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music [back to top]

Translation by Sean Quirk of Valentina Suzukei's study of Tuvan music culture in the XXth century. Fundamental Research on Musical Culture of Tuva in the Twentieth Century Ready for Publishing
Translated by Sean Quirk and Theodore Levin
Tuva Online, May 2, 2007

Famous Tuvan music researcher Valentina Suzukei has finished her multifacetous study of Tuvan music culture in the XXth century. ...
Kongar-ol Ondar Kongar-ol Ondar
Official website of Kongar-ol Ondar, master throat singer and artistic director of Alash.
Xoomei Center Xoomei Center in Kyzyl, Tuva (Russian)
Xoomei Center Xoomei Center in Kyzyl, Tuva (English)
Tiny Tuva Is Making Big Sound in World Of Off-Beat Music, Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2006 Tiny Tuva Is Making Big Sound in World Of Off-Beat Music
Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2006

... "I was watching a martial-arts demonstration, when all of a sudden I heard this, uuuuuuuiiiiiieeeeerrrrrrraaaaaahhhh," ... (This article, which was published in the Wall Street Journal, is available online at www.khoomei.com. Scroll down to the post by "godzilla")
Khoomei.com Khoomei.com
Steve Sklar's website about khoomei with articles, lessons, photos, and videos.
Megan Romer's Throat Singing 101 Megan Romer's Throat Singing 101
Tuvan Throat Singing Basics: Tuvan throat singers are able to, through shaping their throat, lips and mouth, produce a number of tones at once.
Busker-Kibbutznik.org Khoomei HOW-TO
A small collection of resources to get anyone started throat singing
Tuva Overiew, National Geographic: World Music) Tuva Overiew
National Geographic: World Music

... But perhaps the best example of what has happened to the region's music as a result of not only Soviet control but also of Western influence is Alash, a group of Tuvans who learned Western notation on stringed instruments that were hybridized versions of traditional ones....
The Throat Singers of Tuva (article from Scientific American, September 1999) The Throat Singers of Tuva
Scientific American, September 1999 [HTML]

[Click for PDF format]
Testing the limits of vocal ingenuity, throat-singers can create sounds unlike anything in ordinary speech and song ...
Overtone singing, Wikipedia Overtone Singing, Wikipedia
Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, or harmonic chant, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the harmonic resonances ...
Throat-Singing, All Music Guide, Fall 2001 Throat-Singing, All Music Guide, Fall 2001
Throat singing is a particular type of vocalizing that, in the West, was known almost exclusively by scholars, until quite recently. ...
Tuvan Throat Singing and the Legend of the Horse Head Fiddle, Sarah Wallin, 2005 Tuvan Throat Singing and the Legend of the Horse Head Fiddle
Sarah Wallin, 2005 [PDF only]

... the Horse Head Fiddle is an important part of Tuvan pastoral music. According to ancient Mongolian legend ...
Overview on Overtones, Numen Music Center, Djembe Overview on Overtones, Numen Music Center, Djembe
In the world of sound, overtones occupy the place of the magician. ...
Overtone Singing, Vocal Multiphonics Overtone Singing, Vocal Multiphonics
Also known by the term Harmonic Singing, this is a special vocal technique originating in the Altai - Tuvan - Mongolian region which allows the singer to produce more than one musical note at once. ...
Meistersingers of the Steppe Meistersingers of the Steppe
... arguably the most technically virtuosic vocalists in the world are the herdsmen of Tuva ... singing to themselves in the otherworldly multiple tones of the khoomei style ...
Tuva, Among the Spirits... Tuva, Among the Spirits...
Stylus, April 6, 2004

... throat singing, while interesting, is only the starting point for learning about Tuvan music. ...
Musical Archaeology, Tucson Weekly, January 30, 1997 Musical Archaeology
Tucson Weekly, January 30, 1997

... the art of imitation is rooted in a centuries-old world view of music as an offering .... The end result is a strange, beautiful tapestry of sound and rhythm that taps into something more real, more authentic, than anything you'll likely find on the American musical landscape. ...
Music of Tuva, Wikipedia Music of Tuva, Wikipedia
... There is debate as to the exact number of styles or techniques the Tuvans use in their throat singing....
Musical Archaeology, Tucson Weekly, January 30, 1997 Throat-Singing, a unique vocalization from three cultures
Smithsonian Global Sound Feature

Throat-singing, a guttural style of singing or chanting, is one of the world's oldest forms of music. ...
Musical Archaeology, Tucson Weekly, January 30, 1997 Tuva-Irish Project
All About Jazz, May 15, 2007

If the collaboration between a Tuvan throat singer and an Irish laptop-ist sounds an unlikely combination, the end results fully justify the experiment. ...
Republic of Tyva Two features from Russia Today - Wayfarer: Destination Tyva (11 July 2008) and Republic of Tyva (3-6 September 2007)
Videos about Tyva and throat singing, including two interviews with Sean Quirk.
Republic of Tyva Voices from the Center of Asia
Link to tracks from the CD

Voice Production in Tuvan throat singing [back to top]

Overtone Singing, Chen-Gia Tsai Overtone singing, Chen-Gia Tsai
The voice of overtone singing is characterized by a prominent formant. In this spectrum of a sound produced by a Taiwanese overtone singer, the 10th harmonic is stronger than its flanking components by more than 25 dB. ...
Harmonic singing vs normal singing, science@unsw Harmonic singing vs normal singing, science@unsw
We explain some of the acoustics of harmonic singing (also called diphonic singing, overtone singing, xoomi singing, sygyt singing, throat singing, Tuva singing etc)
Overtone Singing, Utrecht University, Phonetics Overtone Singing, Utrecht University, Phonetics
This is a demonstration of overtone singing. ... You will hear a whistle over the drone of the fundamental and lower harmonics. ...
Vocal fold and false vocal fold vibrations in throat singing and synthesis of khöömei Vocal fold and false vocal fold vibrations in throat singing and synthesis of khöömei [PDF only]
We observed laryngeal movements in throat singing using physiological methods: the simultaneous recording of singing sounds, EGG, and high-speed digital images. ...
Tuvan Overtone Singing: Harmonics Out of Place (acoustics) Tuvan Overtone Singing: Harmonics Out of Place
... Based on the results of acoustic analysis of Xoomei conducted at SAVAIL, I would like to argue that the physical act of creating overtones may originate in vowel production, but the end product (the actual overtones themselves) are far from vowel-like. ...
TUVA Throat Singing (acoustics) TUVA Throat Singing
... While it sounds as though the singer is producing two separte tones at the same time, this is not true. ... the singer is altering and sharpening the resonance of that vocal tract so as to produce one single very sharp ... resonance at about 2000Hz. ...
How to Sing Three Notes at the Same Time How to Sing Three Notes at the Same Time
La Scena Musicale - Vol. 2, No. 9, June 1, 1997

... one person can sing in chords and can also provide a melody. ...

Tuva Republic [back to top]

Kyzyl time and weather Time and weather
Current time and weather in Kyzyl, capital of Tuva
Friends of Tuva Friends of Tuva
Friends of Tuva (FoT) was conceived by accident in 1981 to commemorate Tuva's 60th anniversary as a distinctive splotch on the world globe. ...
Tuva Online (English) Tuva Online (English)
News Agency in Kyzyl, Russian Republic of Tuva. English edition.
Tuva Online (Russian) Tuva Online (Russian)
News Agency in Kyzyl, Russian Republic of Tuva.
The Tuva Trader The Tuva Trader
Buy authentic merchandise from Tuva. Send free Ekii (hello) cards.
Tuvan Internet Radio Tuvan Cultural Internet Radio
Tuvan music 24/7. You will need a program that plays PLS (Play List) files. The radio station recommends Winamp, but we have also used iTunes and RealPlayer. When you click the link, you might see a dialog box that asks if you want to open or save the file -- click "open"
The discovery of an outstanding "royal" burial of the Scythian period in Tuva, Hermitage News The discovery of an outstanding "royal" burial of the Scythian period in Tuva
Hermitage News, 2006

Joint Russo-German scientific team excavates and studies an undisturbed grave from the 6th-5th century B.C.
Republic of Tyva Two features from Russia Today - Wayfarer: Destination Tyva (11 July 2008) and Republic of Tyva (3-6 September 2007)
Videos about Tyva and throat singing, including two interviews with Sean Quirk.
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, Tuva page Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
Tuva page of UNPO, an international forum for peoples who are not represented in international fora such as the U.N.
Tuva, Kommersant Tuva, Kommersant - Russia's Daily Online (English)
General information about the Republic of Tuva (Tyva)
Tuva, Wikipedia Tuva, Wikipedia
Geography, history, and demographics of the Tyva Republic.
TyvaWiki TyvaWiki
A repository for information about Tyva.
Tuva, Center of Asia Tuva, Center of Asia
The republic of Tuva, with an area of 170,500 square kilometers, is one of the least known regions in Siberia, and maybe one of the most remarkable. ...
Tyva, NUPI Centre for Russian Studies Tyva, NUPI Centre for Russian Studies
The Tyva come from a mixture of Turkic, Mongol, Samoyedic and Kettic peoples. The Turkic and Mongol groups became western Tyva, while the Samoyedic peoples ...
Some information on Tuva Some information on Tuva
Interesting tidbits about Tuva. Links to photos of exhibitions. A link to send free musical postcards of Tuva. By Cornelie Müller-Gödecke.
Talking Dictionary Talking Dictionary
Tuvan-English English-Tuvan, Tuvan language and culture portal at Swarthmore College.
Tuvan Language Tuvan Language
The Tuvan language (Tyva dyl), also known as Tuvinian language, is one of the Turkic languages (A subfamily of Altaic languages). ...
Tyva google map Tyva google map
Satellite images of Tyva from maplandia.com
Kyzyl, capital of Tyva, wikimapia Kyzyl, capital of Tyva, wikimapia
Satellite images of Tyva from wikimapia.org
Tuva, maps.live.com Tuva, maps.live.com
Road, aerial, and hybrid map
Tuvan Shamans Tuvan Shamans (Russian)
Official site of the central religious organization of Tuvan Shamans of "Tos-deer" (Nine Heavens).
Tuvan Shamans Tuvan Shamans (Google translation to English)
Official site of the central religious organization of Tuvan shamans of "Tos-deer" (Nine Heavens).
Tran Quang Hai's World Tran Quang Hai's World
Ethnomusicologist Tran Quang Hai maintins a blog with many interesting links related to Tuvan throat singing and other types of overtone singing.
Site devoted to Mongolian arts and culture MongolianArtist.com
The latest in Mongolian arts and culture from hundreds of sources across the Web.
Traditional Music and Instruments of the Mongolian people Traditional Music and Instruments of the Mongolian people
The traditional Mongolian Folk music is influenced by the large variety of tribes ... (site includes photos of traditional instruments)
Music of Mongolia, Wikipedia Music of Mongolia, Wikipedia
... Traditional long-songs are one of the greatest features of Mongolian music....
Mongolian Music, Sound Transformations Mongolian Music, Sound Transformations Website
... On this site you can find out about Mongolian Khöömii (Overtone) Singing, Mongolian Traditional Music...
Mongolian Music, Interview with Altai-Hangai Mongolian Music, Interview with Altai-Hangai, Asia Source website
Altai-Hangai is a Mongolian musical group that fuses the sounds of traditional throat-singing and horse-head fiddle with contemporary forms of jazz....
Music of Altai, Wikipedia Music of Altai, Wikipedia
... The performance of traditional epics, accompanied by the topshur, is an important part of Altay music....
Epics from the golden Altai Mountains Epics from the golden Altai Mountains
... One of the most important forms of Altai art ... is the narration of epics in the falsetto voice to the accompaniment of the topshur ...
Almaty or Bust Almaty or Bust
Stylus, August 16, 2004

... a very brief overview of the many countries that make up Central Asia and the musical styles that are unique to each country. ... pictures highlighting the instruments, performers, and just about anything else ... to give you ... an idea of what Central Asian music and musical culture looks like. ...
The Gyume and Gyoto Monks The Gyume and Gyoto Monks
One night in 1433, the Tibetan lama Je Tzong Sherab Senge awoke from a startling dream. In it he had heard a voice unlike any voice that had ever sounded on the planet. ...
mongoliaexpat.com mongoliaexpat.com
Seriously cool stuff for a seriously wild country. An online magazine.
Altai Republic, Official Portal Altai Republic, Official Portal
The Oirot-Altaians - indigenous population inhabiting mountains and foothills of the geographical Altai....
Altay, NUPI Centre for Russian Studies Altay, NUPI Centre for Russian Studies
The Altay ethnic group formed in the Altay area on the basis of ancient Turkish tribes of Uygurs, Kimak-Kipchaks, Yenisey-Kyrgyz, Oguz and others....

Photos of Tuva [back to top]

Pixelbox Pixelbox
Images of Tuva. Stock photography.
NaturePhoto Online NaturePhoto Online
Photographs of Tuva. Stock photography.
Nature Photography of Russia Nature Photography of Russia
Tuva photographs are in the Wildnis Russlands, Ethnography section.
Hans Rossel Travel Photography Hans Rossel Travel Photography
Photographs of Tuva. Stock photography.
Photography by Oleg Kosterin Photography by Oleg Kosterin
Photographs of Tuva.
Photography by K. David Harrison Photography by K. David Harrison
Swarthmore College Linguistics, Field Work 2003

Friends of Alash [back to top]

Bela Fleck Béla FleckBela Fleck
During their Spring 2007 US tour, Alash recorded with banjo virtuoso and grammy winner Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. The CD is due to be released late in 2008.
Elliott Levin Elliott Levin
Avant-garde jazz musician from Philadelphia and leader of the Extra Special Terrestrial Guests, a group that collaborates with Alash. Listen to jam sessions audio icon [10:40]  and audio icon [10:28] , recorded at the Rotunda in Philadelphia in 2007.
Naftali Schindler Naftali Schindler
Naftali Schindler is a composer and fan of Tuvan music who invited Alash to perform at Yale.
Sergei Sotpa Sergei Sotpa
Sergei Sotpa was an original member of Alash.
Sun Ra Arkestra Sun Ra Arkestra
The first American Jazz band to travel to Tuva. Several Sun Ra musicians join forces with the Extra Special Terrestrial Guests to collaborate with Alash. Listen to jam sessions audio icon [10:40]  and audio icon [10:28] , recorded at the Rotunda in Philadelphia in 2007.