In January I will be visiting the great team of Soundtherapy Hong Kong again to teach various workshops around the theme “hidden dimensions of the human voice.” There are 6 themes to chose from – or you can do them all:
Workshop 1: Breath, Prana & Movement
Workshop 2: Sound Journey, Ocean of Voices
Workshop 3: Art of listening
Workshop 4: Polyphony of the body
Workshop 5&6 : Inner Voice & Outer Voice
All workshops are either morning (10 am – 1 pm) or afternoon (2:30-5:30 pm), in Causeway Bay / WanChai.
More details + registration on the Soundtherapy Hong Kong website here and on Facebook.
Hong Kong image Vertical Horizon by Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze, who published the photobook Vertical Horizon.
Immerse yourself in Tuvan culture by joining four events in three days: 1) a lecture on Friday morning 2) a concert on Friday evening 3) an introduction to Tuva on Saturday 4) a throat singing workshop on Sunday
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THE PROGRAM DAY BY DAY
FRIDAY APRIL 7, 10:00 – 12:00 Soul and technique of Tuvan khöömei culture
Lecture by Mrs. Choduraa Tumat
National Chengchi University
Register and details on https://goo.gl/9wpgU7
Special guests: Pisui Ciyo (Tayal, voice), Sauniaw 少妮瑤 (Paiwan, double nose flute), Ivan Alberto (Mexico, percussion), Mark van Tongeren (Netherlands, voice and more)
Location: Red Room TAF, 2F LIBRARY, Daan District
No. 177, Sec. 1, Jianguo S. Rd (Intersection of Jianguo S. Rd. and Jinan Rd.)
Tickets: 600 NT$ at the door, 500 NT$ pre-sale. Includes free drink, snack. Discounts
– Student group discount: 5 tickets for 2200 NT$ (12 %)
– Students with ID: 500 NT$
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES Choduraa Tumat hails from the steppe grasslands of Western Tuva, a republic in South Siberia that is part of the Russian Federation. As a child, she was fond of listening to khoomei and sygyt throat singing performed by her brothers.
In 1998 she founded and became the artistic leader of the all-female throat-singing folk ensemble Tyva Kyzy (‘Daughters of Tuva’). She is now an accomplished performer of many Tuvan throat-singing styles: khoomei, sygyt, kargyraa, ezenggileer and chylandyk. Tumat has been performing professionally since 1998.
Besides throat-singing, she sings traditional folk songs, plays chanzy (three-stringed lute), igil (two-stringed horse-head fiddle), shoor (recorder), khomus (Jew’s harp), all to be heard in today’s concert. She also plays byzaanchy (four-stringed horse-head fiddle), doshpuluur (three-stringed lute) and chadagan (zither). She received several prizes and honourary titles in her native Republic of Tuva, as well as invitations to Moscow, other Russian cities and many countries around the world.
A graduate from the East-Siberian State Academy in Buryatia, she carries out postgraduate research on female throat singing at the Tuva State University and teaches there and at other schools in Tuva’s capitol Kyzyl. Tumat is the highest-ranking teacher with experience in training foreign students the skills of throat singing and traditional music. She founded the first group of female throat singers, Tyva Kyzy and led their tours to Japan, China, Taiwan, the USA and many European countries. She recorded several CDs and a DVD, both solo and with Tyva Kyzy.
Pisui Ciyo is a performing artist, choreographer, educator and scholar who began her professional carreer as the lead performer of the Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe, 1994-1997, an early project to raise public awareness and give a stronger voice to Taiwan’s indigenous people. Besides taking inspiration from her Tayal background, she traveled widely and worked with native American tribes and flamenco artists, among others. Her performances range from traditional songs to contemporary dance, and from musical poetry to socially engaged text theatre. She is the recipient of several fellowships and awards, and currently prepares a PhD at Taipei National University of the Arts.
Sauniaw Tjuveljevelj is the youngest inheritor in Paiwan flute and nose flute (lalingedan), and she is the only one female inheritor in Paiwan culture. Recently, she is devoted to transmitting Paiwan music culture to younger generations. In addition to release three CD albums, nominated by the Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, she did fieldwork to collect endangered traditional tunes for teaching material and conducted numerous workshops to promote Paiwan music. She interprets traditional tunes in a creative way to express traditional and modern Paiwan music for the contemporary world. Sauniaw performed in Australia, America, Japan, Morocco, Singapore, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, Estonia, Philippines, and Hong Kong with many famous musicians.
Ivan Alberto was born in Mexico city. Ivan started his studies on contemporary percussion but one of his main influences has been traditional music specially Indonesian and Mexican. He went to study traditional gamelan, puppetry as well as instruments construction on Bali and Java and currently lives in Taiwan, where he works with theatre.
Mark van Tongeren is a vocalist/sound explorer who received a PhD in Creative and Performing Arts from Leiden University. In his artistic work he emphasises performance/theatrical aspects of music and collaborates with visual artists, composers and dancers. Essentially an improviser, he also duetted with cellist Yo-Yo Ma on a Bach partita, took part in the world premiere of a film score by Russian composer Dmitri Shoshtakovich, and collaborated on dance projects in Taiwan with Horse, Ming-Hwa Yeh and Taipei Dance Circle.
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SATURDAY APRIL 8, 14:00 – 18:00
A TOUCH OF TUVA. SOUNDS SIGHTS AROMAS AND FLAVORS OF SIBERIA
Entrance:free, donations welcome
Location: Red Room TAF, 2F LIBRARY, Daan District
No. 177, Sec. 1, Jianguo S. Rd (Intersection of Jianguo S. Rd. and Jinan Rd.) Language: English with Chinese translation
Come and learn all about Tuva’s secrets! Once an independent country of its own right, Tannu Tuva is a hidden gem of natural, cultural and religious synthesis, tucked away between dramatic mountains and forests, north of Mongolia. Very few people know it. Today we offer films, talks, the best CDs from Tuva, some live music, drinks and dishes from the taiga and grasslands — even its special aromas! Your hosts:
* Tuvan musician Choduraa Tumat, who bravely broke taboos as a female throat singer (khöömeizhi) and knows Tuvan culture inside-out
* Tuvan PhD-student Chechena Kuular from NCCU, talking about Tuva in Chinese historic documents
* Mark van Tongeren, an ethnomusicologist who writes and teaches about the music and culture of Siberia
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SUNDAY APRIL 9, 10.00-17.00.
ART OF TUVAN THROAT SINGING / KHÖÖMEI WITH CHODURAA TUMAT
Beginners workshop 10:00-13:00 Advanced students 14:00 – 17:00 English spoken with Chinese translation. Location: Canjune Training Center, Fu Xing South Road Sec. 2, Lane 151, No. 3, 4th Floor. For map and route, check here, scroll down.
Throat singing is one of Tuva’s most iconic cultural expressions. Children in Tuva grow up listening to subtle shades of timbre and to overtones that are rare or unheard of in many cultures. It takes years to really master Tuvan overtone singing, moving forward step by step. Today you can join a beginner’s workshop and learn about the three basic techniques (in the morning) or continue your practise of them (in the afternoon). Choduraa Tumat is an experienced guide for males and females, and will be assisted by Mark van Tongeren, an expert in the theory and practise of throat singing living in Taiwan.
While learning a Tuvan song, we will get to know and practise these three well-defined techniques of Tuvan throat singing: Khöömei
The Tuvan khöömei refers to all types of Tuvan throat singing in general and to one particular technique. According to the Tuvans it is with this technique that throat singing began. Khöömei comes closer to the articulation of everyday vowel sounds than the other techniques.
Sygyt
This is the principal style in Tuva. Like all Tuvan throat singing, a guttural voice is necessary to produce sygyt. The name refers to ‘whistling’ and indeed, this technique sounds more like whistling or a flute than the other tow basic techniques. Sygyt resounds powerfully in the surrounding space, making it hard to tell where the sound comes from.
Kargyraa
Tuvan kargyraa is most easily recognised by its unusually deep bass register, which gives the voice a very rough quality. In kargyraa the harmonics of the melody are usually paired with vowels. Listeners have to learn to hear the overtones ‘through’ the vowels. Kargyraa is probably the most difficult technique to learn and to explain.
Price: 2500 NT$ (for each half day, that is, morning or afternoon) Discounts
– Students with ID: 20% / 500 nt$ (bring your ID)
– Combine with Friday’s concert: 10 % / 250 NT$ (show your Accupass registration)
– Combine with NCCU lecture or Touch of Tuva: 5 % / 125 NT$
– Only the highest discount counts. To register please pay the workshop fee to Mark van Tongeren and send an email to info@fusica.nl with your name and the last digits of your bank account.
Bank no.：700
Account no.：00023400260537
Find out why Mark van Tongeren thinks anyone can learn something from listening to Tuvan music at his talk for TedX Taipei.
聽聽看馬克．范．湯可鄰在TedX的談話，為何他認為任何人都可以從聆聽圖瓦的音樂裡，得到學習的理由。
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A TOUCH OF TUVA / 3 Days of Khöömei Soul is organised by Fusica in collaboration with Red Room, Canjune and the Russian Center of NCCU, with the help of many volunteers.
Ivan Alberto
Ivan Alberto 出生在墨西哥市，Ivan學習當代打擊樂，但他的主要影響是在傳統音樂方面，特別是印尼以及墨西哥音樂。他也在峇里島以及爪哇學習傳統甘美朗(gamelan，印尼的打擊樂器)，偶戲(puppetry)以及樂器製作，目前在台灣居住，並在劇院工作。
馬克．范．湯可鄰Mark van Tongeren
馬克．范．湯可鄰是一位人聲/聲音探險家，在萊頓大學取得創意表演藝術的博士學位。在他的藝術工作中，他強調音樂的表演性及戲劇性，並和視覺藝術家、作曲家以及舞者合作演出。身為一個即興演出者，他也與大提琴家馬友友共同演出巴哈組曲，並參與俄國作曲家Dmitri Shoshtakovich的世界首演紀錄片，並在台灣舞蹈表演，如驫舞劇場、葉名樺以及光環舞集共同演出。
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ 4月8日(星期六) 14:00 – 18:00 觸動圖瓦 來自西伯利亞的色聲香味 A Touch of Tuva. Sounds Sights Aromas and Flavors of Siberia.
免費入場
地點:紅房-空軍總部，2F圖書館 (大安區)
台北市大安區建國南路一段177號(濟南路與建國南路交叉口)
英語（課上將有中文口譯）
喉唱是圖瓦最具代表性的文化資產表現之一。圖瓦的兒童從小就生長在聆聽音色裡細微的弦外之音，並聆聽在許多文化裡罕見甚至從未聽過的泛音(overtones)。要專精於圖瓦的喉唱，必須要花很多年，一步一步的精進。現在你可以參加這個為初學者舉辦的工作坊，並學習到三種基本的技巧(上午時段班)，或是繼續你的練習(下午時段班)。楚德拉．圖瑪特(Choduraa Tumat)是一位男性及女性喉唱資深的導師，並由居住在台灣的喉唱理論及實務專家馬克‧范‧湯可鄰(Mark van Tongeren)擔任助教。
This Saturday evening (September 5, 19:30, at Yuppy Cafe/Bookstore) I’ll be doing a concert of songs I have learned from oral traditions of various places around the globe. Tea (Tina Ma) is going to help create some links between them in her own magical way. After that, I will sing together with the audience and give an idea what we do in the R e s o n a n c e course.
For me this is a real first, to sing ‘plain’ traditional songs: I have never quite thought of myself as a ‘traditional singer’ of any kind and only reluctantly began to sing Tuvan khöömei (throat singing or overtone singing) when I was asked to. I developed an interest in singing Dutch songs at the time my son and daughter were born. Since then (and maybe because of that) I have changed my attitude towards traditional music. I slowly started to learn more songs in traditional ways, instead of ‘appropriating’ other music for my own musical language. I am now learning and singing songs from Tuva, Corsica, The Netherlands and other places for some years, and feel ready to present them onstage.
I began travelling to collect and learn music in 1990, when I visited Bulgaria. Then to Corsica in 1991. Then Russia in 1992, which was the upbeat for Siberia in 1993, where I went back several times. In the 2000s I visited New Zealand, Dharamsala, Jerusalem and Sardinia, amongst other places, and began moving to Taiwan. All the while I also met many travelling and migrant musicians, learning from or with them from time to time.
This Summer I visited Turkey and had an opportunity to learn a song from a well-known Turkish folk singer, Aysegül Aral. I was curious to learn more about singing with the quartertones you can find in Turkish and Arabic music, and I was happy to find I was doing alright, according to my instructor Aysegül. The song we sang (and which I will perform Saturday) is called Havada bulut yok, a well-known folk song.
Aysegul Aral, the interpreter and me
Another special meeting several years ago was with Firaz Ghazzaz, a muslim reciter for the Palestine community of Eastern Jeruzalem. We collaborated in a project by two Dutch composers, Merlijn Twaalfhoven and Paul Oomen, helping to give voice to the suppressed communities of Palestines in Jerusalem. Firaz is the descendent of a long line of reciters for the Al Aqsa Mosque (going back for as much as 422 years when I visited). Al Aqsa is one of the most important mosques in the Arab world, situated on holy, historic territory in Jerusalem. I was struck by the humanity and the willingness to improvise, leaving his religious tradition behind to look for common ground in my improvised, coloristic, harmonic language and his own modal chanting. There is tremendous power and refinement in his singing, as you can hear in Firaz’ collaboration with another musician from Europe here.
With Firaz Ghazzaz, 2009
In Corsica, the French isle, you can hear echoes of this kind of intonation, though very distant ones. In this case they stem from the need for voices to harmonise according to pure, Pythagorean intonation, and not because of a modal tuning system as developed by the Arabs. In recent years, when I re-visited Corsica, I had many opportunities to immerse myself in polyphonic singing, and take part in it. Now I feel ready to sing some Corsican songs, but of course there will be no polyphony this Saturday (though I am considering to teach the audience a simple line so we get two parts). This year I joined the concert of musicians from Pigna: Nando Aquaviva and his daughter Battista, and Cecce Pesce, the guitarist. When we first met, Battista was beginning to be famous in Corsica. This Summer, she suddenly was famous all over France due to her appearance in the popular TV show The Voice.
In 2013 I sang some ‘alle-male’ polyphony with Claude Bellagamba, a middle-aged singer with an exceptional, powerful and natural voice, and Nando, who is past his prime years (he is 70+) but still getting along well and very active musically.
Claude Bellagamba, Nando Aquaviva and me singing polyphonic songs, Corsica 2013
Of course there will be music from Tuva, Siberia. Choduraa Tumat and Otkun Dostay, who came over from Tuva to perform in Taiwan this spring, helped me with the lyrics of a well-known song by the folk singer/composer Maksim Dakpai. In their concerts we did not sing this song, but contemporary and shamanic improvisations with voice and Jew’s harp. I did not quite feel up to singing traditional songs with them onstage: to be honest, I think for singing traditional music you need to know the lyrics by heart, and I am still struggling with that. In that sense my concert this Saturday is not so traditional: I will need the help of written lyrics on a sheet for sight-reading for most of the songs. The ‘shamanic’ improvisation is one possible way out of that problem, but not just second choice. Besides singing Dakpai’s song Saturday, I will also do a shaman-styled improvisation.
Otkun Dostay, Choduraa Tumat & me at Wistaria Teahouse, 2015 (photo by Ewan Kuo)
I visited Hungarian shaman and sound practitioner Joska Soos several times in Belgium.
I have spent much time learning a Hakka song, Hakka being one of the Chinese minorities in Taiwan (and China) with a distinct culture and music. I have always liked Hakka music when I heard it on the radio here, but it is not easy to sing it. My kids learnt some Hakka songs at school and I had great difficulty to get the melody right when I asked them to teach me (and how lucky I am with children who have such critical ears at such an early age!). This year I am working on a dance piece with Taipei Dance Circle, founded by Hakka choreographer Liou Shaw-lu. In order to pay tribute to Shaw-lu, who passed away a year ago, we decided to sing a Hakka song for him. The dance performance will première next week in Taipei’s National Theatre (Experimental Theatre), so I take the chance to do a try-out of Lao shan ge at Yuppy Bookstore.
Then there will be an indigenous Taiwanese song and things from Mongolia, India and of course the Netherlands.
Talking about oral traditions, there is Tina ‘Tea’ Ma, or … is she? It is still a little bit of a mystery what she will do, or even that she makes it, immersed as she is in Taiwan’s East Coast indigenous Amis communities. She seems to be forgetting the time in Hualien (we all do when we go there!). I am not even sure she will manage to get out of the spell of the songs and rituals she is learning there. If she makes it, she may turn out to be the most ‘traditional’ or ‘authentic’ of the voices you will hear this Saturday. Let’s hear!
In April two excellent musicians and friends from Tuva are coming to Taiwan, so that people here can get better acquainted with this fascinating musical culture from the North. Get to know Tuvan music and culture and learn throat singing directly from established, original masters!
be amazed by Tuva’s signature sounds of throat singing
hear the beats of the shaman drum and Jew’s harp
resonate with the buzzing strings of horse-head fiddles and lute
get blown away by flutes from the steppe
THE PROGRAM FROM APRIL 11 TO 13
Saturday April 11, 19:30 ConcertPearls from Siberia, at Wistaria Teahouse.
Donation-based. Very limited seats!
At Wistaria, an atmospheric original Japanese building, you will be seated on tatami mats. The concert is purely acoustic, so you can enjoy the sounds directly with your own ears. An excellent way to get to know the amazing acoustic world that Tuvans have developed over the centuries. Tuva’s auditory culture has become an icon in the last two decades for its remarkable throat singing techniques, which they share with Mongolia. Choduraa Tumat and Otkun Dostay both perform seveal throat singing techniques, which you will be able to hear at close range: the soft, light technique called khöömei, the whistle-like sygyt and the thundering low kargyraa. In Tuva we also find the horse-head fiddle (igil) and erhu-like fiddle (byzaanchy), lutes (doshpuluur, chanzy) and flute (shoor), the Jew’s harp (khomus) and the shaman’s drum (dunggur), among others. Choduraa Tumat and Otkun Dostay master many of these and will play tunes and pieces from different regions and times in Tuva. Songs and pieces will be alternated with stories about and from Tuva and its rich musical folklore. The only public Tuvan concert in a very special intimate setting!
As a donation we suggest 500 NT$ for the perfomance, tea and a snack. Call Wistaria and leave your name and number for a seat: (02)2363-7375 or register here.
Sunday April 12, 10-17 1-day workshop Tuvan throat singing and culture, at Canjune Training Center
Learn to sing khöömei,sygyt and/or kargyraa with Otkun Dostay and Choduraa Tumat. The one-day Throat Singing workshop will have not just one, but two expert throat singers, including a female throat singer. A rare opportunity to learn the three basic Tuvan styles of throat singing: khöömei, sygyt and kargyraa, which tend to be a little softer and therefore easier than the Mongolian counterpart. During the day you will learn about Tuvan music and culture and get plenty of chance to hear throat singing and try it for yourself. With a maximum of 15 students (plus perhaps a few listeners), there is a chance to get personal feedback from Choduraa or Otkun for everyone. About half the time will be devoted to throat singing, the other half to other music and culture of Tuva.
Otkun Dostay teaching khöömei in Venice
We aim at a 50/50 divide of male/female voices. The workshop is held in English/Russian with Chinese translation. Mark will be there to help translate Russian-English, if needed.
If you are interested and want to reserve a place, you can call or write Mark (mark@fusica.nl, 0910382749) or Wu Wentsui (wuwentsui@gmail.com, 0928867512).
This presentation features introductions, videos about the beautiful, unknown land of Tuva, a display of many styles of throat singing and different musical instruments. Choduraa Tumat and Otkun Dostay both perform seveal throat singing techniques: the soft, light technique called khöömei, the whistle-like sygyt and the thundering low kargyraa and other substyles. They will also present a selection of pieces and instruments found in Tuva, such as the horse-head fiddle (igil) and erhu-like fiddle (byzaanchy), lutes (doshpuluur, chanzy) and flute (shoor), the Jew’s harp (khomus) and the shaman’s drum (dunggur). Choduraa Tumat and Otkun Dostay master many of these. Songs and pieces will be alternated with stories about and from Tuva and its rich musical folklore. Afterwards there is a chance to talk to the musicians during the Q&A.
The concert at NCCU is free and open for everyone. Just register here. Without reservation there may still be places when you come, there is no guarantee but there are 300+ seats.
In the late 1980s Dostay was the youngest member of the internationally acclaimed Tuva Ensemble. During the late Soviet era he enrolled a theatre school in Leningrad (now Sint-Petersburg), and was engaged in acting, dancing and storytelling. With fellow students Stanislav Iril and Olaak Ondar he took part in Buddhist ceremonies in Leningrad and founded the group Özüm (‘sprouts’). They recorded their first CD in 1991, published by Window to Europe/Orpheus. Dostay has continued to direct Özüm with changing group members over time. He plays horse-head fiddle, all the Tuvan varieties of Jew’s harp and the shaman’s drum. He organised festivals to commemorate the great throat-singer Gennadi Tumat in his native village Khandagayti. He is currently active as the founder-director of the Tuvan-Japanese friendship Center and works as a correspondent for Tuvan State Radio, under the State TV & Radio Company. He regularly performs in solo, duo and ensemble projects, which he toured in Germany, Italy, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Morroco, Japan and China. He has been involved in recording, producing and playing on several CDs of Tuvan music published in Russia, Japan and Europe. In 2013 he published his first solo CD, an exciting mix of traditional songs and melodies with 21st-century sounds.
Choduraa Tumat
Born in Western Tuva, as a girl Tumat was fond of listening to khoomei and sygyt throat singing performed by her brothers. She studied traditional music in music college in Tuva and went on to become one of the world’s most active female overtone/throat singers, as well as the founder and artistic leader of the all-female throat-singing folk ensemble Tyva Kyzy (‘Daughters of Tuva’, www.tyvakyzy.com). She is an accomplished performer of all basic throat-singing styles, sings traditional folk songs, and plays various Tuvan string instruments, Jew’s harps and zither. As a performer, she received many titles in Tuva. She is a teacher of traditional music and khöömei throat-singing at the Pedagogical College of Tuvan State University in Tuva’s capitol Kyzyl. With Tyva Kyzy and with solo projects she toured extensivly in the USA, Poland, Russia, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Japan. She recorded and released several CDs and DVDs, among which her outstanding solo CD Belek/ The Gift.
《泛音歌唱》Overtone Singing作者與【共鳴】泛音課程教師及表演者Mark van Tongeren 馬克．范．湯格鄰策劃
本系列活動更多詳情及最新資訊請見：www.fusica.nl ; https://fusica.wordpress.com
活動聯絡信箱：mark@fusica.nl 連絡人 Mark / chichenlyv@gmail.com 李小姐
【喉音簡介】
俄羅斯境內的圖瓦共和國(Republic of Tuva)位於西伯利亞南部，與蒙語毗鄰，以具特色的喉音(throat singing)音樂引起全球音樂界的注意。著名的音樂家Sainkho Namtchylak就曾多次到台灣演出，以圖瓦音樂吟唱與爵士樂、電子樂等前衛即興音樂結合，讓台灣聽眾認識圖瓦傳統音樂的多樣性。
1970年生於圖瓦Khandagaity小鎮，為知名喉音演唱與馬頭琴表演者，亦是著名圖瓦民族音樂團體《圖瓦樂團》Tuva Ensemble的一員，於音樂上有卓越的成就，不斷受邀至日本、土耳其及荷蘭等地演出。歐特昆一直以來致力於圖瓦傳統音樂的傳承與創新，舉辦圖瓦喉音國際音樂節《Övur之地—西奇與呼麥》（Sygyt and khoomei in the land of Övur)。他不僅擔任全女子喉音團體《圖瓦的女兒》的經紀人，同時也在電視台製作音樂節目，極力推廣傳統音樂。目前於圖瓦的聯合國教科文組織UNESCO部門擔任主席。
Two programs have just been broadcast online with great recordings of Tuvan and Khakass throat singers. Both are produced by long-time throat singing afficionados who have traveled to Tuva/Khakassiya and deeply involved themselves with Southern Siberian music culture. A unique chance to hear many recordings you will not easily find, or even never find at all. Never mind the Dutch- and Norwegian-language presenters, most of the program is music.
One show is by Norwegian Morten Abildsnes, and is devoted to throat singers who have passed away in the last 10 years. An important theme which asks our attention to the tragic and untimely fate of many great Tuvan musicians, and which honours them once more (“post-mortem”). Don’t wait to listen to his one! Only a few weeks are left before it goes offline.
Morten Abildsnes
The artists presented are:
Ayas Danzyryn 1976–2005
Timur Kara-sal 1973–2005
Mönggün-ool Dambashtai 1956–2009
Aleksandr Sarzhat-ool 1957–2011
Aldyn-ool Sevek 1962–2011
Kongar-ool Ondar 1962–2013
Vladimir Oidupaa 1949–2013
Oktyabr Saaya 1968–2012
The internet-streaming can be heard here http://radionova.no/programmer/sortkanal
To listen to the program find the black-and-grey player box with the title “Repriser” on the same page, and click the line with the text “Sort Kanal 02.02.2015”. On a narrow screen, you might need to scroll further down the page to find the “Repriser” player. On a broad screen, it might lie right under the black-red-black box. On this page you can find the playlist.
2. EPIC THROAT SINGING FROM KHAKASSIA
The Dutch program is by Russian-Dutch producer, field-recordist, DJ Maxim Chapochnikov from Amsterdam, founder of Window to Europe. He first travelled to South-Siberia in the early 1990s. On one of his trips he met Slava Kuchenov, who had just received a calling from the spirit of khaidzhi, or epic story-tellers/reciters. Without any further experience or help, Kuchenov build himself an instrument and started reciting ancient stories about Khakass heroes. Kuchenov is and was a very clear case of a young man who does not set out to learn epic singing, but who receives a divine gift to tell epic stories. They just appeared to him, without first learning them by heart, like dreams appear to us. Maksim was there to capture this gift on mic right when it happened (of course Kuchenov still recites epics nowadays). Maksim presents a large part of the original recording in his radioshow. After a Dutch introduction you can hear almost one hour of Khakass epic throat singing. To listen, click on the link below, then click on the small loudspeaker to the right of the words “22:00 – 23:00 De Zwervende Microfoon”.http://www.concertzender.nl/programmagids/?date=2015-01-31&month=0&detail=76042
Maksim Chapochnikov (photo by Mediamatic)
Thanks to Maxim and Morten for sharing these recordings from their collections! Enjoy listening!
Featured image: Slava Kuchenov at the rock formations of Salbyk, Khakassiya. Photo: Mark van Tongeren 2005
All photos in this post from www.vetter-transverbal.de
Today, December 7, 2014, it is one year ago since the German artist Michael Vetter passed away, shortly after turning 70. Several musical events commemorate the passing away of this visionary artist, who is best known as an overtone singer. Three weeks ago we had a Festival Transverbal here in Taipei, the German radio repeated DuO, a fantastic radio play by Michael Vetter and Natascha Nikeprelevic from 1997, and there will be a reprise of his Missa di Natale (1998) by his former students of the Diaphonisches Vokalensemble in Cologne (see links at end of the posting). But Michael Vetter did much more than making music, and here I will put his creative life and his critical mind in a wider perspective than is usually done.
painting ‘Altar’, 1960s
1. An outstanding and extremely productive visual artist
After spending many years of his youth already drawing and painting seriously, Vetter developed an extraordinary visual language of his own during the 1960s and 1970s, He used a wide range of techniques, from China ink drawings, paintings, watercolours and linocuts to ‘writing pieces’, perhaps his most far-fetching concept. Just like in music, Vetter was completely self-taught as a visual artist. Though he did of course absorb current techniques and styles, he drew much inspiration from Mediaeval techniques – a quite unfashionable source for artists in that period. His passion for great masters of the past was such, that as a teenager he already began collecting original Mediaeval volumes, which he apparently used as source material for his own techniques (he also kept hundreds of art books at home in recent years). If you ever heard Vetter talk about art – or read about his work in his own words – you know that his work was fully developed on a conceptual level: he was acutely aware of the peculiarities of all the major periods and styles in Western art of the second millennium, even of many artists and their development.
From ‘Buch der Zeichen’
2. Laying the basis of Western/contemporary overtone singing
Of course, overtone singing would not look the same if Vetter had not helped to define its modern, Western style. He educated dozens of students that became singers in their own right (some of them well-known), and inspired many more – in fact he blew away many listeners, who had never heard such things before, including myself. Again, Vetter did not just perform a trick, or ‘just make sounds’, like many overtone singers are tempted to do. His melodic-harmonic approach to overtones betrays deeper connections, like with his great example Johann-Sebastian Bach. Few overtone singers are able to achieve such clarity of tone and such variety in the development of their compositions / improvisations as Vetter did. Besides setting an example with his NG-RR techniques (for singing lower and higher overtones, respectively), he produced extensive learning materials for his students and developed at least one unique way of singing overtones I never heard anyone do.
Playing ‘Steinspiel’ in Vetter’s Academia Capraia, Italy
3. Beyond zen
Zen is too fashionable these days. You encounter the most obtuse uses of the word ‘zen’ in attempts to brand something as ‘spiritual’, ‘Asian’ and ‘cool’. Fortunately many people have also had genuine, first-hand zen experiences, among whom many artists. I think overall the transference of zen ideas to the West has led to some great artistic innovations. John Cage’s classes with the zen teacher Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki at Columbia University in the 1940s had far-reaching effects in every imaginable artistic discipline, well beyond the confines of his work as a composer. But Cage never sat cross-legged nor did he learn to meditate. Philip Glass, another big-name twentieth century composer who professed being influenced by Buddhism, did not have the kind of in-depth experiences that traditional students of Buddhism have. Vetter is one of few composers/musicians/artists who did go through the process more thoroughly. He observed daily morning meditations at his master’s shrine when he visited him, several months a year, while dedicating most his time to his own artistic work. He also spend several months a year at a monastery, where he took part in all the rituals, chanting, dressing up, begging for alms, et cetera.
For that reason, and for his superb grasp of art and aesthetics as a whole, I have high regard for the way he appropriated zen performing/visual art for his own artistic means. One of his best ideas is to transform the zen garden into a play, a dynamic process of moving and placing stones and other objects in an open-air surface. Another is his transformation of the okyo, the zen sutra’s. I will not go into those transformations here. Suffice it to say that the changes he made to these two zen traditions were well-informed, and in a way so much in tune with zen thought and practice, that they appear to be a logical step beyond traditional zen (as far as the overtone singing goes, monks disapproved when Vetter would slightly change the sound of his own okyos to amply certain harmonics).
From ‘Buch der Zeichen’
4. ‘The book of signs’: a 40+-year disciplined effort
Since 1972 or 1973 until his death, Vetter spent some time almost every day to work on a Magnus Opus of unusual breath: ‘Das Buch der Zeichen’ / ‘The Book of Signs’ (and that’s more than 40 years). In quick, improvised strokes, he would produce about 15-150 small China ink drawings. At the times I spend with him, he would do this after lunch. He carefully observed how the ink would flow, but as he continued to pull his brush across the paper, the ink would usually continue to flow. This would leave the final result undetermined by the time of his painting. He would continue to produce one drawing after another, mostly abstract, and pile them up while still wet. Then after 30 minutes or so, he would go through all the drawings one by one, carefully observing how the ink had settled. Like in some of his other work, it was his way of letting movement express itself, as it were, flowing through his hands not according to predetermined designs, but as an inevitable result of time unfolding. Each drawing is like a testimony of the flow of time expressed through spontaneous hand movements. I do it myself from time to time, like here, for example, as an ode to Michael. But I realised a few years ago, that if there is one thing I would wish I had (or could develop still), it was Michael’s discipline.
title unknown
5. humour
O yes, you could have great laughs with Michael. He was full of wit, full of stories of his own adventures, of poems he could recite by heart (and certainly not the romantic ones, but absurd and perplexing ones). He had this mix of seriousness with lightness, bringing everything in balance again after the mind-boggling, or physically-straining or emotionally-charged practicing was done. In his work there were always these unexpected twists, which sometimes turned out very funny. He once told me a story of an invitation to an annual congress of recorder players. Vetter first made his name as an avant-garde recorder player, who completely redefined the instrument in the 1960s. Some of the greatest composers of our time wrote new pieces for him in the 1960s. But when Vetter was heralded as the former avant-garde innovator at the European Recorder Festival in 2006, he noticed that all the vigor had gone. The new generation of students played the radical works of the 1960s almost like classical pieces. What had been thrilling and upsetting 40 years earlier, now sounded tame. Vetter himself played one of J.S. Bach’s violin sonata’s on his recorder at the festival, but not without making the necessary adjustments in timing and phrasing, due to the transference of the piece from violin to recorded. This shocked many a conservative lover of Bach music, so much so, that just like in the 1960s, people left the concert hall, some of them protesting loudly. He recalled this episode with much enjoyment, and though it is not a typical example of Vetter’s humor as such, I treasure those moments when he would tell of all the strange and funny moments in his carreer – or simply tell a joke.
“Space Sound Voice – A Quest for the Origin of Harmonics” – 45min 2009 German. A film documentary about Overtone Singing and Harmonics.
DVD available on Void Visuals. (title: Raum Klang Stimme).
Harmonic Singing (also known as overtone singing) has the power to move us deeply. It is an ancient form of singing, using our voice to produce two or more tones at once. But how does it work? And how can harmonic singing have such a profound effect on us?
Harmonic Singing (also known as overtone singing) has the power to move us deeply. It is an ancient form of singing, using our voice to produce two or more tones at once. But how does it work? And how can harmonic singing have such a profound effect on us?
In the documentary Raum Klang Stimme (Space Sound Voice), filmmaker Minghao Xu takes us on a quest for the origins of harmonics, giving us insight in our amazing ability to sing harmonics. Not only a varied range of international harmonic singers is introduced, but also the scientific side is well presented, resulting in an inspirig journey through the world of sound.
This film documentation, portraying seven musicians, tells the story of my personal quest for and fascination of ‘overtone-singing’ and the harmonic proportions.
With:
David Hykes
Christian Bollmann
Wolfgang Saus
Danny Wetzels
Hosoo & Transmongolia
Jill Purce
Mark van Tongeren
My Dutch colleague, the singing-bowl maestro Hans de Back is about to return to Taiwan. On June 20 there will be another evening of Harmonic-Guttural-Metal Music at Hansuna’s place.
Hans de Back will be playing his singing bowls, gong, Thai temple bells and a wide range of other metal/bronze instruments. I will busy myself with glossolalia, incantations in incomprehensible languages, overtone singing, play my new 12-tone sruti box and even some metally things: Jew’s harps from the Yakut people in Sakha (Siberia) and from the Hmong in Vietnam’s northern highlands.
This mesmerising blend of instrumental and vocal sounds can be enjoyed in the intimate atmoshphere of Hans and Una’s living room in the ShiDa area. Afterwards there will be a chance to try some things out for yourself under our guidance and ask questions.
Date and time: Friday, June 20, 2014, from 19:30 till 21.
Damage: 600 NT$.
You can reserve a seat by writing an email to Miss Una Kao: unakao@yahoo.com.tw
Also take note that this summer Hans will offer a new course where you learn to play singing bowls, including a 2-hour personal sound massage from Hans. Something I can highly recommend to anyone!
Weekly Voice Yoga Returns to Canjune Training Centre
March 15: Underground Trip (performance)
March 29: Lacking Sound Festival (performance)
Voice workshop for spring 2014: coming up soon
This week Voice Yoga returns to Canjune’s Training Centre. Everyone is welcome to try out Voice Yoga on Thursdays between 10 and twelve. No registration necessary, but please be on time. Next week (March 20) the class will shift to the afternoon, between 14 and 16. Read the details about Voice Yoga in this blogpost.
Saturday March 15 you are invited to the performance Underground Trip with Serge Onnen, Erika Sprey (visuals), Tung Chao-Ming and myself (sounds) at Taipei Artist Village. There are two shows, at 19:30 and 21:30, please find the details in my previous blogpost.
Saturday March 29 I am invited to perform at the Lacking Sound Festival, which is one of the more interesting on-going sound events in Taipei. Serge Onnen will join me to provide visuals, and we will explore the theme of mirrors. More details in this post.
Soon I will announce some workshops for this spring season. Come check back here or subscribe to this blog. If you prefer to receive emails write to < info at fusica dot nl> and you will receive updates every once in a while.
I’d like to announce a couple of concerts in The Netherlands and in Poland in the coming week:
Monday 18 november, AMSTERDAM, Het Poortgebouw, 1st Floor, Tolhuisweg 2: Oorsprong Curator Series, start at 20 o’ clock. Free-improvisation with flutist Mark Alban Lotz and guitarist Bram Stadhouders and vocalist Mark van Tongeren, and several other exciting music/dance impro-combinations in two other sets that same night.
Link: http://oorsprong.wordpress.com/
Thursday 21 November, AMSTERDAM, Mediamatic/Fabriek – Echokamer, 20:30, Superstringtrio (Rollin Rachele, Mark van Tongeren) and Daphne van Tongeren (light/performance).
Echokamer is a series of events during which composers, musicians and other sound-makers experiment with sound at, and with the sound of, Mediamatic Fabriek. The giant industrial hall reverberates and erodes, and produces quite a bit of sound all by itself. The perfect place for noisy experiments. Read more details about Superstringtrio’s sonic excursion next Thursday on this link: http://www.mediamatic.net/357851/en/echokamer-12-superstringtrio
Sunday 24 November, KRAKOW (Poland), Audio Art Festival/Bunkier Sztuki, 19 o’clock, Superstringtrio. We have been invited by Marek Choloniewski, founder of Audio Art Festival, one of the most long-standing festivals dedicated to Sound Art in all its beautiful, radical and weird manifestations, to join the ranks of many artists who have performed there in past decades. Superstringtrio will present an updated version of its performance Incognito Ergo Sum, premiered in Amsterdam earlier this year at the occasion of the PhD-defense of Mark van Tongeren’s Thresholds of the Audible- thesis at Leiden University. See a short clips of it on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/64866998. For the full program of the festival, which has already started yesterday and continues next week, check this link: http://www.audio.art.pl/
(with our thanks to Horst Rickels, who gives a workshop and concert in Krakow tomorrow with his Lesley-speakersystem, together with Robert Pravda).
In a couple of hours I am leaving Taiwan. If all goes well I might join Oorbeek tomorrow, Saturday 16 November at the opening of The New Institute in ROTTERDAM. Set 1 at 17 o’ clock, set 2 at 17:45. 6th floor, Museumpark 25, 3015 CB Rotterdam,
Link: http://www.hetnieuweinstituut.nl/nieuwnew
s the youngest inheritor in Paiwan flute and nose flute (lalingedan), and she is the only one female inheritor in Paiwan culture. Recently, she is devoted to transmitting Paiwan music culture to younger generations. In addition to release three CD albums, nominated by the Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, she did fieldwork to collect endangered traditional tunes for teaching material and conducted numerous workshops to promote Paiwan music. She interprets traditional tunes in a creative way to express traditional and modern Paiwan music for the contemporary world. Sauniaw performed in Australia, America, Japan, Morocco, Singapore, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, Estonia, Philippines, and Hong Kong with many famous musicians.
Mark van Tongeren is a vocalist/sound explorer who received a PhD in Creative and Performing Arts from Leiden University. In his artistic work he emphasises performance/theatrical aspects of music and collaborates with visual artists, composers and dancers. Essentially an improviser, he also duetted with cellist Yo-Yo Ma on a Bach partita, took part in the world premiere of a film score by Russian composer Dmitri Shoshtakovich, and collaborated on dance projects in Taiwan with Horse, Ming-Hwa Yeh and Taipei Dance Circle.
