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Throat singing

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Throat singing refers to several vocal practices found in different cultures worldwide.[1][2][3][4] These vocal practices are generally associated with a certain type of guttural voice that contrasts with the most common types of voices employed in singing, which are usually represented by chest (modal) and head (light, or falsetto) registers. Throat singing is often described as evoking the sensation of more than one pitch at a time, meaning that the listener perceives two or more distinct musical notes while the singer is producing a single vocalization.

Throat singing consists of a range of singing techniques that originally belonged to particular cultures and which may share sound characteristics, making them noticeable by other cultures and users of mainstream singing styles.[5][6][7][8][9]

Terminology

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The term originates from the translation of the Tuvan word Xhöömei and the Mongolian word Xhöömi, which mean throat and guttural, respectively.[10] Ethnic groups from Russia, Mongolia, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Italy, China and India, among other countries, accept and normally employ the term throat singing to describe their way of producing voice, song and music[11][12].

The term throat singing is not precise, because any singing technique involves sound generation in the "throat," with the voice being produced at the level of the larynx, which includes the vocal folds and other structures.[7][13][14][9] Therefore it would be, in principle, admissible to refer to classical operatic singing or pop singing as "throat singing." However, the term throat is not accepted as a part of the official terminology of anatomy (Terminologia Anatomica) and is not technically associated with most of the singing techniques.

Some authors, performers, coaches, and listeners associate throat singing with overtone singing. Throat singing and overtone singing are not synonyms, contrary to what is indicated by some dictionaries (an example being Britannica); however, in some cases, both aspects may be present, such as in the khargyraa technique from Tuva, which uses a deep, tense voice, along with overtone singing.[15]

"Singing with the throat" may be regarded as a demeaning expression to some singers, since it may imply that the singer is using a high level of effort, resulting in a forced or non-suitable voice. The word "throaty" is usually associated with a rough, raspy, breathy or hoarse voice. Despite being a term frequently used in the literature starting in the 1960s, some contemporary scholars tend to avoid using throat singing as a general term.[citation needed]

There is a consistent and enthusiastic international reception for concerts and workshops given by musical groups belonging to the several cultures that incorporate throat singing [1][2]. Besides the traditional ethnic performances, throat singing is also cultivated and explored by musicians belonging to contemporary, rock, new-age, pop, and independent music genres.

Types of throat singing

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Throat singing techniques may be classified under an ethnomusicological approach, which considers cultural aspects, their associations to rituals, religious practices, storytelling, labor songs, vocal games, and other contexts; or a musical approach, which considers their artistic use, the basic acoustical principles, and the physiological and mechanical procedures to learn, train and produce them.

The most commonly referenced types of throat singing techniques in musicological and ethnomusicological texts are generally associated with ancient cultures. Some of them, as the Khöömei from Mongolia, Tuva and China, and the Canto Tenore from Sardinia, are acknowledged by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

  • Tuvan throat singing (or Mongolian throat singing) is a form of singing comprising several techniques; it is practiced in the Republic of Tuva, belonging to the Russian federation,[16][17][18][1] in Mongolia and in China.[19][2][20]
  • Buddhist chants, found in some monasteries in India (Tibetan exiled communities) and Tibet, sometimes involve vocal-ventricular phonation; that is, combined vibrations of the vocal folds and the ventricular folds, achieving low pitches.[21][2][22]
  • Inuit throat singing is a type of duet used in contests; it is practiced by the Inuit of Canada.[23]
  • Rekuhkara is a practice formerly done by the Ainu ethnic group of Hokkaidō Island, Japan.[24]
  • Canto a tenore, or Sardinian throat singing, is found in Sardinia.[25][26] A similar polyphonic singing in Corsica known as Paghjella exists, however it doesn't involve throat singing.

In musically related terms, throat singing refers to the following specific techniques, among others:

  • Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing. This is the singing style more commonly associated with throat singing.[27][28][29][30][31]
  • Undertone singing,[32] which involves techniques that comprise subharmonics. It is generated by the combined vibrations of parts of the singing apparatus at a certain frequency and frequencies that correspond to integer divisions of such frequency, such as 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4 ratios.[8]
  • Diplophonic voice, which includes techniques that consist of parts of the singing apparatus vibrating at non-integer ratios and which are usually regarded as associated with pathological processes.[33]
  • Growling voice consists of a technique of growling, which employs structures of the vocal apparatus located above the larynx, vibrating at the same time as the vocal folds, particularly the aryepiglottic folds.[34]
  • Vocal fry[35] is a technique associated to vocal fry register.

Audio examples

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See also

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Look up throat singing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

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  1. ^ a b Aksenov, A. N. (1973). "Tuvin Folk Music". Asian Music. 4 (2): 7–18. doi:10.2307/833827. JSTOR 833827.
  2. ^ a b c Lindestad, P. A.; Södersten, M.; Merker, B.; Granqvist, S. (2001). "Voice source characteristics in Mongolian "throat singing" studied with high-speed imaging technique, acoustic spectra, and inverse filtering". Journal of Voice. 15 (1): 78–85. doi:10.1016/S0892-1997(01)00008-X. ISSN 0892-1997. PMID 12269637.
  3. ^ Kob, Malte; Henrich, Nathalie; Herzel, Hanspeter; Howard, David; Tokuda, Isao; Wolfe, Joe (2011-09-01). "Analysing and Understanding the Singing Voice: Recent Progress and Open Questions". Current Bioinformatics. 6 (3): 362–374. doi:10.2174/157489311796904709. ISSN 1574-8936.
  4. ^ Sundberg, Johan (2015). Die Wissenschaft von der Singstimme. Wissner-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-89639-959-5. OCLC 1001652162.
  5. ^ Story, Brad (2019-04-11), Welch, Graham F.; Howard, David M.; Nix, John (eds.), "The Vocal Tract in Singing", The Oxford Handbook of Singing, Oxford University Press, pp. 144–166, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199660773.013.012, ISBN 978-0-19-966077-3, retrieved 2021-10-01
  6. ^ Mergell, Patrick; Herzel, Hanspeter (1997). "Modelling biphonation — The role of the vocal tract". Speech Communication. 22 (2–3): 141–154. doi:10.1016/S0167-6393(97)00016-2.
  7. ^ a b Lindblom, B. E.; Sundberg, J. E. (1971). "Acoustical consequences of lip, tongue, jaw, and larynx movement". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 50 (4): 1166–1179. Bibcode:1971ASAJ...50.1166L. doi:10.1121/1.1912750. ISSN 0001-4966. PMID 5117649.
  8. ^ a b Fuks, L, B Hammarberg, J Sundberg (1998). "A self-sustained vocal-ventricular phonation mode: acoustical, aerodynamic and glottographic evidences". KTH TMH-QPSR: 49–59.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ a b Edmondson, Jerold A.; Esling, John H. (2006). "The valves of the throat and their functioning in tone, vocal register and stress: laryngoscopic case studies". Phonology. 23 (2): 157–191. doi:10.1017/S095267570600087X. ISSN 0952-6757. S2CID 62531440.
  10. ^ Walcott, Ronald (1974). "The Chöömij of Mongolia: A Spectral Analysis of Overtone Singing". SELECTED REPORTS IN Ethnomusicology. II (1).
  11. ^ Pegg, C. (1992) Mongolian Conceptualizations of Overtone Singing (xöömii). British Journal of Ethnomusicology, no. 1, pp. 32-33
  12. ^ Tongeren, M. van (2004) Overtone singing : physics and metaphysics of harmonics in East and West. 2nd ed. Amsterdam, Fusica. pp. 145-161.
  13. ^ Story, B. H.; Titze, I. R.; Hoffman, E. A. (1996). "Vocal tract area functions from magnetic resonance imaging". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 100 (1): 537–554. Bibcode:1996ASAJ..100..537S. doi:10.1121/1.415960. ISSN 0001-4966. PMID 8675847.
  14. ^ Johan, Sundberg (2007). Röstlära : fakta om rösten i tal och sång. Johan Sundberg. ISBN 978-91-633-0485-9. OCLC 862100792.
  15. ^ Sakakibara, Ken-Ichi; Konishi, Tomoko; Murano, Emi Z.; Imagawa, Hiroshi; Kumada, Masanobu; Kondo, Kazumasa; Niimi, Seiji (2002-10-25). "Observation of the laryngeal movements for throat singing". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 112 (5_Supplement): 2264–2264. doi:10.1121/1.4779034. ISSN 0001-4966.
  16. ^ Grawunder, Sven (2009). On the physiology of voice production in South-Siberian throat singing : analysis of acoustic and electrophysiological evidences. Berlin: Frank & Timme. ISBN 978-3-86596-995-8. OCLC 844248903.
  17. ^ Levin, Theodore (2019). Where rivers and mountains sing : sound, music, and nomadism in tuva and beyond. Valentina Süzükei. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-04502-7. OCLC 1125296084.
  18. ^ Levin, T. C.; Edgerton, M. E. (1999). "The throat singers of Tuva". Scientific American. 281 (3): 80–87. Bibcode:1999SciAm.281c..80L. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0999-80. ISSN 0036-8733. PMID 10467751.
  19. ^ Adachi, S.; Yamada, M. (1999). "An acoustical study of sound production in biphonic singing, Xöömij". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 105 (5): 2920–2932. Bibcode:1999ASAJ..105.2920A. doi:10.1121/1.426905. ISSN 0001-4966. PMID 10335641.
  20. ^ "Mongolian art of singing, Khoomei". UNESCO Intangible Heritage.
  21. ^ Smith, Huston; Stevens, Kenneth N.; Tomlinson, Raymond S. (1967). "On an Unusual Mode of Chanting by Certain Tibetan Lamas". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 41 (5): 1262–1264. Bibcode:1967ASAJ...41.1262S. doi:10.1121/1.1910466. ISSN 0001-4966.
  22. ^ Pillot, Claire (1997). "Les voix du monde. Une anthologie des expressions vocales". Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles. 10: 333. doi:10.2307/40240285. ISSN 1015-5775. JSTOR 40240285.
  23. ^ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1999). "Inuit Throat-Games and Siberian Throat Singing: A Comparative, Historical, and Semiological Approach". Ethnomusicology. 43 (3): 399–418. doi:10.2307/852555. JSTOR 852555.
  24. ^ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1983). "The Rekkukara of the Ainu (Japan) and the Katajjaq of the Inuit (Canada): A Comparison". The World of Music. 25 (2): 33–44. ISSN 0043-8774. JSTOR 43560906.
  25. ^ Mercurio, Paolo (2013). Introduzione alla musica sarda : de musica sardiniae, praefatio. Narcissus. ISBN 978-88-6885-013-5. OCLC 955227257.
  26. ^ "Canto a tenore, Sardinian pastoral songs". UNESCO Intangible Heritage.
  27. ^ Kob, Malte (2004). "Analysis and modelling of overtone singing in the sygyt style". Applied Acoustics. 65 (12): 1249–1259. doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2004.04.010.
  28. ^ Bergevin, Christopher; Narayan, Chandan; Williams, Joy; Mhatre, Natasha; Steeves, Jennifer KE; Bernstein, Joshua GW; Story, Brad (2020-02-17). "Overtone focusing in biphonic tuvan throat singing". eLife. 9: e50476. doi:10.7554/eLife.50476. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 7064340. PMID 32048990.
  29. ^ Bloothooft, G.; Bringmann, E.; van Cappellen, M.; van Luipen, J. B.; Thomassen, K. P. (1992). "Acoustics and perception of overtone singing". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 92 (4 Pt 1): 1827–1836. Bibcode:1992ASAJ...92.1827B. doi:10.1121/1.403839. ISSN 0001-4966. PMID 1401528.
  30. ^ Grawunder, Sven (2003). Comparison of voice production types of western overtone singing and South Siberian throat singing (ICPhS Barcelona ed.). Barcelona: UAB. pp. 1699–1702. ISBN 1-876346-48-5.
  31. ^ Klingholtz, F (1993). "Overtone singing: productive mechanisms and acoustic data". Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 7: 188–122.
  32. ^ Švec, Jan G.; Schutte, Harm K.; Miller, Donald G. (February 1996). "A Subharmonic Vibratory Pattern in Normal Vocal Folds". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 39 (1): 135–143. doi:10.1044/jshr.3901.135. ISSN 1092-4388. PMID 8820705.
  33. ^ Herzel, Hanspeter; Reuter, Robert (1996). "Biphonation in voice signals". AIP Conference Proceedings. 375. Mystic, Connecticut (USA): AIP: 644–657. Bibcode:1996AIPC..375..644H. doi:10.1063/1.51002.
  34. ^ Sakakibara, K-I, Fuks L, Imagawa H (2004). Growl Voice in Ethnic and Pop Styles. Nara, Japan: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Musical Acoustics, ISMA 2004. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.477.4267.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ Lindsey, Geoff (2019), "Chapter 27 Vocal Fry", English After RP, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 95–96, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04357-5_28, ISBN 978-3-030-04356-8, S2CID 164405199, retrieved 2021-10-01
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