who asked the first question? - International Research Center For ...
who asked the first question? - International Research Center For ... who asked the first question? - International Research Center For ...
150(3) Five styles of overtone singing have been recorded in Mountain Altay.Overtone singing in known here under the term kai.(4) Three styles have been recorded among the Mountain Shoria. They arealso known under the term kai.(5) Khakassia has two styles of overtone singing, known as khai.(6) One style of overtone singing has been documented in Yakutia as well,under the name khabarga.(7) And finally, outside the Russian Federation, six styles of overtonesinging have been documented in western Mongolia (under the termkhoomei)Overtone singing is positioned ambiguously between the polyphonic andmonophonic singing traditions. From a musical point of view overtone singing ispolyphony, as two functionally completely different parts (drone and a pentatonicmelody) are heard simultaneously. From a social point of view, overtone singing is notpolyphony, as this singing style lacks crucial social element of the polyphonic singingtradition – active musical interaction between several (at least more than one) performers.The singer produces a sustained pitch using a specific tense sound, then, usingthis sustained sound as a drone, he changes the mouth cavity shape with his tongue, lipsand some other parts of the mouth to produce different harmonics (overtones) andconstruct melodies from these overtones. Interestingly, singers use only the selected setof overtones, carefully avoiding two overtones that do not fit the pentatonic scale (Levin,2002:982). So, if the drone is on “C”, the singer will be using the overtones from “G” tothe next “G”. This part of the overtones contain G, Bflat, C, D, E, F# and G. Out of theseovertones “B flat” and “F#” are carefully avoided. This fact suggests that singers do notfollow the naturally existing sound material. Instead they follow their aesthetic andcultural preferences. Overtone singing was traditionally performed by men only, but nowthere are women singers as well.There has been a diversity of opinion about the origins of overtone singing,ranging from the most archaic periods (30-40 000 years ago), the “pre-speecharticulation” epoch of human history (see, for example, Ikhtisamov, 1984:180-181) to thefirst millennia A.D. (Vainstain, 1980). I will discuss this interesting question in a separatesection (or “Case Study”) in the second part of this book.There has been a great deal of interest in the overtone singing style, and manysinging-loving westerners have learned this unique sound-production technique. Iremember myself sitting together with my Georgian friend and colleague, EdisherGarakanidze, under a big tree in Switzerland, near Geneva on September 26th, 1991,trying to learn the basics of overtone singing under the guidance of the brilliant performerof this style (and not only!) and ethnomusicologist Tran Quang Hai. After some time Icame to the conclusion that, although I managed to produce few audible overtones,singing Georgian polyphony was still much easier for me.Although Central Asia is justifiably known as a monophonic region, elements of“usual” polyphony (when polyphony is created by the group of singers) are present insome genres. I well remember the excitement among Soviet ethnomusicologists when anexample of vocal polyphonic music was found in Central Asia. This example of rare
151polyphonic singing came from Tajikistan. I am very grateful to Zoia Tajikovawho provided this information together with her own transcription of this unique version:Ex. 82. Tajiks (from Zoia Tajikova)Z. Rabiev recorded in 1964 this polyphonic version of the traditional naksh inUra-Tiube, in Fergana Vale, northern Tajikistan. The song is performed as an alternationof the soloist (sarnaksh) and the mixed choir of 10-12 singers. The soloist singingsections are in free rhythm, and the choir singing sections are metred. It is difficult to saywhether all these spectacularly clashing dissonant chords were intended as they wereperformed, but it is clearly not a case of performers “not achieving the unison”, becausethe song actually starts with a long section where the choir does sings in unison (andoctaves).As I know, although the tradition of vocal polyphony has not been documented,strong vocal-instrumental polyphonic tradition is present in solo epic genre (zhyrau) inKazakhstan. In this genre solo singing is supported by dombra playing, whichaccompanies the vocal melody in parallel fourths and fifths. Quite interestingly, invirtually all the earlier transcriptions of Kazakh epic tradition scholars were transcribingonly the monophonic version (melody only), without the two-part dombraaccompaniment. Singing in groups and antiphon between the groups of singers is anotherinteresting tradition. “The most popular wedding song, “Zhar-Zhar,” which is found indifferent versions throughout Central Asia, constitutes a genre on its own, defined by anantiphonal performance style in which two choirs – one male and one female – singresponsorially” (Kunanbaeva, 2002:951).
- Page 99 and 100: 99Urban MusicThe urban singing styl
- Page 101 and 102: 101Ex. 42. Suliko. Urban love song.
- Page 103 and 104: 103In Georgian traditional polyphon
- Page 105 and 106: 105BalkansThe Balkans are one of th
- Page 107 and 108: 107the tradition of polyphonic sing
- Page 109 and 110: 109It represents an interesting mix
- Page 111 and 112: 111Ex. 54. Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Page 113 and 114: 113MacedoniaSpeaking about Macedoni
- Page 115 and 116: 115Ex. 59. Albania. Laberi style po
- Page 117 and 118: 117of fact, together with Romania,
- Page 119 and 120: 119countries of the Baltic region a
- Page 121 and 122: 121research about sutartines (Slavi
- Page 123 and 124: 123LatviaAnother Baltic country, La
- Page 125 and 126: 125Ex. 68. Estonia. Setu polyphony
- Page 127 and 128: 127Tbilisi State Conservatory in th
- Page 129 and 130: 129contracted this peculiarity of s
- Page 131 and 132: 131throughout medieval northern Eur
- Page 133 and 134: 133electronic media; and whether th
- Page 135 and 136: 135To complete the review of the Ce
- Page 137 and 138: 137(9) The singing style is harsh a
- Page 139 and 140: 139ItalyWith its internationally re
- Page 141 and 142: 141than 120 Sicilianvillages and it
- Page 143 and 144: 143Vocal Polyphony in AsiaAsia is b
- Page 145 and 146: 145music of Ancient Greece itself i
- Page 147 and 148: 147possible space of a second.” T
- Page 149: 149sources from the 5 th (Favstos B
- Page 153 and 154: 153(asamchilog, choir). 6/8 metre i
- Page 155 and 156: 155or less in unison, and one voice
- Page 157 and 158: 157Lithuanian sutartines, where you
- Page 159 and 160: 159idea of how rich (and how unknow
- Page 161 and 162: 161Ex. 90. China, Tibet (Bucher, 19
- Page 163 and 164: 163South-East AsiaVietnamAccording
- Page 165 and 166: 165Not all the traditions and music
- Page 167 and 168: Vocal Polyphony in North AmericaThe
- Page 169 and 170: 169west of the region (Densmore, 19
- Page 171 and 172: 171the Indian melodies continue wit
- Page 173 and 174: 173(Burney 1975:84. Cited from Kaep
- Page 175 and 176: 175Easter Island] and the westernmo
- Page 177 and 178: 177of Northwest American Indians an
- Page 179 and 180: 179Of course, to say that the pre-W
- Page 181 and 182: 181faraway cultures without contact
- Page 183 and 184: 183• Anne Draffkorn Kilmer sugges
- Page 185 and 186: 185some extinct civilizations (anci
- Page 187 and 188: 187hear assertions that a certain s
- Page 189 and 190: 189population of North Greece, moun
- Page 191 and 192: 191and possibly about the cultural
- Page 193 and 194: 193rules of Polynesian traditional
- Page 195 and 196: 1953. Social organization of the si
- Page 197 and 198: 197(2) Another inconvenience is tha
- Page 199 and 200: 199According to the common belief o
151polyphonic singing came from Tajikistan. I am very grateful to Zoia Tajikova<strong>who</strong> provided this information toge<strong>the</strong>r with her own transcription of this unique version:Ex. 82. Tajiks (from Zoia Tajikova)Z. Rabiev recorded in 1964 this polyphonic version of <strong>the</strong> traditional naksh inUra-Tiube, in Fergana Vale, nor<strong>the</strong>rn Tajikistan. The song is performed as an alternationof <strong>the</strong> soloist (sarnaksh) and <strong>the</strong> mixed choir of 10-12 singers. The soloist singingsections are in free rhythm, and <strong>the</strong> choir singing sections are metred. It is difficult to saywhe<strong>the</strong>r all <strong>the</strong>se spectacularly clashing dissonant chords were intended as <strong>the</strong>y wereperformed, but it is clearly not a case of performers “not achieving <strong>the</strong> unison”, because<strong>the</strong> song actually starts with a long section where <strong>the</strong> choir does sings in unison (andoctaves).As I know, although <strong>the</strong> tradition of vocal polyphony has not been documented,strong vocal-instrumental polyphonic tradition is present in solo epic genre (zhyrau) inKazakhstan. In this genre solo singing is supported by dombra playing, whichaccompanies <strong>the</strong> vocal melody in parallel fourths and fifths. Quite interestingly, invirtually all <strong>the</strong> earlier transcriptions of Kazakh epic tradition scholars were transcribingonly <strong>the</strong> monophonic version (melody only), without <strong>the</strong> two-part dombraaccompaniment. Singing in groups and antiphon between <strong>the</strong> groups of singers is ano<strong>the</strong>rinteresting tradition. “The most popular wedding song, “Zhar-Zhar,” which is found indifferent versions throughout Central Asia, constitutes a genre on its own, defined by anantiphonal performance style in which two choirs – one male and one female – singresponsorially” (Kunanbaeva, 2002:951).
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