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238(4) Overtone singing is distributed among several peoples of Central Asia,and the strongest traditions were found among the following peoples:(a) Western Tuva, (b) Western Mongolians, and (c) the Altai-Sayanmountain region peoples.(5)We have already discussed in a special “Case Study” the musicalinfluence of the early Indo-Europeans in several European polyphoniccultures, where the mixture of two different (polyphonic andmonophonic) singing styles created a totally new polyphonic singingstyle with the element of both “parent” styles: with the drone, widemelismatic melodies and free rhythmic flow. I propose that in the caseof overtone singing we again have the result of another extremelyinteresting mixture of different (polyphonic and monophonic)singing traditions: the singing style of the earlier population ofcentral Asia (supposedly carriers of drone polyphony) was mixedwith the singing style of new populations (supposedly carriers ofmonophonic singing traditions).(6) The results of this mixture reflected the intensity of the new populationinflux in Central Asia. Characteristics of contemporary populationsuggest that the contribution of the new arrivals was much bigger thanthe contribution of the older population. The same must be said aboutthe singing traditions of this region. They reflect the much biggercontribution of the Asian (monophonic) element in music traditions.That’s why there are no other “usual” types of vocal polyphony in thisregion, and that’s why one of the cornerstones of vocal polyphony –social interaction by means of vocal activity – is absent in the traditionof overtone singing.(7) At the same time, the most persistent element of the previous(supposedly ancient European vocal polyphonic style – the drone – hassurvived the ethnic and cultural assimilation and is still present in thesinging traditions of contemporary Central Asia. We will discuss laterin this part one of the universal historical steps of the process of theloss of vocal polyphonic traditions: replacement of another singer (aspolyphony is meant to be performed by more than one singer) by newtechnical means: “if no one is going to sing together with me, I’ll singpolyphony on my own”. This resulted, for example, in the creation ofpolyphonic (double, triple and even quadruple) blown instruments(we’ll discuss this issue a bit later, in a “case study” about AncientMesopotamian and Ancient Mesoamerican civilizations). In the case ofCentral Asia a brilliant artistic solution was found: without the help ofmusical instrument, the possibilities of polyphony were found withinthe human voice-production system.