Overtone singing
Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, or diphonic singing, is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract to arouse the perception of additional separate notes beyond the fundamental frequency that is being produced.
Not to be confused with throat singing of the Inuit and Ainu.
From a fundamental pitch, made by the human voice, the belonging harmonic overtones can be selectively amplified by changing the vocal tract: the dimensions and the shape of the resonant cavities of the mouth and the pharynx.[1][2] That resonant tuning allows singers to create more than one pitch at the same time (the fundamental and one or more selected overtones) and usually generates a single fundamental frequency with their vocal folds.
Overtone singing should not be confused with throat singing, although many throat singing techniques include overtone singing. As mentioned, overtone singing involves the careful manipulations of the vocal tract, and throat singing is mostly related to the voice source.
Africa[edit]
South Africa[edit]
Some Thembu Xhosa women of South Africa have a low, rhythmic style of throat-singing, similar to the Tuvan Kargyraa style, that is called umngqokolo. It is often accompanied by call-and-response vocals and complicated poly-rhythms.[7][8][9]
Non-traditional styles[edit]
Canada, United States, and Europe[edit]
The 1920s Texan singer of cowboy songs, Arthur Miles, independently created a style of overtone singing, similar to sygyt, as a supplement to the normal yodelling of country western music. Blind Willie Johnson, also of Texas, is not a true overtone singer according to National Geographic, but his ability to shift from guttural grunting noises to a soft lullaby is suggestive of the tonal timbres of overtone singing.[10]
Starting in the 1960s, some musicians in the West either have collaborated with traditional throat singers or ventured into the realm of throat singing and overtone singing, or both. Some made original musical contributions and helped this art rediscover its transcultural universality. As harmonics are universal to all physical sounds, the notion of authenticity is best understood in terms of musical quality. Musicians of note in this genre include Collegium Vocale Köln (who first began using this technique in 1968), Michael Vetter, Tran Quang Hai, David Hykes,[11] Jill Purce, Jim Cole, Ry Cooder, Paul Pena (mixing the traditional Tuvan style with that of American Blues), Steve Sklar, and Kiva (specializing in jazz/ world beat genres and composing for overtone choirs). Others include composer Baird Hersey and his group Prana with Krishna Das (overtone singing and Hindu mantra), as well as Canadian songwriter Nathan Rogers, who has become an adept throat singer and teaches Tuvan throat singing in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Paul Pena was featured in the documentary Genghis Blues, which tells the story of his pilgrimage to Tuva to compete in their annual throat singing competition. The film won the documentary award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for an Oscar in 2000.
Tuvan singer Sainkho Namtchylak has collaborated with free jazz musicians such as Evan Parker and Ned Rothenberg. Lester Bowie and Ornette Coleman have worked with the Tenores di Bitti, and Eleanor Hovda has written a piece using the Xhosa style of singing. DJs and performers of electronic music like The KLF have also merged their music with throat singing, overtone singing, or with the theory of harmonics behind it.
Tran Quang Hai, a researcher on overtone singing since 1969 in Paris, France, has published many articles, videos on overtone singing from 1971. His film "The Song of Harmonics" directed by Hugo Zemp in 1989 obtained 4 international prizes in Estonia (1990) France (1990) and Canada (1991).
David Hykes, a pioneer in new music, contemplative chant and healing sounds, founded Harmonic Chant in New York in 1975, the year he also founded his legendary group, The Harmonic Choir, considered to be one of the world's pre-eminent overtone ensembles.
Wolfgang Saus, from Germany, is considered one of the major teachers/performers of "polyphonic overtone singing" in Europe. Formerly trained as a classical baritone, his unique skills make him instantly recognizable. He's also a renowned composer and arranger of polyphonic overtone singing music for solo voice and choirs.
A cappella singer Avi Kaplan also exhibited overtone singing during his group's (Pentatonix) performances. He merged throat singing together with a cappella dubstep.
The Overtone Choir Spektrum from Prague, Czech Republic, is unique among overtone choirs, particularly because it connects traditional choir singing with overtone techniques. It is the only one of its kind in the Czech Republic, and one of only a few in the world.[2] [3]
MuOM Ecstatic Voices is another unique and peculiar overtone singing choir, as it combines in its own compositions Western overtone singing and Tuvan/Mongolian throat singing techniques (such as kargyraa, khoomei, sygyt, ezengiler, bonbarnadyr, among others). Created in Barcelona in 2008, with 8 singers on average, it has specialised in the creation of overtone polyphonies, (each singer is emitting an overtone) in addition to the polyphony of the fundamentals, creating two distinguishable sound planes.[4]
Sherden Overtone Choir was founded in 2016 in Sardinia by Ilaria Orefice and Giovanni Bortoluzzi. The choir combines Tuvan Throat Singing Styles with Sardinian Throat singing.
Contemporary multi-instrumentalist performer The Suitcase Junket employs a self-taught overtone singing, or throat singing technique in his live and recorded performances.
Several contemporary classical composers have incorporated overtone singing into their works. Karlheinz Stockhausen was one of the first, with Stimmung in 1968. Tran Quang Hai (b.1944), a French national of Vietnamese origin, created the composition "Ve Nguon" with the collaboration of Vietnamese composer Nguyen Van Tuong in 1975, in Paris. "Past Life Melodies" for SATB chorus by Australian composer Sarah Hopkins (b. 1958) also calls for this technique. In Water Passion after St. Matthew by Tan Dun, the soprano and bass soloists sing in a variety of techniques including overtone singing of the Mongolian style.
American singer Lalah Hathaway masters a rare type of multiphonic overtone singing which allows her to "split" her voice and sing several notes at the same time.[12][13][14] Hathaway earned her first career GRAMMY for 2013 for Best R&B Performance for "Something" with Snarky Puppy, where she displayed this ability.[15] Hathaway also demonstrated this talent on the Jennifer Hudson Show. [16]
In 2014 German singer Anna-Maria Hefele went viral on YouTube with her "polyphonic overtone" singing. The Huffington Post has commented on her "amazing ability" and her singing being "utterly bizarre".[17] On 10 October 2014, she was number two on The Guardian's Viral Video Chart,[18] with one online video titled Polyphonic Overtone Singing, which features Hefele as she demonstrates and explains overtones. As of February 2023, this video has received more than 20 million views.
Istanbul-based British singer Nikolai Galen incorporates overtones into his experimental work. They can be heard on his solo album Emanuel Vigeland, the Black Paintings album Screams and Silence and the Hoca Nasreddin album A Headful of Birds.