Overtone singing

Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances (or formants) created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.

Another name for overtone singing is throat singing, but that term is also used for Inuit throat singing, which is produced differently.

Acoustics and theory

The partials (fundamental and overtones) of a sound wave made by the human voice can be selectively amplified by changing the shape of the resonant cavities of the mouth, larynx and pharynx.^[1] This resonant tuning allows the singer to create apparently more than one pitch at the same time (the fundamental and a selected overtone), while in effect still generating a single fundamental frequency with his/her vocal folds.

Asia

Tuva

Tuvan throat singing is practiced by the Tuva people of southern Siberia. The history of Tuvan throat singing reaches very far back. There is a wide range of vocalizations, including Sygyt, Kargyraa (which also uses a second sound source), Khoomei, Chylandyk, Dumchuktaar, and Ezengileer.

Altai and Khakassia

Tuva’s neighbouring states, the Altai Republic to the west, and Khakassia to the northwest, have developed forms of throat singing called ‘’kai’’, or ‘’khai’’. In Altai, this is used mostly for epic poetry performance, to the accompaniment of topshur. Altai narrators ("kai-chi") perform in kargyraa, khöömei and sygyt styles, which are similar to Tuvan. They also have their own style, a very high harmonics, emerging from kargyraa. Variations of kai are called karkyra, sybysky, homei and sygyt. The first well-known kai-chi was Kalkin.

Chukchi Peninsula

The Chukchi people of Chukchi Peninsula in the extreme northeast of Russia also practice a form of throat singing.^[2]

Mongolia

In Mongolia, throat singing is found mostly in the western part of the country. Khöömii (written in Cyrillic as Хөөмий) can be divided up into the following categories.

• uruulyn / labial khöömii
• tagnain / palatal khöömii
• khamryn / nasal khöömii
• bagalzuuryn, khooloin / glottal, throat khöömii
• tseejiin khondiin, khevliin / chest cavity, stomach khöömii
• turlegt or khosmoljin khöömii / khöömii combined with long song

Mongolians also sing in a style known as "karkhiraa" (literally "growling").

Tibet

Tibetan Buddhist chanting is a sub-genre of throat singing. Most often the chants hold to the lower pitches capable in throat singing. Various ceremonies and prayers call for throat singing in Tibetan Buddhism, often with more than one monk chanting at a time. There are different tibetan throat singing styles, such as Gyuke (originally: "rgyud skyad") - style with the lowest pitch of voice; Dzoke (originally: "mdzod skyad") and Gyer.

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

The oral poetry of Kazakhstan and the Uzbek region of Karakalpakstan sometimes enters the realm of throat singing.

Hokkaido

The Ainu of Hokkaidō, Japan once practiced a type of throat singing called rekuhkara, which has since gone extinct. The last singer of rekuhkara died in 1976, but some recordings exist.^[2]

Europe

Bashkortostan

The Bashkirs of Bashkortostan have a style of overtone singing called özläü (sometimes spelled uzlyau; Bashkort Өзләү), which nearly died out. In addition, Bashkorts also sing uzlyau while playing the kurai, a national instrument. This technique of vocalizing into a flute can also be found in folk music as far west as the Balkans and Hungary.

Sardinia

Main article: Tenores

In the Barbagia area on the island of Sardinia (Italy), one of the two different styles of polyphonic singing is marked by the use of a throaty voice. This kind of song is called a tenore. The other style, known as cuncordu, does not use throat singing. A tenore is practiced by groups of four male singers each of whom has a distinct role; the oche or boche (pronounced /oke/ or /boke/, "voice") is the solo voice, while the mesu oche or mesu boche ("half voice"), contra ("against") and bassu ("bass") - listed in descending pitch order - form a chorus (another meaning of tenore). Oche and mesu oche sing in a regular voice, whereas contra and bassu sing with a technique affecting the larynx. In 2005, Unesco classed the canto a tenore among intangible world heritage.^[3] Among the most most well known groups who perform a tenore are Tenores di Bitti, Tenores de Orosei, Tenores di Oniferi and Tenores di Neoneli.

Northern Europe

The Sami people of the northern parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia, have a singing genre called yoik. While overtone techniques are not a defining feature of yoik, individuals sometimes utilize overtones in the production of yoik.

North America

Inuit

The resurgence of a once-dying Inuit tradition called katajjaq is currently under way in Canada. The practice is compared more to a game or competition than to a musical style. In the game, Inuit women sit or stand face-to-face and create rhythmic patterns, using each others’ mouths as resonators.

Africa

South Africa

Xhosa women of South Africa have a low, rhythmic style of throat-singing called eefing that is often accompanied by call-and-response vocals.^[4]

Non-traditional styles

Canada, United States and Europe

The 1920s Texan singer of cowboy songs, Arthur Miles, independently created a style of overtone singing, similar to sygyt, as a supplement to the normal yodelling of country western music.

Starting in the 1960s, some musicians in the West either have collaborated with traditional throat singers or ventured into the realm of throat singing and overtone singing, or both. Some made original musical contributions and helped this art rediscover its transcultural universality. As harmonics are universal to all physical sounds, the notion of authenticity is best understood in terms of musical quality. Musicians of note in this genre include Collegium Vocale Köln (who first began using this technique in 1968), Michael Vetter, David Hykes^[5] (who created the term "harmonic singing" in 1975),^{[citation needed]} Jim Cole, Ry Cooder, Paul Pena (mixing the traditional Tuvan style with that of American Blues), Demetrio Stratos^[6], Steve Sklar and Kiva (specializing in jazz/ world beat genres and composing for overtone choirs).

Paul Pena was featured in the documentary Genghis Blues which tells the story of his pilgrimage to Tuva to compete in their annual throatsinging competition. The film won the documentary award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for an Oscar in 2000.

Tuvan singer Sainkho Namtchylak has collaborated with free jazz musicians such as Evan Parker and Ned Rothenberg. Lester Bowie and Ornette Coleman worked with the Tenores di Bitti, and Eleanor Hovda has written a piece using the Xhosa style of singing. DJs and performers of electronic music like The KLF have also merged their music with throat singing, overtone singing, or with the theory of harmonics behind it.

In Ireland Anúna have revived a technique of overtone chanting mentioned in the 8th century manuscript Cath Almaine, the technique uses one held drone with a shifting three or four note overtone series. Expert pitched overtone performer Aengus Ó Maoláin joins Anúna on several numbers.

Several contemporary classical composers have incorporated overtone singing into their works. Karlheinz Stockhausen was one of the first, with Stimmung in 1968. "Past Life Melodies" for SATB chorus by Australian composer Sarah Hopkins (b. 1958) also calls for this technique. In Water Passion after St. Matthew by Tan Dun, the soprano and bass soloists sing in a variety of techniques including overtone singing of the Mongolian style.

India

Ethnomusicologist John Levy recorded a Rajasthani singer utilizing overtones in imitation of either a Jew's harp or a double-flute. There is no tradition of this style of singing there.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Human Voice
• List of overtone musicians

Notes

References

• Bandinu, Omar (2006). "Il canto a tenore: dai nuraghi all'Unesco", Siti 2, no.3 (July–September): 16–21.
• Bellamy, Isabel, and Donald MacLean (2005). Radiant Healing: The Many Paths to Personal Harmony and Planetary Wholeness. Buddina, Queensland (Australia): Joshua Books. ISBN 0-97568-785-9
• Haouli, Janete El (2006). Demetrio Stratos: en busca de la voz-música. México, D. F.: Radio Educación—Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes.
• Levin, Theodore C., and Michael E. Edgerton (1999). "The Throat Singers of Tuva". Scientific American 281, no. 3 (September): 80–87.
• Levin, Theodore, and Valentina Süzükei (2006). Where Rivers and Mountains Sing. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34715-7.
• Pariser, David, and Enid Zimmerman (2004). "Learning in the Visual Arts: Characteristics of Gifted and Talented Individuals," in Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education, Elliot W. Eisner and Michael D. Day (editors). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 388. ISBN 9780805849721.
• Saus, Wolfgang (2004). Oberton Singen. Schönau im Odenwald: Traumzeit-Verlag. ISBN 3-933825-36-9 (German).
• Titze, Ingo R. (1994). Principles of Voice Production. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0137178933 Reprinted Iowa City: National Center for Voice and Speech, 2000. (NCVS.org) ISBN 978-0874141221 .
• Titze, Ingo R. (2008). "The Human Instrument". Scientific American 298, no. 1 (July):94–101. PM 18225701
• Tongeren , Mark C. van (2002). Overtone Singing: Physics and Metaphysics of Harmonics in East and West. Amsterdam: Fusica. ISBN 90-807163-2-4 (pbk), ISBN 90-807163-1-6 (cloth).

External links

• Audio samples of overtone and throat singing
• Ken-Ichi Sakakibara Overtone singing research.
• Harmonic singing vs. normal singing – acoustical measurements and explanation
• Scientific American: The Throat Singers of Tuva
• Types of Throat Singing with Tips /Tuvan Throat-Singing by Steve Sklar
• Observation of the Laryngeal Movements for Throat Singing: Vibration of two pairs of folds in human larynx
• Audio samples of throat singing
• www.overtonesinging.com Overtone Singing with Rollin Rachele
• Tuva throat singers on Flickr
• Kiva's audio samples and information on overtone singing