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64in the southern part of the settlement of Komi people, and in a small region (around theriver Lupia) in the northern part. Two main types of polyphonic singing can bedistinguished in Komi-Permiak traditional music: (1) drone, and (2) variant heterophony.Drone two-part singing is spread through the most polyphonic regions of the settlementsof Komi-Permiaks (see above), and the unique feature of their drone singing is that thedrone is sung on top of the main melody (Zhulanova, 1989). Although this type of twopartsinging exist in some Russian regions (particularly in Central and South parts ofRussia), unlike Russian style, where the top drone is mostly sung by a soloist, and themain melody – by the big group, among Komi-Permiaks the drone on the top of thetexture is performed by the group of singers.Ex. 15. Komi-Permiaks. (From Nadia Zhulanova)In the middle section of the settlement of Komi-Permiaks the tradition ofpolyphony is not as prominent, as in the southern and northern regions. Drone polyphonyis absent in central regions, and the variant-heterophony is the only form of polyphony.Komi Zirians also practice mostly unison-heterophonic styles of singing, althoughZemtsovsky points at the unique tradition of “collective polyphonic wedding songlaments”among Komi-Zirians and suggests links with the Russian tradition of weddinglamentation in eastern Vologda district (Zemtsovsky, 2000:774).MariMari people consist of three ethnic groups: (1) mountain Mari live on the rightbank of river Volga, (2) so-called “meadow” Mari’s live between the rivers Vetluzhskand Viatka, and (3) “eastern” Mari live east from the river Viatka. Mari singing traditionhas long been classified as monophonic. Elements of traditional polyphony wereresearched by Oleg Gerasimov, who came to the conclusion, that variant heterophony isquite usual for Mari traditional culture, particularly in “rekrutskie” (soldier’s songs) andlyrical songs, where the large groups of singers are participating. The most interestingforms of traditional polyphony had been found among the Lugovie Mari (“meadowMari’s”). In their group singing traditions the elements of so-called podgolosochnaiapolifonia (complex version of variant heterophony, particularly widely spread amongRussians, and generally among eastern Slavs) were noted (Gerasimov, 1988:20-21).According to Gerasimov, traditional singers indicate that they prefer to sing the mainmelody in their own way, “directly” (“priamo”) creating heterophonic texture, because“it sounds better this way” (Gerasimov, 1988, 20)