From: upton@quip.eecs.umich.edu (Michael Upton)
Subject: White Men Can't Khoomei
Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor, MI
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 03:03:55 GMT

Subject:White Guys Can't Khoomei


This a status report on learning to sing khoomei.
The following two posterss answered my question about how 
teach yourself how to throat sing. With all of the excitment
about the Tuvans vist, I thought people would like to sing along.

I found Dan's advice to be right on the money. 
It took me about 2 weeks of practice, but I can now get about 7
different harmonics.
So don't be too intimidated, I'm sure you have to be a native to
be good, but anyone can have fun (guys at least).

Anyone know if Ralph can do it?

So a special thanks to Dan and Corun.
I add my support to an Ann Arbor Tuva stop. Should we get active
in trying to set this up?

Mike Upton
GaAs computer designer / Apprentice Khoomei Singer



From : corun@access.digex.com (Corun MacAnndra)

That's going to be a tough one to explain over the net. It really helps
to have someone there in person so you can hear it. Anyway, I'll give it
a shot.

The first thing is to get a warm column of air going over your vocal chords
enough to stir them without actually trying to make a sound. Just let the
sound come. It's sort of like yogic breathing, and can be practiced lying
on your back in a relaxed position.

Once you develope this sound, bring it into the nasal passages. Try for a
deep bass tone rather than a higher one. It's easier in the beginning.
With the mouth open, and this deep bass, nasal tone flowing through your
head, adjust the opening of your mouth and listen for a resonant harmonic.
If you're a musician, you'll understand harmonics better. Like lightly
touching a guitar string on the twelfth fret and plucking it. Anyway, by
adjusting the opening of your mouth, you can produce the different harmonics
while keeping the tone your throat is producing constant throughout. Never
vary the throat tone. It's the harmonics that change.

Once you've got that, you can try a higher throat tone. This gets a little
buzzier in your head, and you use your tongue more to change the air
cavity in your mouth to achieve the harmonics, rather than the opening of
your mouth.

Hope this helps. As I said, it really helps to have someone there who's
done it so you can hear it.

Corun
===========================================================================
    Corun MacAnndra    |       If the opposite if pro is con,
  Dark Horde by birth  |    then what's the opposite of progress?
    Moritu by choice   |


From: dan@hpwin051.uksr.hp.com (Dan Bennett)

As mentioned in the other followup to this one, it IS tricky to explain
over the net. But I'll also have a go, seeing as:

  (a) I'm the one who said I could DO it;

  (b) I'm fairly successful (all Mongolians I've sung to have been
      delighted); and

  (c) I have certain features to my style which bring about a very
      bright and clear sound, and which aren't mentioned in the other
      followup note.

So here goes...

NOTE: Khoomiy is easiest for men. I *have* heard a recording of a Mongolian
      Kazakh women singing khoomiy, but it's simply not so easy or 
      spectacular, because of the higher pitch of the female voice.

1. Sing a steady note while saying "aah" (to start with). Pitch it in the
   middle of your range, where you can give it plenty of energy ("welly",
   in UK English!). i.e. - Sing it loudly.

2. Aim to make the sound as bright - not to say *brash* - as you can. The
   more energy there is in the harmonics, the louder and clearer they'll
   be when you start singing khoomiy. Practise this for a while.

3. OK, with this as a basis for the sound generation, you've got to arrange
   your mouth to become a highly resonant acoustic filter. My style (self-
   taught, but verified for me by a professional Mongolian khoomiy singer
   I had a lesson with in Ulaanbaatar) is as follows:

     Divide the mouth into two similar-sized compartments by raising your
     tongue so that it meets the roof of your mouth, a bit like you're
     saying "L". Spread your tongue a bit so that it makes a seal all the
     way round. At this point, you won't be able to pass air through your
     mouth. Then (my technique), break the seal on the left (or right)
     side of the mouth, simply to provide a route for the air to get
     through.

     Then (here's the most difficult bit to describe over the net - or
     even in person, for that matter!), push your lips forward a bit,
     and by carefully (and intuitively) adjusting the position of your
     lips, tongue, cheeks, jaw, etc, you can sing Mongolian khoomiy!
     Yeah, right.

     Put it this way: the *aim* of the khoomiy singer ("khoomigch") is
     to emphasize ONE of the harmonics which are already present in the
     sound generated by the throat. This is achieved because he is
     forming a resonant cavity, which (a) is tuned to the chosen 
     harmonic (overtone), and (b) has a high resonance, or "Q" factor.

I can do it, and I wish you luck!

Dan Bennett - Official Khoomigch for Hewlett-Packard UK .... er not really!