Monday, May 28, 2012

Mongolian traditional music

The traditional Mongolian Folk music is influenced by the large variety of tribes, having been united for the first time in the 13th century under the rule of Genghis Khan with Turkish tribes in order to establish the Mongolian people. The nomad shepherds in Mongolia, like other nomads in Central Asia, use to play string and wind instruments.Percussion instruments, though, were only played in connection with Shamanism and Buddhism, the origins of which can be found in Tibetan Lamaism, as well as with the "Tsam dance", which was performed in Mongolia for the first time in the 8th century.Music is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among the unique contributions of Mongolia to the world's musical culture are the long songs, one of the greatest features of the Mongolian music, overtone singing and morin khuur, the horse-headed fiddle. The music of Mongolia is also rich with varieties related to the various ethnic groups of the country: Oirats, Hotogoid, Tuvans, Darhad, Buryats, Tsaatan , Dariganga, Uzemchins, Barga, Kazakhs and Khalha.Besides the traditional music, Western classical music and ballet flourished during the MPR. Among the most popular forms of modern music in Mongolia are Western pop and rock genres and the mass songs, which are written by modern authors in a form of folk songs.The Mongolians are renowned for their love for music and singing. Any celebrations by the Mongolians always turn into a celebration of singing.




Long song


This genre is called "Long song" (Urtyn duu) because each syllable of text is extended for a long duration. A four-minute song may only consist of ten words. Lyrical themes vary depending on context; they can be philosophical, religious, romance, or celebratory, and often use horses as a symbol or theme repeated throughout the song. Eastern Mongols typically use a morin khuur (horse-head fiddle) as accompaniment, sometimes with a type of indigenous flute named limbe. Oirat groups of the Western Mongols typically sing long songs unaccompanied or accompanied with the igil.





Horse-head fiddle

The horse-head fiddle, or morin khuur, is a distinctively Mongolian instrument and is seen as a symbol of the country. The instuments has two strings. There is some controversy regarding the traditional carving of a horse on the upper end of the pegbox. Some scholars believe that this is proof that the instrument was originally a shamanistic instrument, as the staffs of shamans have a horse similarly carved on top; the horse is a much-revered animal in Mongolia.


Other traditional instuments

Other instruments used in Mongolian traditional music include shants (a three-stringed, long-necked, strummed lute similar to the Chinese sanxian or Japanese shamisen), yoochin(a dulcimer similar to the Chinese yangqin), khuuchir  (a bowed spike-fiddle), yatga (a plucked zither related to the Chinese guzheng), everburee (a folk oboe), khel khuur (Jew's harp), tobshuur (a plucked lute), ikh khuur (bass morin khuur), and bishhuur(a pipe similar in sound to a clarinet).


Throat singing

Perhaps the best-known musical form of the Mongols is the throat singing tradition known as hoomii, extant among all or most Mongols though best known internationally from Tuva. Sung differently than traditional vocals. In Mongolia, the most famous throat-singers include Khalkhas like Gereltsogt and Sundui, while the Tuvan group Huun-Huur-Tu has an international following. This unique type of singing involves the production of two distinctively audible pitches at the same time, including a low pedal note, or drone, derived from the fundamental frequency of the vocal cord vibrations, and higher melodic notes that result when the singer's mouth acts as a filter, selecting one note at a time from among the drone's natural  overtone series pitches.



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