Tuvan throat singing

Tuvan-Mongol throat singing, the main technique of which is known as khoomei (/xuˈmiː/ or /xoʊˈmeɪ/; Tuvan: хөөмей, höömey; Mongolian: ᠬᠦᠭᠡᠮᠡᠢ, хөөмий, khöömii,[1] Russian: хоомей; Chinese: 呼麦, pinyin: hūmài), is a style of singing practiced by people in Tuva and Mongolia.

Ethnomusicologists studying throat singing in these areas mark khoomei as an integral part in the ancient pastoral animism still practiced today.

Often, singers travel far into the countryside looking for the right river, or go up to the steppes of the mountainside to create the proper environment for throat singing.

[6] The animistic world view of this region identifies the spirituality of objects in nature, not just in their shape or location, but in their sound as well.

The people of Tuva have a wide range of throat singing vocalizations, and were the pioneers of six pitch harmonics.

In one, the three basic styles are khoomei, kargyraa and sygyt, while the sub-styles include borbangnadyr, chylandyk, dumchuktaar, ezengileer and kanzyp.

Ethnomusicologist Zoya Kyrgys, on the other hand, defines the term khorekteer as a designation for all Tuvan throat singing.

Khoomei is traditionally a softer sounding style, with the fundamental (or drone) usually in the low-mid to midrange of the singer's normal voice.

Sygyt (in Cyrillic: сыгыт), literally 'whistling', has a midrange fundamental and is characterized by strong, flute-like or rather piercing harmonics, reminiscent of whistling.

Kargyraa has a deep, almost growling sound to it and is technically related to Sardinian bass singing in Cantu a tenore choirs.

The Dag style is deeper, while xovu is raspier and sung at a higher pitch with more throat tension and less chest resonance.

[20] Choldak-Kara Oyun, the mother of the famous throat singer Soruktu Kyrgys and grandmother of the husband of famous Tuvan actress Kara-Kys Namzatovna Munzuk, throat sang throughout her life while milking her cows, singing lullabies to her children and sometimes while she was drinking Tuvan araga (fermented milk alcohol).

Close relatives of famous singers, like Khunashtaar-ool's niece (in the 1960s) and Kombu's daughter (in the 1940s or 1950s), performed khoomei (throat singing) in public more than once.

The wife of the throat singing shaman Bilek-ool from Manchurek, Aldinsova Tortoyavna, said that she has always sung khoomei "because it was innate to [her] from birth".