Photo by Ilya Naymushin

Khoomei

Based on some of the comments I received since last night’s post, I thought I might write a little more about Tuvan throat singing.

Technically, I suppose, I should just call it ‘throat singing’ and not add the ‘Tuvan’ adjective. This is especially true since just last night I enjoyed the skilled performance of Altai Kai – a group from the Altai Republic in southwestern Siberia.

Throat singing, which is technically a type of overtone singing, is often referred to as Tuvan throat singing, khoomei, and sometime Mongolian throat singing. I’ve mostly heard it referred to as either Tuvan throat singing or simply khoomei.

Republic of Tuva – South-Central Siberia

Just east of the Altai Republic (which is actually now part of Russia) is the Republic of Tuva, which, perhaps oddly enough, I consider one of my homelands.

Yes, I know; it’s hard to comprehend how or why I could consider it so. But the knowledge and feeling within is visceral; it is without a doubt a spiritual homeland to me. Prior to 2003, I never would have imagined this could be my experience, and yet…

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, when I experienced my first auditory experience of Tuvan throat singing (before I actually went to Siberia a few months later), it sent shock waves through my system. The CD I was listening to was a great introduction: Back Tuva Future and featured Kongar-Ol Ondar, probably one of the greatest Tuvan throat singers ever. Ondar was hugely instrumental in bringing awareness of this form of singing to the United States in the ‘90s, and tragically died in 2013, only 51 years old. Willy Nelson collaborated on that album, which added an interesting twist, too.

Bert Dag – Home Away From Home

I didn’t realize it at the time, but listening to that album over and over, I was actually being schooled in some of Tuva’s most popular folk songs. This was brought home to me when I was visiting a very small village in the south of Tuva called Bert Dag.

One of the first days I was in Bert Dag, the families who were aware of my visit proudly called me outside to meet this adorable, seemingly shy little boy – he could only have been 3 or 4 as I recall – so I could hear him sing for me. Not only did this tiny person start singing some khoomei (which, when you hear that guttural sound emanating from a man or woman, it’s one level of amazing – but resonating out of a little boy?), but he was also singing one of the songs I recognized from the CD! Indeed, it was one that speaks of the loss of their homeland and makes my heart ache every time I hear it.

Wow – thanks for that memory.

I realize I’m not giving you much more information on this traditional technique in this post. But beyond the links I provided yesterday, and above, here is another group that I had the great fortune to listen to and experience up close and personal twice, just this year: Alash Ensemble. I saw them in both Connecticut and Flemington, NJ.

In closing out this post, I just want to say that in my experience, khoomei is not just an art form. It is also a gateway to shamanic travel (journeying).

Hmmmm.

(T-1056)