Every now and then, when I expect to be doing something completely different, I end up teaching a few people how to sing overtones. They are not expecting this either. In most instances, they have never even heard of it before. Heck, they are not even ‘musical’ people. At least they don’t consider themselves musical. They marvel at first hearing it demonstrated.
These situations are most intriguing for me as a teacher. Because of the spontaneous nature of the lesson, it is usually the ‘Reader’s Digest’ version, extremely shortened, delivering only the bare essentials.
I have found myself in this situation a few times recently. It occurred to me that doing this is no less important than full fledged lessons to an individual. When I think back to how I was initially pulled in by the magical spell of overtones, the bait was far less clear to me, and I ended up flying halfway across the world before even hearing it, and hopefully learn it. In my case, apparently it was a deep seated ‘purpose in life’ thing I was destined to be drawn to.
The most recent example of teaching it in this way came in the guise of (supposedly) an English lesson to Czech students. While in a swimming pool. Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything.
I know I’ve been dwelling on this topic during the summer of 2011, since summer tends to be the dormant period for many. They’re all off on vacation contemplating what really matters to them, what they’ll initiate come autumn.
I’ve been getting opinions from other overtone singers about how to spread the word to the world at large. Perhaps it can only be done bit by bit, where folks are more inclined to be uninformed about overtones. One student suggested open mic nights, slipping it into otherwise overtone-less genres.
This, to me, is the essential bottom line when it comes to taking overtones to new heights and innovation. Those in the know should be celebrating their relatively early entry into our community.
CommentAugust 2011 has been very intense with activity, and not surprisingly, has resulted in many shifts in perception. I think this is a common theme for all, due to the extraordinary times we find ourselves in.
Firstly, since I was on a wilderness island in Romania teaching overtone singing, there was no internet, so no blog posts.
But let me get to the point. We have a long way to go before overtone singing reaches critical mass. If a person is totally unaware that such a technique exists, they are not going to google it. Catch my drift?
So, in other words, if you are reading this post, congratulations. You have at least reached the narrow end of the funnel. It is up to us to bring the future of the voice into fruition globally. You are indeed fortunate to get in on the ground floor (the fundamental pitch!).
Let’s call it a pyramid scheme. NO, I don’t mean some illegal, unscrupulous money making system.
In Romania, while teaching a handful of adventurous singers, my attention was drawn to the ‘Sphinx’ of Romania, the Bosnian pyramids, and by association, the Egyptian pyramids (about 10,000 years younger than the Bosnian, BTW).
I am convinced that these pyramids were built using sound technology. Not a bunch of slaves going heave ho. It has been proven, if only in secretive demonstrations, that heavy objects may be risen by sound frequency alone. In a massive chamber under the Sphinx in Romania, there exists holographic technology. Once this becomes common knowledge, it knocks the socks off the generally accepted views of our collective history.
Check the book that reveals this story.
Let this little post stir the imagination. My life purpose continues to be reinvented, even as I teach overtone singing to whomever shares this common goal. Let’s look beyond all that I have heretofore presented. There are ancient artifacts of wisdom just waiting for you and me to be activated. With your voice.
Shall we accomplish these things together?
CommentWell, here it is mid-summer, and like a lot of you, thoughts turn to good times in the sunshine. Not so much studying singing, although if some of you are doing so, then bravo!
As for me, I will be away from the computer and internet for most of August. This means my time for blogging is almost non-existent, but I’m getting this one out there before the onslaught of travel/ teaching adventures.
What’s on my mind currently is how I integrate the teaching of ‘normal’ singing with overtone singing. This is what I’ll be doing for 10 days at Atlantykron, a wilderness island summer academy of learning in Romania.
Although my main focus will be on overtones and vocal freedom/ improvisation, there are several major cross-over points to deal with. There are too many to mention in a blog post, but here are a few, covered briefly.
* Care of the voice:
As with all singing, we need to properly warm up, be well hydrated. Overtone singing is no different in this regard. Though I often feel that overtone singing can be less ‘taxing’ than normal singing, we still need to prepare so that we don’t choke on the overtones! This involves getting a nice open throat, relaxing all the muscles surrounding the larynx….I like to focus on the lower end of our range, transforming a non-pitched sound down there into an extended sung pitch.
* Resonant chambers:
Of course, we are dealing with many of the same resonant chambers for both normal and overtone singing. The main difference is in how they are manipulated in the production of overtones, usually in more extreme ways. We need to know how they work in normal circumstances before we can start ‘bending’ the rules.
* Vocal Projection:
As with conventional styles of singing, we need to know how to be heard above the din, or without amplification at times. Similar concepts apply in overtone singing, but the main concern here is projection of the overtones so they are nice and clear, heard distinctly against the fundamental. Often we hear about ‘placement’ of the voice from vocal teachers, explained as concepts we are to imagine. This is to some degree what I teach also, but along with ‘directional’ ideas, I emphasize the use of certain consonants to graft onto the sound.
*The healing power of the voice:
I always say that all singing is healing or therapeutic, actually automatically. So whether one is singing normally or with overtones, they are ‘massaging’ themselves internally. This is further enhanced by the experience of having the vowels resonate in particular areas of the body, whether thought of as organs or chakra centers.
*Dynamics and vibrato:
These elements are essential to emotional delivery of the voice, in order to captivate your audience (and yourself!). Conventional systems of teaching these things certainly apply to overtone singing, so they are taught with further examination of having control over the dynamics/ vibrato of 2 separate pitches, i.e. having the overtone louder than the fundamental. I use the term ‘control’ loosely here, as I believe one has more freedom when one releases the idea of ‘control’ and lets natural, intuitive expression take over.
*Ear training/ Interval recognition:
Training the ear is essential in any kind of singing, not only to make the correct movements in melody, but to fine tune the ear for precision of frequency. The harmonic series, although it does not adhere exactly to piano tuning, for example, still trains us to focus intently to the tones inside our heads when we sing overtones. We learn to adjust our resonant chambers (and especially the tongue) to find the exact overtones we wish to emphasize. This has enormous benefits for any other kind of singing.
***
I hope you’re having a wonderful summer, and don’t forget to use those precious vocal cords at the campfire singalong.
CommentYou wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been asked this question:
Them- “Have you seen the documentary ‘Genghis Blues’? It’s about this blind American blues singer who learns to throat sing on his own and manages to get to Tuva for a throat singing competition.”
Me- “Uh…yeah…I was in it.”
For those of you who might not have heard of this one- It was made in ’95 for the International Symposium of Throat Singing in the Republic of Tuva, Russia. Paul Pena, the blind, black blues singer from San Francisco was famous for the song he wrote, Jet Airliner, recorded by the Steve Miller band. He’d discovered Tuvan singing via shortwave radio around 1990 or so. So he imitated it, and got quite good at the deep sound of ‘kargyra’.
I’d first met Huun Huur Tu, the Tuvan ensemble, back in 1993 at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. I jammed with them backstage and they invited me to the symposium then. Then the following year, while I was a tour member of Crash Test Dummies, I ran into them again in a TV studio in NYC. Again, I found myself jamming with them. It was in the cards that I was to go there, though it took several months of red tape. No computers, only aging Russian FAX machines.
Turned out I was the only female foreigner to perform (western overtone singing). They picked me to be one of the judges in the competition, along with several experts in various related occupations. It was a great honor, though I didn’t really feel so qualified to judge their own art form. They claimed that my style most resemble ‘sygyt’. The official competition involved around 100 teenage boys and a couple of girls. This took about 3 days to complete, so they interspersed the foreigners in the program (mostly for comic relief).
Paul was treated royally. The omni-presence of a somewhat eclectic film crew from California must have been quite amusing for them. As was the sound of American blues being interpreted through their ‘kargyra’. The film suggests that Paul won the kargyra category, but in actuality, it was more like an honorary prize. They nicknamed him ‘Earthquake’.
It was difficult to keep track of who was who in this fast paced contest. It was especially hectic when I had to leave my post and go up to perform, without any preparation. I leaped backstage, came up with a little acapella theme in about 10 minutes. Later on in Canada, I wrote the instrumental parts and recorded it on my first CD. It’s called ‘Tuva on Rye’.
The most rewarding part of the competition was seeing the grand prize winner ride off into the sunset on his new pony, dressed in his new national costume.
During the week, there were daily lectures by the likes of shamans, ethnomusicologists and scientific researchers. I enjoyed a presentation from a couple of young guys from Khakassia, with their ‘kai’ throat singing. It is like epics being channeled. The main singer just up and quit abruptly after a while, citing that spirit tapped him on the shoulder.
Oh, and getting back to that documentary- it was nominated for an Academy award. And if you watch it, you’ll see me near the end, on the stage wearing a white skirt, for about 8 seconds.
Here’s a photo gallery from the symposium.
Here’s an article written by ‘Living Treasure’ shaman Mongush Kenin-Lopsan for the Symposium. It’s about the origins of throat singing.
Here’s a video of Paul Pena performing during the documentary filming.
CommentThere are some overtone or throat singing styles existing in ancient cultures I’d like to point out here. And although you can find oodles of info on each of these, I seek only to introduce you to some you may never have been aware of. (So how would you know what to google if you’ve never heard of something?)
Like other indigenous musical forms, some of these have even become endangered. The younger people of these societies are simply more drawn to popular western music and see the old traditions as being backward. The elders are in some desperate campaign to save them. Let’s hope they are successful.
The Xhosa women of South Africa have their own unique style.
Website
Audio
Dani singing- Papua New Guinea
Audio
Throat singing women of Bogaz Havasi (Turkoman technique)
Video
This style reminds me of the electronically enhanced singing of pop stars like Cher, with the quick and precise switching between tones, almost like yodeling. But it’s done naturally by these women, of course. I’ve heard something similar by Lioudmilla Khandi, whose singing you can listen to here. Her voice enters at 0:55.
Bunun male choir in Taiwan- harmonically rich, gradually ascending in pitch, called Posibutbut. It seems to be connected to a ritual.
Video
Sardinian singing of male quartets
I had the pleasure of jamming with one of the most well known of these groups at the polyphonic singing festival in Albania in /08.
Tenores di Bitti official site
Bashkortostan throat singing
Audio
Hope you enjoy all these links. I’ll bring you more later!
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