A Musical Trip: Tuvan Music
I recently came across some Tuvan music in one of my classes and decided to do some more exploring which I found really intriguing! Tuvans are an indigenous peoples with the largest populations living in Russia in the Republic of Tuva, with smaller populations of Tuvans residing in Mongolia and China as well.
One of the things that drew me to Tuvan music was their traditional throat singing, Khoomei. There are multiple styles, below is a demonstration of some!
Demonstration of Khoomei Styles, Khoomei Beat, 2021, Tuva
One of the super neat elements of Khoomei is the timbre/tone color. I noticed how there was a low drone, that feels gritty and has a rumble to it that carried through much of the songs. Along with those notes, there was another note layered on top of it, like the sound was split into two! These notes are called overtones, notes at a higher frequency that are sort of notes within the note, and the overtones created a melody. Tuvan music primarily imitates nature, with Tuvan peoples deeply connected to the land, and the high-pitched overtones reminded me of birds or wind whistling.
Chinggis Khaanii Magtaal , Batzorig Vaanchig, 2014, Mongolia
Another component is the range. This music spans across multiple octaves all at the same time. The musician can sing both low and high, and flips between the notes. Additionally, I also noticed how free and changing the melody was. Khoomei is very freeform and flowing, using much improvisation. This connects to the nature element of the music, being in tune with the natural surroundings.
I really enjoyed how deep and moving Khoomei is, I found the range so incredible that multiple sounds can be heard at once. I wonder what this would sound like in person, with the surroundings playing into how the music reverberates.
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