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Overtone singing, also known as throat singing, overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the harmonic resonances (or formants) created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody. Throatsinging is both a generic and a specific term. Generally, it is applied to any singing style which entails the application of a harsh voice or some other constriction. Specifically, it refers to a type of Central Asian overtone singing. The term is often incorrectly applied to unconstricted overtone singing.
The partials 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. This resonant tuning allows the singer to create more than one pitch at the same time.
Through a study at the University of Wisconsin’s hospitals and clinics along with the National Center for Voice and Speech, video fluoroscopy, which is a motion x-ray, and a nasoendosocopy, the imaging of the vocal folds using a small camera to look at the throat closely, have come to the conclusion that the throat singers control their vocals to shift the frequency of a specific formant and mesh that with a harmonic tune. By performing in this manner it subsequently brings a melodic tune.[1]
Rollin Rachelle is the first to have authored a comprehensive study guide covering the mechanics and theory behind overtone singing. 'The Overtone Singing Study Guide' was first published in Dutch 1989 and then in English in 1996.
The best-known of the traditional forms comes from Tuva, a small autonomous republic within the Russian Federation. The history of throat singing, or khoomei (Tuvan language: Хөөмей), reaches too far back for anyone alive to accurately discern. Among the Tuvans, throat singing is taught formally at the Tuvan School Of Art , but it also comes naturally to them and is picked up like a language. Many of the male herders can throat sing, and women are beginning to practice the technique as well. The popularity of throat singing among Tuvans seems to have arisen as a result of geographic location and culture. The open landscape of Tuva allows for the sounds to carry a great distance. Ethnomusicologists studying throat singing in these areas mark khoomei as an integral part in the ancient pastoral animism that is still practiced today.
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. Thus, human mimicry of nature's sounds is seen as the root of throat singing. (A beautiful example is the Mongolian story of the waterfall above the Buyan Gol (Deer River), where mysterious harmonic sounds are said to have attracted deer to bask in the waters, and where it is said harmonic sounds were first revealed to people.) Indeed, the cultures in this part of Asia have developed many instruments and techniques to mimic the sounds of animals, wind, and water. While the cultures of this region share throat singing, their styles vary in breadth of development.
In one of the main styles of khoomei, melodies are created by isolating the 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 12th (although more are possible) partial in the harmonic series (Sol, Do, Re, Mi and Sol in Solfege). The base pitch is typically around a G below Middle C. This is basic Sygyt.
The people of Tuva have a wide range of throat singing vocalizations, and were the pioneers of six pitch harmonics. [1] There are several different classification schemes for Tuvan throat singing. In one, the three basic styles are khoomei, kargyraa, and sygyt while the sub-styles include borbangnadyr, chylandyk, dumchuktaar, ezengileer, and kanzip. In another, there are five basic styles: khoomei, sygyt, kargyraa, borbangnadyr, and ezengileer. The substyles include chylandyk, despeng borbang, opei khoomei, buga khoomei, kanzyp, khovu kargyraazy, kozhagar kargyraazy, dag kargyraazy, Oidupaa kargyraazy, uyangylaar, damyraktaar, kishteer, serlennedyr, byrlannadyr.[2]
Sygyt: (Tuvan: Сыгыт) meaning "whistling", a technique that utilizes a mid-range fundamental and produces a high-pitched, rather piercing harmonic reminiscent of whistling. The technique is different from khoomei as the fundamental is completely attenuated, and has a higher pitch. The tone sounds very bright and clear. Also described as an imitation of the gentle breezes of summer, the songs of birds.
Kargyraa: (Tuvan: Каргыраа) a deep, "undertone" technique. The vestibular folds or false vocal folds are vibrated to produce an "undertone" exactly half the frequency of the fundamental produced by the vocal folds, and the mouth cavity is shaped to select harmonics of both the fundamental and the "undertone," producing from four to six pitches simultaneously. There are two main kargyraa styles, dag kargyraa and khovu kargyraa. The dag or "mountain" kargyraa is the lower of the two. There are also the distinctive kargyraa styles of Vladimir Oidupaa and Albert Kuvezin, the latter also bearing the name kanzat. This style can also be described as the howling winds of winter or the plaintive cries of a mother camel after losing her calf.
Khoomei: (Tuvan: Хөөмей) While khoomei is used as a generic term to designate all throat singing techniques in this region, it is also more specifically a technique where the drone is in the middle-range of the voice, with harmonics between one and two octaves above. Singing in this style gives the impression of wind swirling among rocks.
Chylandyk: (Tuvan: Чыландык) merely a mixture of Sygyt and Kargyraa. Both styles are sung at once, creating an unusual sound of low undertones mixed with the high Sygyt whistle. It has also been described as the "chirping of crickets."
Dumchuktaar: (Tuvan: Думчуктаар) could be best described as Throat Humming. The singer creates a sound similar to Sygyt using only the nasal passage. The word means to sing through the nose (dumchuk). The mouth does not need to be closed, but of course it demonstrates the point better.
Ezengileer: (Tuvan: Эзеңилээр) is a pulsating style, mimicking the rhythms of horseback riding. It is named after the word for stirrup in Tyvan, ezengi.
In Mongolia, throat singing is found mostly in the western part of the country. Khoomii (Mongolian: Хөөмий) can be divided up into the following categories.
Mongolians also sing in a style known as karkhiraa.
In the Altai Republic, throat singing, which they call kai, is used mostly in Epic poetry performance, to the accompaniment of topshur. Altay kai-chi perform in kargyraa, khöömei, 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.
Just north of Tyva in the region of Khakassia there exist native styles of throat singing known as khai.
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. Studies measuring the frequencies of the throat singing and the brain waves of the monks have shown synchronicity in the brain, causing it to emit similar waves to those found in studies of silent meditation.
The Bashkorts have a style of overtone singing, uedhlaew (sometimes spelled uzlyau; Bashkort: үзләү), which nearly died out. In addition, Bashkorts also sing uzlyau while playing the kuray, 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.
The oral poetry of Uzbekistan, Karakalpakstan, and Kazakhstan sometimes enters the realm of throat singing.
In the Barbagia region on the island of Sardinia, 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, doesn't use throatsinging. A tenore is practiced by groups of four male singers each of whom have a distinct role; the boche (pronounced /boke/, "voice") is the lead while the mesu boche ("half voice"), contra ("against") and bassu ("bass") - listed in descending pitch order - provide the accompainment. Boche and mesu boche sing in a regular voice whereas the contra and bassu sing with a throaty voice. The boche sings a poetic text while the accompainment consists of nonsense syllables (for example bim-bam-bo). The execution differs in details between each of the villages where a tenore is sung to such an extent that the village can be immediately recognized. Some of the most wellknown groups who perform a tenore are Tenores di Bitti, Tenores di Oniferi and Tenores di Neoneli.
The resurgence of a once-dying Inuit throat singing tradition is underway in Canada. Xhosa women of South Africa have a style of chanting that falls in the category of throat singing. The Sami people have a singing genre called yoik that is often compared with throat-singing. While overtone techniques are not a defining feature of yoik, individuals sometimes utilize overtones in the production of yoik.
America and Europe – The 1920s Texan singer of cowboy songs, Arthur Miles, independently created a style of overtone singing as a substitute for the normal yodeling of country western music. Starting in the 1970s, some musicians in the West either have collaborated with traditional throatsingers or ventured into the realm of throatsinging 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 David Hykes (who created the term "harmonic singing" in 1975), Karlheinz Stockhausen, Jim Cole, Ry Cooder, Paul Pena (mixing the traditional Tuvan style with that of American Blues), Demetrio Stratos, and Steve Sklar. 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 have also merged their music with throatsinging, 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. Contemporary classical composers are incorporating overtone singing into their works. "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.
Rajasthan - 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.