Tuva, Among The Spirits: Sound, Music And Nature In Sakha And Tuva
Thanks to the astonishing clarity of modern recording techniques, this remarkable CD documents the oldest form of music making, which producer-recorders Ted Levin and Joel Gordon refer to as "sound mimesis," or the art of imitating natural sounds through music, as practiced in Tuva. With a variety of musicians, including members of Huun-Huur-Tu and other regular folk musicians and farmers, these 19 tracks were recorded outdoors on location (with the exception of two recorded in a small living room). Musicians and singers interact with the sounds of wild and domestic animals and environmental sounds like streams, the wind, and bird song. Throat singing andxomuzecho the harmonics of a babbling brook, upturnedigil(fiddle) anddoshpuluur(lute) replicate the effect of a wind harp with the breeze caressing the strings, and horsemen chant in the saddle, picking up the rhythm of galloping steeds. These and many other examples illustrate a living animist tradition where the boundaries between sound and song have no clear definition; indeed, the very term "music" as the Western world interprets it has no equivalent, andTuva, Among the Spiritsmay well make you reassess the latent music in your own environment.--Derek Rath