Throat singing

Last updated

Throat singing refers to several vocal practices found in different cultures worldwide. [1] [2] [3] [4] These vocal practices are generally associated with a certain type of guttural voice that contrasts with the most common types of voices employed in singing, which are usually represented by chest (modal) and head (light, or falsetto) registers. Throat singing is often described as producing the sensation of more than one pitch at a time, meaning that the listener perceives two or more distinct musical notes while the singer is producing a single vocalization.

Contents

Throat singing consists of a range of singing techniques that originally belonged to particular cultures and which may share sounding characteristics, making them noticeable by other cultures and users of mainstream singing styles. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Terminology

The term originates from the translation of the Tuvan word Xhöömei and the Mongolian word Xhöömi, which mean throat and guttural, respectively. [10] Ethnic groups from Russia, Mongolia, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Italy, China and India, among other countries, accept and normally employ the term throat singing to describe their way of producing voice, song and music.

The term throat singing is not precise, because any singing technique involves sound generation in the "throat," with the voice being produced at the level of the larynx, which includes the vocal folds and other structures. [7] [11] [12] [9] Therefore it would be, in principle, admissible to refer to classical operatic singing or pop singing as "throat singing." However, the term throat is not accepted as a part of the official terminology of anatomy ( Terminologia Anatomica ) and is not technically associated with most of the singing techniques.

Some authors, performers, coaches, and listeners associate throat singing with overtone singing. Throat singing and overtone singing are not synonyms, contrary to what is indicated by some dictionaries (an example being Britannica); however, in some cases, both aspects may be present, such as in the khargyraa technique from Tuva, which uses a deep, tense voice, along with overtone singing.[ citation needed ]

"Singing with the throat" may be regarded as a demeaning expression to some singers, since it may imply that the singer is using a high level of effort, resulting in a forced or non-suitable voice. The word "throaty" is usually associated with a rough, raspy, breathy or hoarse voice. Despite being a term frequently used in the literature starting in the 1960s, some contemporary scholars tend to avoid using throat singing as a general term.[ citation needed ]

There is a consistent and enthusiastic international reception for concerts and workshops given by musical groups belonging to the several cultures that incorporate throat singing . Besides the traditional ethnic performances, throat singing is also cultivated and explored by musicians belonging to contemporary, rock, new-age, pop, and independent music genres.

Types of throat singing

Throat singing techniques may be classified under an ethnomusicological approach, which considers cultural aspects, their associations to rituals, religious practices, storytelling, labor songs, vocal games, and other contexts; or a musical approach, which considers their artistic use, the basic acoustical principles, and the physiological and mechanical procedures to learn, train and produce them.

The most commonly referenced types of throat singing techniques in musicological and ethnomusicological texts are generally associated with ancient cultures. Some of them, as the Khöömei from Mongolia, Tuva and China, and the Canto Tenore from Sardinia, are acknowledged by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In musically related terms, throat singing refers to the following specific techniques, among others:

Audio examples

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human voice</span> Sound made by a human being using the vocal tract

The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary sound source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overtone</span> Tone with a frequency higher than the frequency of the reference tone

An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental is the lowest pitch. While the fundamental is usually heard most prominently, overtones are actually present in any pitch except a true sine wave. The relative volume or amplitude of various overtone partials is one of the key identifying features of timbre, or the individual characteristic of a sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overtone singing</span> Style of singing multiple notes at once

Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, or diphonic singing, is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract to arouse the perception of additional separate notes beyond the fundamental frequency that is being produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singing</span> Act of producing musical sounds with the voice

Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person whose profession is singing is called a singer, artist or vocalist. Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music, Greek music, Japanese music, and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, ghazal, and popular music styles such as pop, rock, and electronic dance music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuvans</span> Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Siberia

The Tuvans or Tyvans are a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Siberia who live in Russia (Tuva), Mongolia, and China. They speak Tuvan, a Siberian Turkic language. In Mongolia they are regarded as one of the Uriankhai people groups.

Paul Jerrod Pena was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist of Cape Verdean descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huun-Huur-Tu</span> Tuvan music group

Huun-Huur-Tu are a music group from Tuva, a Russian federative republic situated on the Mongolia–Russia border. Their music includes throat singing, in which the singers sing both a note and its overtones, thus producing two or three notes simultaneously. The overtone may sound like a flute, whistle or bird, but is solely a product of the human voice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sainkho Namtchylak</span> Russian singer (born 1957)

Sainkho Namtchylak is a singer originally from Tuva, an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She is known for her Tuvan throat singing or Khöömei.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocal register</span> Range of tones a certain voice type can reliably produce

A vocal register is a range of tones in the human voice produced by a particular vibratory pattern of the vocal folds. These registers include modal voice, vocal fry, falsetto, and the whistle register. Registers originate in laryngeal function. They occur because the vocal folds are capable of producing several different vibratory patterns. Each of these vibratory patterns appears within a particular range of pitches and produces certain characteristic sounds.

The angular spectrum method is a technique for modeling the propagation of a wave field. This technique involves expanding a complex wave field into a summation of infinite number of plane waves of the same frequency and different directions. Its mathematical origins lie in the field of Fourier optics but it has been applied extensively in the field of ultrasound. The technique can predict an acoustic pressure field distribution over a plane, based upon knowledge of the pressure field distribution at a parallel plane. Predictions in both the forward and backward propagation directions are possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vestibular fold</span> Part of the larynx

The vestibular fold is one of two thick folds of mucous membrane, each enclosing a narrow band of fibrous tissue, the vestibular ligament, which is attached in front to the angle of the thyroid cartilage immediately below the attachment of the epiglottis, and behind to the antero-lateral surface of the arytenoid cartilage, a short distance above the vocal process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuvan throat singing</span> Style of overtone singing

Mongol-Tuvan throat singing, the main technique of which is known as khoomei, is a style of singing practiced by people in Tuva and Mongolia. It is noted for including overtone singing. In 2009, it was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO. The term hömey / kömey means throat and larynx in different Turkic languages. That could be borrowed from Mongolian khooloi, which means throat as well, driven from Proto-Mongolian word *koɣul-aj.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaigal-ool Khovalyg</span> Musical artist

Kaigal-ool Kim-oolovich Khovalyg is a Tuvan throat singer and co-founder of the Tuvan music group Huun-Huur-Tu.

The ASA Silver Medal is an award presented by the Acoustical Society of America to individuals, without age limitation, for contributions to the advancement of science, engineering, or human welfare through the application of acoustic principles or through research accomplishments in acoustics. The medal is awarded in a number of categories depending on the technical committee responsible for making the nomination.

Timbral listening is the process of actively listening to the timbral characteristics of sound.

Buccal speech is an alaryngeal form of vocalization which uses the inner cheek to produce sound rather than the larynx. The speech is also known as Donald Duck talk, after the Disney character Donald Duck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Estill</span>

Josephine Antoinette Estill, known as Jo Estill, was an American singer, singing voice specialist and voice researcher. Estill is best known for her research and the development of Estill Voice Training, a programme for developing vocal skills based on deconstructing the process of vocal production into control of specific structures in the vocal mechanism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna-Maria Hefele</span> German overtone singer

Anna-Maria Hefele is a German overtone singer. Hefele is from Grafing near Munich.

Vladimir Okonovich Karuev, better known by his Kalmyk name Okna Tsahan Zam, is a Kalmyk folk singer, known for his throat singing and as a performer of the Kalmyk national epic Jangar.

Undertone singing is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist makes use of vibrations of the vocal apparatus in order to produce subharmonic tones below the bass tone and extend the vocal range below the limits of the modal voice. In particular, the sound is produced via constricting the larynx in order to produce oscillations in the vocal cords and vestibular folds at certain frequencies of the vocal cords - corresponding to integer divisions of the frequency produced by the vestibular folds, such as 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4 ratios. This will produce the corresponding subharmonic to that frequency. For example, in a 1:2 ratio, each second vibration of the vocal folds, the vestibular fold will complete a single vibration cycle which will result in an subharmonic produced an octave below the bass tone produced by the vocal cords. This technique is found in certain Tibetan forms of Buddhist Chant, as practised by monks of the Gyuto Order, as well as in Mongolian throat singing, where it is often used in conjunction with other vocal techniques, such as vocal fry. The technique produces a deep, growling quality.

References

  1. 1 2 Aksenov, A. N. (1973). "Tuvin Folk Music". Asian Music. 4 (2): 7–18. doi:10.2307/833827. JSTOR   833827.
  2. 1 2 3 Lindestad, P. A.; Södersten, M.; Merker, B.; Granqvist, S. (2001). "Voice source characteristics in Mongolian "throat singing" studied with high-speed imaging technique, acoustic spectra, and inverse filtering". Journal of Voice. 15 (1): 78–85. doi:10.1016/S0892-1997(01)00008-X. ISSN   0892-1997. PMID   12269637.
  3. ↑ Kob, Malte; Henrich, Nathalie; Herzel, Hanspeter; Howard, David; Tokuda, Isao; Wolfe, Joe (2011-09-01). "Analysing and Understanding the Singing Voice: Recent Progress and Open Questions". Current Bioinformatics. 6 (3): 362–374. doi:10.2174/157489311796904709. ISSN   1574-8936.
  4. ↑ Sundberg, Johan (2015). Die Wissenschaft von der Singstimme. Wissner-Verlag. ISBN   978-3-89639-959-5. OCLC   1001652162.
  5. ↑ Story, Brad (2019-04-11), Welch, Graham F.; Howard, David M.; Nix, John (eds.), "The Vocal Tract in Singing", The Oxford Handbook of Singing, Oxford University Press, pp. 144–166, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199660773.013.012, ISBN   978-0-19-966077-3 , retrieved 2021-10-01
  6. ↑ Mergell, Patrick; Herzel, Hanspeter (1997). "Modelling biphonation — The role of the vocal tract". Speech Communication. 22 (2–3): 141–154. doi:10.1016/S0167-6393(97)00016-2.
  7. 1 2 Lindblom, B. E.; Sundberg, J. E. (1971). "Acoustical consequences of lip, tongue, jaw, and larynx movement". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 50 (4): 1166–1179. Bibcode:1971ASAJ...50.1166L. doi:10.1121/1.1912750. ISSN   0001-4966. PMID   5117649.
  8. 1 2 Fuks, L, B Hammarberg, J Sundberg (1998). "A self-sustained vocal-ventricular phonation mode: acoustical, aerodynamic and glottographic evidences". KTH TMH-QPSR: 49–59.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. 1 2 Edmondson, Jerold A.; Esling, John H. (2006). "The valves of the throat and their functioning in tone, vocal register and stress: laryngoscopic case studies". Phonology. 23 (2): 157–191. doi:10.1017/S095267570600087X. ISSN   0952-6757. S2CID   62531440.
  10. ↑ Walcott, Ronald (1974). "The Chöömij of Mongolia: A Spectral Analysis of Overtone Singing". SELECTED REPORTS IN Ethnomusicology. II (1).
  11. ↑ Story, B. H.; Titze, I. R.; Hoffman, E. A. (1996). "Vocal tract area functions from magnetic resonance imaging". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 100 (1): 537–554. Bibcode:1996ASAJ..100..537S. doi:10.1121/1.415960. ISSN   0001-4966. PMID   8675847.
  12. ↑ Johan, Sundberg (2007). Röstlära : fakta om rösten i tal och sång. Johan Sundberg. ISBN   978-91-633-0485-9. OCLC   862100792.
  13. ↑ Grawunder, Sven (2009). On the physiology of voice production in South-Siberian throat singing : analysis of acoustic and electrophysiological evidences. Berlin: Frank & Timme. ISBN   978-3-86596-995-8. OCLC   844248903.
  14. ↑ Levin, Theodore (2019). Where rivers and mountains sing : sound, music, and nomadism in tuva and beyond. Valentina Süzükei. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN   978-0-253-04502-7. OCLC   1125296084.
  15. ↑ Levin, T. C.; Edgerton, M. E. (1999). "The throat singers of Tuva". Scientific American. 281 (3): 80–87. Bibcode:1999SciAm.281c..80L. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0999-80. ISSN   0036-8733. PMID   10467751.
  16. ↑ Adachi, S.; Yamada, M. (1999). "An acoustical study of sound production in biphonic singing, Xöömij". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 105 (5): 2920–2932. Bibcode:1999ASAJ..105.2920A. doi:10.1121/1.426905. ISSN   0001-4966. PMID   10335641.
  17. ↑ Smith, Huston; Stevens, Kenneth N.; Tomlinson, Raymond S. (1967). "On an Unusual Mode of Chanting by Certain Tibetan Lamas". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 41 (5): 1262–1264. Bibcode:1967ASAJ...41.1262S. doi:10.1121/1.1910466. ISSN   0001-4966.
  18. ↑ Pillot, Claire (1997). "Les voix du monde. Une anthologie des expressions vocales". Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles. 10: 333. doi:10.2307/40240285. ISSN   1015-5775. JSTOR   40240285.
  19. ↑ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1999). "Inuit Throat-Games and Siberian Throat Singing: A Comparative, Historical, and Semiological Approach". Ethnomusicology. 43 (3): 399–418. doi:10.2307/852555. JSTOR   852555.
  20. ↑ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1983). "The Rekkukara of the Ainu (Japan) and the Katajjaq of the Inuit (Canada): A Comparison". The World of Music. 25 (2): 33–44. ISSN   0043-8774. JSTOR   43560906.
  21. ↑ Mercurio, Paolo (2013). Introduzione alla musica sarda : de musica sardiniae, praefatio. Narcissus. ISBN   978-88-6885-013-5. OCLC   955227257.
  22. ↑ Kob, Malte (2004). "Analysis and modelling of overtone singing in the sygyt style". Applied Acoustics. 65 (12): 1249–1259. doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2004.04.010.
  23. ↑ Bergevin, Christopher; Narayan, Chandan; Williams, Joy; Mhatre, Natasha; Steeves, Jennifer KE; Bernstein, Joshua GW; Story, Brad (2020-02-17). "Overtone focusing in biphonic tuvan throat singing". eLife. 9: e50476. doi: 10.7554/eLife.50476 . ISSN   2050-084X. PMC   7064340 . PMID   32048990.
  24. ↑ Bloothooft, G.; Bringmann, E.; van Cappellen, M.; van Luipen, J. B.; Thomassen, K. P. (1992). "Acoustics and perception of overtone singing". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 92 (4 Pt 1): 1827–1836. Bibcode:1992ASAJ...92.1827B. doi:10.1121/1.403839. ISSN   0001-4966. PMID   1401528.
  25. ↑ Grawunder, Sven (2003). Comparison of voice production types of western overtone singing and South Siberian throat singing (ICPhS Barcelona ed.). Barcelona: UAB. pp. 1699–1702. ISBN   1-876346-48-5.
  26. ↑ Klingholtz, F (1993). "Overtone singing: productive mechanisms and acoustic data". Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 7: 188–122.
  27. ↑ Švec, Jan G.; Schutte, Harm K.; Miller, Donald G. (February 1996). "A Subharmonic Vibratory Pattern in Normal Vocal Folds". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 39 (1): 135–143. doi:10.1044/jshr.3901.135. ISSN   1092-4388. PMID   8820705.
  28. ↑ Herzel, Hanspeter; Reuter, Robert (1996). "Biphonation in voice signals". AIP Conference Proceedings. 375. Mystic, Connecticut (USA): AIP: 644–657. Bibcode:1996AIPC..375..644H. doi:10.1063/1.51002.
  29. ↑ Sakakibara, K-I, Fuks L, Imagawa H (2004). Growl Voice in Ethnic and Pop Styles. Nara, Japan: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Musical Acoustics, ISMA 2004. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.477.4267 .{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ↑ Lindsey, Geoff (2019), "Chapter 27 Vocal Fry", English After RP, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 95–96, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04357-5_28, ISBN   978-3-030-04356-8, S2CID   164405199 , retrieved 2021-10-01
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.