Throat Singers of Tuva

Take in the sounds of the land, nomadic life and nature with Tuvan ensemble Huun-Huur-Tu, arguably the most well-known throat-singers in the world today.

Known as khorekteer or khoomei or xöömei, Tuvan throat singing comprises a family of multi-voiced, overtone-rich vocal techniques common to Tibetan, Altaian and Mongolian cultures, but rarely heard in the rest of the world, and certainly fits nowhere in Western music theory.  

For centuries, the call of the Tuvan throat singer has resounded in the steppes of Tuva. Sometimes it consists of high, fluty whistles like birdsong. Sometimes it is a heavy, croaking chest drone that seems to come from deep within the bowels of the earth. At other times, it trills like a bubbling brook or thrums like galloping horses. 

A place like no other, Tuva is a sparsely populated region between Siberia and Mongolia that remained a mystery through the Soviet era. It is a land of boundless steppes, fir forests, jagged mountains, glacial lakes and vast meadows, sharp with bitter cold, and alive with the whistle of wind, the rush of waters and the call of birdsong. 

It is here that Tuvan throat singing is practised by herdsmen, hunters, shamans and everyday people (traditionally men) in the mountains, on the plains, in their yurts – to communicate with the spirits of nature, to establish harmony between man and earth, to tell their stories of wild horses, legendary hunts and nomadic life, to express loss or love, or simply to pass the time. 

With Russia’s late 20th century capitalism however, more and more Tuvan throat singers have been invited to perform at international music festivals and on world stages. But the thing is, Tuvan throat singing was never really a public art. 

It is traditionally sung by one person who occasionally may accompany himself on a bowed or plucked string instrument. And it is sung for purposes other than performance and entertainment, such as praise and shamanistic appeals for protection and harmony. 

Today, while throat singing is still practiced as part of the traditional Tuvan way of life, the younger generation has begun to depart from tradition. Since the 1990s, ensembles have incorporated non-traditional instrumentation and arrangements into the traditional. There have been numerous cross-cultural and cross-genre explorations and collaborations, such as with Western chamber orchestras and jazz, blues and rock artists. Purists have decried this trend, but others feel that this is how Tuvan throat singing lives on and stays relevant.