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Throat songs with heart express Mongolian spirit
By UNESCO website |
January 30, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
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MONGOLIAN people are famous for their harmonious throat singing or chanting, known as Khoomei, or throat harmony.
Skilled singers can create more than one pitch at the same time, some can produce as many as six. The sounds are usually low droning hums and higher flutelike melodies. It takes years of practice to produce the rich and varied sounds.
Also called overtone singing or chanting, it involves multiple resonances, including a bass element produced deep in the throat.
To produce different sounds and vibrations, the singer changes the shape of the resonant cavities of the mouth, larynx and pharynx as the air travels through vocal folds and out the lips.
Some throat singing has been compared with the sounds of a Theremin, an electronic musical instrument with oscillating parts.
Throat singing is practiced by people in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the nation of Mongolia and in the Russian republic of Tuva near the Mongolian border.
Khoomei is recognized as an intangible cultural heritage by China and UNESCO.
Khoomie has become famous around the world as a unique kind of world music.
It is traditionally performed in rituals, expressing respect and praise for the natural world, ancestors and Mongolian heroes.
Throat singing is performed for special events such as horse races, archery and wrestling tournaments, and large banquets.
The rhythm and sequence of songs is strictly ordered and Khoomi is considered a central element of Mongolian cultural and symbol of ethnic identity.
Skilled singers can create more than one pitch at the same time, some can produce as many as six. The sounds are usually low droning hums and higher flutelike melodies. It takes years of practice to produce the rich and varied sounds.
Also called overtone singing or chanting, it involves multiple resonances, including a bass element produced deep in the throat.
To produce different sounds and vibrations, the singer changes the shape of the resonant cavities of the mouth, larynx and pharynx as the air travels through vocal folds and out the lips.
Some throat singing has been compared with the sounds of a Theremin, an electronic musical instrument with oscillating parts.
Throat singing is practiced by people in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the nation of Mongolia and in the Russian republic of Tuva near the Mongolian border.
Khoomei is recognized as an intangible cultural heritage by China and UNESCO.
Khoomie has become famous around the world as a unique kind of world music.
It is traditionally performed in rituals, expressing respect and praise for the natural world, ancestors and Mongolian heroes.
Throat singing is performed for special events such as horse races, archery and wrestling tournaments, and large banquets.
The rhythm and sequence of songs is strictly ordered and Khoomi is considered a central element of Mongolian cultural and symbol of ethnic identity.
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