Title of Piece: Unknown
Performers: Names unknown, two Tibetan Monks
Culture or Origin: Tibetan monasteries (Tibet, India, Mongolia)
Orchestration: Human voice
Classifying instruments for students is very useful because it helps them understand how the sounds are produced. Once they understand the how, they can begin to understand the proper technique needed to create those sounds correctly. When thinking about instrument classification, I think that some people are quick to forget the human voice. Thankfully, the text includes the "singing membrane" as part of the membranophone family of instruments. The vibration of the vocal folds (not cords) by air creates sound that can then be manipulated by other parts of the vocal tract (larynx, tongue, teeth, lips). The monks featured on this video are able to produce a fundamental pitch and then alter the position and shape of their mouth, larynx, and pharynx to amplify certain harmonic overtones present in the fundamental pitch. Skilled practitioners of this type of singing are often able to amplify more than one overtone, leading to 3 or even 4 voiced chords being produced by one singer.
Hi, Jason! Great choice! Besides being a great example of a membranophone (literally!), Tuvan throat singing is a really cool sound that can engage students' curiosity ("How do they DO that"?!) as well as give them an introduction to Tibetan Buddhist culture. My daughter mentioned that a pop choral group called "Room Full of Teeth" won a Grammy for their performance of a song called "Partita for Eight Voices" that features throat singing by several ensemble members. You might want to check that out for giving students a contemporary American version of the technique.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ginna! I'll definitely check it out!
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