deep reverberations

August 15, 2006 11:30 PM

Multiphonic chanting of the Gyuto Tantric University monks. [more]
posted by nickyskye (22 comments total)

Previously on MetaFilter. Numerous sound clips on CDBaby of Tibetan overtone chanting. Videos of a variety of overtone singing styles. More clips of the vocal ventricular sounds. Overtone singing and related links. Sound clips of throat singing from around the world. Wikipedia on overtone singing.
posted by nickyskye at 11:30 PM on August 15, 2006

Man, you have a diverse set of interests (and I mean that as the highest compliment)!
posted by jonson at 11:34 PM on August 15, 2006

I want to learn how to do this, not for singing purposes, but so I can make scary voices if salespeople are rude to me, or I encounter jerks on the bus.

*YES I'D LIKE A MILKSHAKE, THANKS.* *EXCUSE ME.*
posted by ®@ at 11:49 PM on August 15, 2006

reminds me of: love will tear us apart, in tuvan style. (via)

Awesome post, nickyskye. Keep up the good work!
posted by shoepal at 11:58 PM on August 15, 2006

Wonderful stuff nickyskye. That Alaskan one really rocks along. I have a lot of the Gyuto Monk meditations on my mp3 player - it helps get me by on public transport. You might be interested in this site too (some of the links to the samples are broken though).
posted by tellurian at 12:12 AM on August 16, 2006

For the past few years there's been growing interest here in Japan in overtone singing (mostly of the Mongolian/Tuvan variety). Many of the musicians I know here (and I'm not talking vocalists, primarily) have gotten into it, learning how to do it and all. The wonderful singer Sainkho Namtchylak, who's performed here quite a bit, has been partly responsible for that. (I was fortunate enough to do a duo concert with her a few years ago: fantastic experience). A Japanese-born throat-singer (skilled enough in the art to do very well in yearly competitions/festivals held in Mongolia) is singer Makigami Koichi. (I also perform with Makigami from time to time). Anyway, both of these artists are very steeped in traditional throat singing but also bring the technique into modern musical contexts in various ways.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:13 AM on August 16, 2006

(more tuvan samples at wfmu's blog)

flapjax at midnite, I had no idea there were Japanese throat singers. Will definitely check them out (it figures they'd be on Tzadik!). Thanks!
posted by shoepal at 12:29 AM on August 16, 2006

Naturally, must mention here that a multiphonic lama got nominated for the Grammy's this year. :-)

(Could do some more link-fu after I get home; just to quickly point this out.)
posted by the cydonian at 12:50 AM on August 16, 2006

Amitabha H Amoghasiddhi, nickyskye, your posts give me the itchiest feet!

(keep it up!)

As an irrelevant aside, an uncle of mine in the Tibetan Buddhist Society of Canberra was involved in the Gyuto Monk tour of Australia last time they came out here...
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:49 AM on August 16, 2006

...and on a slightly different angle, the dub reggae producer, Bill Laswell, has a nice CD combining throat singing with dub basslines, called Hooked Light Rays, after one of the techniques often used in compassion meditation. (disclaimer: link = first result in google).
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:55 AM on August 16, 2006

ok, amazon link to the above :)
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:57 AM on August 16, 2006

"I want to learn how to do this, not for singing purposes, but so I can make scary voices if salespeople are rude to me, or I encounter jerks on the bus."Posted by ®@


Read the comment above in a pleasantly ho-hum manner, then bothered to actually listen to the first audio link (because I really like nickyskye's esoteric stuff).

I was suddenly grinning very widely at the thought of the rude salespeople's reaction.
posted by Jody Tresidder at 4:09 AM on August 16, 2006

Genghis Blues is a great documentary about Paul Pena, a blind bluesman who mastered throatsinging and traveled to Tuva.
posted by staggernation at 6:17 AM on August 16, 2006

Stockhausen's Stimmung (1968) is for six singers, each one of which sings a single note from the harmonic series and overtones on that note. It's like a much calmer, Western, "composed" version of some of the ideas of the Gyuto monks.

There is entertainment to be had by searching for "inuit throat singing video", particularly if you find this little gem.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 7:28 AM on August 16, 2006

I am afraid to play those chants again. Last time a rip appeared in the time-space continuum and Gessar Khan rode out and took my toaster strudel.
posted by tkchrist at 8:01 AM on August 16, 2006

I noticed after a Tuvan concert they all stepped out for a cigarette. Just sayin...
posted by kozad at 8:16 AM on August 16, 2006

I tought myself to do this. It only took me a few months before I could do several of the different styles. I still practice all the time, sometimes at inoppertune moments... like it public bathrooms. I don't ever realize i'm doing it until someone steps in, then I get self-concious and stfu.
posted by hellphish at 9:57 AM on August 16, 2006

Tantric University? Does it, uh, vibrate?
posted by oats at 10:28 AM on August 16, 2006

Great stuff. Two good friends of mine just moved to Mongolia for the next couple of years, and I made them promise they'd be able to throatsing for me by the time they return.
posted by Gamblor at 12:04 PM on August 16, 2006

Crash Course in Khoomei
posted by Eideteker at 1:24 PM on August 16, 2006

Fantastic post, nickyskye - and it must be great to hear them in person. From the College's image gallery, they look as awesome as they sound.

Here is a wonderful Google video clip of Gyuto ceremonies, monks in training, more about the college, etc (It's 51 minutes, I am only about halfway through, and it is quite good.)

I was also fascinated with the university's mandalas and the butter sculptures. The Gyuto are one of two tantric universities preserving this tradition.
posted by madamjujujive at 1:59 PM on August 16, 2006

The Gyuto monks have been practising the multi phonic singing style since around the fourteenth Century AD. It's use is said to have been initiated in Tibet by a renowned Tibetan scholar/reformer/teacher, named Je Tsongkhapa.
posted by nickyskye at 2:56 PM on August 16, 2006