OVERTONE SINGING VOCAL MULTIPHONICS

Transcription

1 OVERTONE SINGING VOCAL MULTIPHONICS Als knwn by the term Harmnic Singing, this is a special vcal technique riginating in the Altai - Tuvan - Mnglian regin which allws the singer t prduce mre than ne musical nte at nce. The vice f each ne f us (even whilst speaking) prduce a range f vertnes r harmnics simultaneusly. The skill f the vertne singer lies in being able t fcus upn each single ne f these several vertnes at will. The indigenus use f this extrardinary vcal technique resides in prducing a basic drne with a meldy (created ut f the range f vertnes - cmmnly 1st t the 12th) surfing abve. These meldies are mst ften taken frm ppular sngs - e.g. nwadays, after cntact with the West, a ppular tune t use is "Amazing Grace." Hwever, there exist a range f such vcal techniques in Mnglia: uruulyn / labial xmii tagnain / palatal xmii xamryn / nasal xmii bagalzuuryn, xlin / glttal, thrat xmii tseejiin xndiin, xevliin / chest cavity, stmach xmii turlegt r xsmljin xmii / xmii cmbined with lng sng Hwever, ther regins have ther terms. Fr instance, the Tuvans give three basic categries:

2 sygyt: an imitatin f the gentle breezes f summer, the sngs f birds. hmei: wind swirling amng rcks kargyraa: hwling winds f winter; the plaintive cries f a mther camel after lsing her calf. I believe that this frm f singing has its rigins in shamanism. This being the regin where shamanism is said t have begun at the time f the last Ice Age many thusands f years ag. Whilst nwadays the meldies are frm familiar tunes, I believe that the first use f this technique was t give expressin t transcendent states f cnsciusness and t act as a vehicle fr expressing realities that g beynd everyday speech. I myself use it this way in my wn wrk. The Mnglian flklre has a beautiful stry regarding its rigins: Rted in its shamanistic past, the peple f the Chandman' sum believe that xmii riginated there and they explain its rigin in several ways. They claim that the unusual features f nature present in their muntains, lakes, rivers and birds tgether with the intrinsic link t the magical r supernatural gave rise t this style f singing. Chandman sum is surrunded n three sides by muntains and lakes. Its western brder is frmed by Lake Xar Us Nuur in the nrth and tw high muntain ranges, Zuun Jargalantyn Nuruu and Xuremtiin Nuruu. The eastern brder is frmed by tw lakes, Xar Nuur and Dargin Nuur. The tw largest lakes, Xar Us Nuur and Xar Nuur, are cnnected in the nrth by a much smaller lake, Dalai Nuur, and by a river called Chn Xaraix. T the suth lies semi-desert. Certain birds als feature in this stry and chief amngst these is the usny buxl bittern. This

3 bird buries its head beneath the surface f the lake and then sings. Xhmii is smetimes referred t as "bird's ech." These peple als stress that the sunds heard in the muntains have a special quality. Fr instance, Munt Jargalant is said t be able t 'hld' the very strng winds which cme frm the west befre releasing them int the steppe belw. Smetimes the wind is held fr fur t five hurs whilst at ther times the duratin is said t last fr three days. This gives warning t the peple living in that area. During this time the muntain drnes r makes a hllw sund. Older peple frm the area credit the same pwer t the lakes saying that Munt Jargalant and Lake Xar Us Nuur "attract and digest the sund f the wind". Sme even speak f a musical cmmunicatin existing between these tw. In this regin there are many waterfalls and rivers that prduce different cmbinatins f sunds depending upn the type f stnes ver which they run. A particular river, the River Erv, is credited with magical prperties and als as being the rigin f this style f singing. The first written recrds f this style f singing cme frm the sixteenth century. A few recrdings f this vcal technique frm Mnglia were released in the West during the early 70s but David Hykes frm New Yrk is generally credited as being the first Westerner t actually perfrm this technique within a musical cntext. He went n t frm The Harmnic Chir f New Yrk under his directin. They met regularly at the Church f St. Jhn the Divine and prduced three albums and since then David Hykes has largely fllwed a sl career albeit accmpanied by varius ther musicians. David experimented with numerus innvatins including

4 changing the fundamental (mveable drne), reversing the usual prcess, intrducing text, and thers especially in his wrks prduced with the Harmnic Chir f New Yrk. Overtne singing wrks best in a friendly acustic envirnment. David Hykes and thers have recrded at Le Thrnet where the vertnes can ring ut their lives in the accmmdating acustic space. It is precisely in explring that which 'lives' in the 'space' between ntes that the spirit f vertne singing resides. It is als necessary t pssess a gd vice t! - frm which t begin the explratin. There are als a number f schls apprximating this vcal style here in the West. The German cmpser Karlheinz Stckhausen created a piece in the 60s called 'Stimmung' fr a frm f vertne singing which relied mre n the lips. In prducing the true hmii sund lips, tngue, diaphragm, abdminal muscles and ther bdy parts all cme int play. In Mnglia the best singers are als ften the best wrestlers! It des require cnsiderable strength t perfrm the technique in a mre pwerful manner than the 'easy' r 'kind' Western technique first advcated by Stckhausen. Sme Western practitiners state that this 'kinder' (r 'easier') way has a mre healing effect upn the listener and a less damaging effect upn their wn vcal chrds. The vertnes fllw a Law f Nature knwn t the ancients. In fact, Pythagras was able t intrduce the ratinale f mathematics int the laws f music thanks t

5 the Overtne Law. Whilst the law f vertnes exists within the classical stream in the frm f timbre, many Western instruments are designed t cut dwn n these vertnes fr the sake f 'harmny'. The human vice, strings and cnical bre instruments all fllw this law - it is unchangeable. The wrld f bells and drums des nt cnfrm t this vertne law but have laws f their wn. They prduce mre cmplex vertne series. But the human vice prducing vertnes frm ne fundamental has n chice but t fllw the law e.g. Fundamental (drne), Octave, Fifth, Furth, a series f Thirds fllwed by a series f Secnds. The general unfldment being ne f mving by degrees int ever smaller intervals. This is what is knwn as a 'mathematical prgressin' in music. Fr instance, returning t Pythagras, the fundamental wuld be prduced by the whle length f the string. The first vertne (the Octave) by dividing the string in half (which dubles the speed - as in the table belw e.g. C1 = 130cps C2 = 260cps - measured in Cycles Per Secnd), the next vertne (a Fifth) by dividing the string int three parts, and the next vertne (the Furth) by dividing the string int fur and s n. Pythagras wuld have demnstrated this, as we d tday, n what he termed the Mnchrd. This was ne string with a mveable bridge which served t divide the string int its several (ratis) lengths in rder t sund the new tne and s demnstrate the vertne law and its decreasing intervals. We culd represent the arithmetic sequence f vertnes in the fllwing table: 8 C 1040 cps 16 C 2080 cps 7 B 910 cps 15 B 1950 cps

6 6 G 780 cps 14 B 1820 cps 5 E 650 cps 13 A 1690 cps 4 C 520 cps 12 G 1560 cps 3 G 390 cps 11 F 1430 cps 2 C 260 cps 10 E 1360 cps 1 C 130 cps 9 D 1170 cps As a matter f fact, the musical scales f the wrld are derived frm relatinships between these several vertnes. Fr instance, ur Western scale is taken frm the first tw vertnes; the Octave and the Fifth. By 'Gemetric Prgressin' we find that Twelve such Fifths take us t just ver Seven ctaves (the difference being knwn as a 'Pythagrean cma'). We then reduce these twelve tnes dwn int ne ctave t prvide us with ur twelve-ntes-t-the-ctave scale. It might seem cnfusing that the Third vertne is called a Fifth but the reasn fr this is because it is the fifth nte n the White keys f a pian (in the diatnic Majr scale) up frm the nte C - in which Key the pian is laid ut - that gives us ur interval f the Fifth i.e. frm C t G. Hwever, since the time f Bach we have used alternative tuning systems in rder t facilitate mdulatin (mving between several keys during ne piece f music) and in the twentieth century this pathway has evlved int what is termed Equal Temperament whereby all f the intervals that make up ur ctave (except the ctave itself) are ut-f-tune with thse prduced by the Law f Overtnes r Nature.

7 This is a mre cmplex subject than is intended t be discussed in this shrt article, but we can state that Equal Temperament cnsists f dividing the Octave up int twelve exactly equal intervals. Prir t Bach's time, a keybard instrument wuld be tuned fr playing in ne key and, if a perfrmer were t mve t playing in anther key upn this self-same instrument, then certain f the musical intervals within that new key wuld sund ut f tune and increasingly s as we mved thrugh the keys. It became a case f sacrificing certain intervals fr the sake f thers e.g. the Third. Fr a fuller explanatin f this cmplex subject visit Kylie Gann's site and his article n Just Intnatin (click HERE). Sme mdern cmpsers have tried t create scales mre in-tune with this Natural Law f Overtnes. The Califrnian cmpser Harry Partch ( fr mre n Partch and his music click HERE) is a case in pint fr he wrte an entire bk, n this issue f Just Intnatin, called 'Genesis f a Music.' Several cmpsers have tried experimenting with alternative tunings leading t, in the case f Partch, his s-called 43-tnes-t-the-ctave (in place f ur nrmal 12 tnes) and thers experimenting with 52 r even 72 ntes t the ctave. Overtne singing can cnsequently be seen as a way f prducing musical frms arising rganically frm within the Laws f Nature and, therefre, ptentially mre healing and harmnius t the human being. Listening t a Majr Triad in Just Intnatin, as cmpared t a Majr Triad in Equal Temperament, is an interesting experience - fr we find that in the case f the latter we have three unrelated ntes frced int c-existing tgether whilst with the frmer it is mre f the case that three related musical ntes cmbine

8 tgether harmniusly and reinfrce ne anther frming a relatinship that cmmunicates far mre f a sense f whleness and unity. This eches within the sul f the listener smething f the spiritual philsphy f whleness that is funded upn an interrelatedness and intercnnectedness between the disparate factrs f ur cmplex mdern lives and enshrines a sense f the Human Family. Cpyright 2001 by Frank Perry. All rights reserved. Slightly revised 2004 Frank Perry, All f these articles are cpyright. They may individually be cpied and shared with thers in a spirit f knwledge-sharing and fair play, but they may nt be sld, printed r reprduced in quantity r changed in frm withut the permissin f the cpyright hlder. Nne f this material may be reprduced in wrkshps r lectures f any kind unless qutes are credited r prperly attributed. Magazine and ther editrs may me fr permissin t reprint. frank@frankperry.c.uk BOOKS: OVERTONE SINGING Mark C, van Tngeren (2002) Healing Sunds: The Pwer f Harmnics. Jnathan Gldman (1992) CDs: WESTERN Mvements f Mind Nigel Charles Halfhide Jecklin Disc 615-2

9 Clurs f Silence Nigel Charles Halfhide Jecklin Disc The Harmnic chir Hearing Slar Winds Current Circulatin Harmnic Meetings Breath f the Heart Infinite Peace Rainbw Healing Peace Divine Peace Planetary Peace Ancient Tibetan Initiatin Bwls Overtnes in Old Eurpean Cathedrals SENANQUE Overtnes in Old Eurpean Cathedrals THORONET David Hykes & The Harmnic Chir David Hykes & The Harmnic Chir David Hykes & The Harmnic Chir David Hykes & The Harmnic Chir Frank Perry Frank Perry & Stargate Frank Perry Frank Perry Frank Perry Michael Vetter Michael Vetter OCORA C Celestial Harmnies Celestial Harmnies 2CD FONIX MUSIC FMFCD 1132 MOUNTAIN BELL MUSIC BEL CD 002 MOUNTAIN BELL MUSIC BEL CD 009 MOUNTAIN BELL MUSIC BEL CD 007 MOUNTAIN BELL MUSIC BEL CD 011 MOUNTAIN BELL MUSIC BEL CD 012 WERGO SM WERGO SM EASTERN Mnglian Sngs Varius KING RECORDS KICC 5133 TUVA Vices frm the centre f Asia TUVA Eches frm the spirit wrld TUVA Vices frm the Land f the Eagles Uzlyau Guttural singing f the peples f the Sayan, Altai, and Ural Muntains Varius The Tuva Ensemble frm Kyzyl Knga Ondar, Kaigal-l Khvalig, Gennadi Tumat Varius SMITHSONIAN/FOLKWAYS CD SF PAN Recrds PAN 2013CD PAN Recrds PAN 2005CD PAN Recrds PAN 2019CD

10 DEEP IN THE HEART OF TUVA CD & BOOK TUVA CHOOMEI: Thrat Singing Frm the Centre f Asia Varius ellipsis arts 4080 Varius WDR WORLD NETWORK Sme f these recmmendatins may be extremely hard t purchase - I certainly had t g t a lt f truble myself. If s, maybe yu culd try a lcal (music) library etc. If yu require mre infrmatin regarding the CDs featuring vertne singing by Frank Perry then please click n CDs in navigatin bar and then either lk up individual CDs by Title r view the entire Catalgue - r click HERE.