaps
I should say confusing since that is the term used in Canada for
the unique Inuit form of music, sung mainly by women, but which is
quite different from the Tuva music. This form of throat singing is
what I would describe as rythmic vocalism from deep in the throat
that produces an almost percussive effect and is often (normally?)
sung with more than one singer. In any case, it is quite different
from the kind of music sung by the Tuva people -- though perhaps
on reflection, there is more in common than I had thought. It
would be interesting to put the two groups together in a folk festival
workshop though finding a translator who could effectively
communicate with both groups might prove impossible.
Paul Phillips,
Economics,
University of Manitoba
Date sent: Fri, 03 Mar 2000 23:00:24 -0500
From: Michael Yates <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Organization: Pitt-Johnstown
To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [PEN-L:16844] throat singing
Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I just saw a fine film, "Genghis Blues," about the remarkable
> experiences of blues singer and musician, Paul Pena. A native of the
> Cape Verde Islands (formerly a Portuguese colony and now part of
> Guinea-Bissau), Pena played with many jazz and blues greats and composed
> many songs. He is blind and at the film's beginning he is living in San
> Francisco and not doing particularly well. His wife has died and he has
> just come out of a long period of depression. He has bought a short
> wave radio and listens to broadcasts from around the world. One day he
> hears on Radio Moscow some unbelievable singing. It is the harmonic or
> throatsinging of singers from Tuva, a land north of Mongolia. ( I
> remember the beautiful diamond-shaped stamps of the republic of Tannu
> Tuva I lusted after when I was a boy). Tuva became part of the USSR
> during WW2. One of Genghis Khan's greatest generals was a Tuvan. Under
> the Soviets, the Tuvans were not allowed to use their language, and many
> Russians settled there. It is the size of North Dakota, and many people
> there are nomadic sheepherders and horsemen. The land is
> extraordinarily varied and has temperatures ranging from 100 degrees F
> to many degrees below zero. Tuvan singers have learned to sing in their
> throats in such a way as to produce more than one note at the same time.
> You have to hear it to believe it.
>
