OVERTONE SINGING

VOCAL MULTIPHONICS

Also known by the term Harmonic Singing, this is a special

vocal technique originating in the Altai - Tuvan -
Mongolian region which allows the singer to produce more
than one musical note at once. The voice of each one of us
(even whilst speaking) produce a range of overtones or
harmonics simultaneously. The skill of the overtone singer
lies in being able to focus upon each single one of these
several overtones at will. The indigenous use of this
extraordinary vocal technique resides in producing a basic
drone with a melody (created out of the range of overtones
- commonly 1st to the 12th) surfing above. These melodies
are most often taken from popular songs - e.g. nowadays,
after contact with the West, a popular tune to use is
"Amazing Grace." However, there exist a range of such
vocal techniques in Mongolia:
o uruulyn / labial xoomii
o tagnain / palatal xoomii
o xamryn / nasal xoomii
o bagalzuuryn, xooloin / glottal, throat xoomii
o tseejiin xondiin, xevliin / chest cavity, stomach xoomii
o turlegt or xosmoljin xoomii / xoomii combined with
long song
However, other regions have other terms. For instance, the
Tuvans give three basic categories:
 o sygyt: an imitation of the gentle breezes of summer,
the songs of birds.
o hoomei: wind swirling among rocks
o kargyraa: howling winds of winter; the plaintive cries
of a mother camel after losing her calf.
o

I believe that this form of singing has its origins in

shamanism. This being the region where shamanism is said
to have begun at the time of the last Ice Age many
thousands of years ago. Whilst nowadays the melodies are
from familiar tunes, I believe that the first use of this
technique was to give expression to transcendent states of
consciousness and to act as a vehicle for expressing
realities that go beyond everyday speech. I myself use it
this way in my own work.

The Mongolian folklore has a beautiful story regarding its

origins: Rooted in its shamanistic past, the people of the
Chandman' sum believe that xoomii originated there and
they explain its origin in several ways. They claim that the
unusual features of nature present in their mountains,
lakes, rivers and birds together with the intrinsic link to
the magical or supernatural gave rise to this style of
singing. Chandman sum is surrounded on three sides by
mountains and lakes. Its western border is formed by Lake
Xar Us Nuur in the north and two high mountain ranges,
Zuun Jargalantyn Nuruu and Xuremtiin Nuruu. The
eastern border is formed by two lakes, Xar Nuur and
Dargin Nuur. The two largest lakes, Xar Us Nuur and Xar
Nuur, are connected in the north by a much smaller lake,
Dalai Nuur, and by a river called Chono Xaraix. To the
south lies semi-desert. Certain birds also feature in this
story and chief amongst these is the usny buxl bittern. This
bird buries its head beneath the surface of the lake and
then sings. Xhoomii is sometimes referred to as "bird's
echo." These people also stress that the sounds heard in
the mountains have a special quality. For instance, Mount
Jargalant is said to be able to 'hold' the very strong winds
which come from the west before releasing them into the
steppe below. Sometimes the wind is held for four to five
hours whilst at other times the duration is said to last for
three days. This gives warning to the people living in that
area. During this time the mountain drones or makes a
hollow sound. Older people from the area credit the same
power to the lakes saying that Mount Jargalant and Lake
Xar Us Nuur "attract and digest the sound of the wind".
Some even speak of a musical communication existing
between these two. In this region there are many waterfalls
and rivers that produce different combinations of sounds
depending upon the type of stones over which they run. A
particular river, the River Erv, is credited with magical
properties and also as being the origin of this style of
singing.

The first written records of this style of singing come from

the sixteenth century. A few recordings of this vocal
technique from Mongolia were released in the West during
the early 70s but David Hykes from New York is generally
credited as being the first Westerner to actually perform
this technique within a musical context. He went on to
form The Harmonic Choir of New York under his
direction. They met regularly at the Church of St. John the
Divine and produced three albums and since then David
Hykes has largely followed a solo career albeit
accompanied by various other musicians. David
experimented with numerous innovations including
changing the fundamental (moveable drone), reversing the
usual process, introducing text, and others especially in his
works produced with the Harmonic Choir of New York.

Overtone singing works best in a friendly acoustic

environment. David Hykes and others have recorded at Le
Thoronet where the overtones can ring out their lives in
the accommodating acoustic space. It is precisely in
exploring that which 'lives' in the 'space' between notes
that the spirit of overtone singing resides. It is also
necessary to possess a good voice too! - from which to
begin the exploration.

There are also a number of schools approximating this

vocal style here in the West. The German composer
Karlheinz Stockhausen created a piece in the 60s called
'Stimmung' for a form of overtone singing which relied
more on the lips. In producing the true hoomii sound lips,
tongue, diaphragm, abdominal muscles and other body
parts all come into play. In Mongolia the best singers are
also often the best wrestlers! It does require considerable
strength to perform the technique in a more powerful
manner than the 'easy' or 'kind' Western technique first
advocated by Stockhausen. Some Western practitioners
state that this 'kinder' (or 'easier') way has a more healing
effect upon the listener and a less damaging effect upon
their own vocal chords.

The overtones follow a Law of Nature known to the

ancients. In fact, Pythagoras was able to introduce the
rationale of mathematics into the laws of music thanks to
the Overtone Law. Whilst the law of overtones exists
within the classical stream in the form of timbre, many
Western instruments are designed to cut down on these
overtones for the sake of 'harmony'. The human voice,
strings and conical bore instruments all follow this law - it
is unchangeable. The world of bells and drums does not
conform to this overtone law but have laws of their own.
They produce more complex overtone series. But the
human voice producing overtones from one fundamental
has no choice but to follow the law e.g. Fundamental
(drone), Octave, Fifth, Fourth, a series of Thirds followed
by a series of Seconds. The general unfoldment being one
of moving by degrees into ever smaller intervals. This is
what is known as a 'mathematical progression' in music.
For instance, returning to Pythagoras, the fundamental
would be produced by the whole length of the string. The
first overtone (the Octave) by dividing the string in half
(which doubles the speed - as in the table below e.g. C1 =
130cps C2 = 260cps - measured in Cycles Per Second), the
next overtone (a Fifth) by dividing the string into three
parts, and the next overtone (the Fourth) by dividing the
string into four and so on. Pythagoras would have
demonstrated this, as we do today, on what he termed the
Monochord. This was one string with a moveable bridge
which served to divide the string into its several (ratios)
lengths in order to sound the new tone and so demonstrate
the overtone law and its decreasing intervals.

We could represent the arithmetic sequence of overtones in

the following table:

8 C 1040 cps 16 C 2080 cps

7 B 910 cps 15 B 1950 cps
6 G 780 cps 14 B 1820 cps
5 E 650 cps 13 A 1690 cps
4 C 520 cps 12 G 1560 cps
3 G 390 cps 11 F 1430 cps
2 C 260 cps 10 E 1360 cps
1 C 130 cps 9 D 1170 cps

As a matter of fact, the musical scales of the world are

derived from relationships between these several
overtones. For instance, our Western scale is taken from
the first two overtones; the Octave and the Fifth. By
'Geometric Progression' we find that Twelve such Fifths
take us to just over Seven octaves (the difference being
known as a 'Pythagorean coma'). We then reduce these
twelve tones down into one octave to provide us with our
twelve-notes-to-the-octave scale. It might seem confusing
that the Third overtone is called a Fifth but the reason for
this is because it is the fifth note on the White keys of a
piano (in the diatonic Major scale) up from the note C - in
which Key the piano is laid out - that gives us our interval
of the Fifth i.e. from C to G. However, since the time of
Bach we have used alternative tuning systems in order to
facilitate modulation (moving between several keys during
one piece of music) and in the twentieth century this
pathway has evolved into what is termed Equal
Temperament whereby all of the intervals that make up our
octave (except the octave itself) are out-of-tune with those
produced by the Law of Overtones or Nature.
This is a more complex subject than is intended to be
discussed in this short article, but we can state that Equal
Temperament consists of dividing the Octave up into twelve
exactly equal intervals. Prior to Bach's time, a keyboard
instrument would be tuned for playing in one key and, if a
performer were to move to playing in another key upon
this self-same instrument, then certain of the musical
intervals within that new key would sound out of tune and
increasingly so as we moved through the keys. It became a
case of sacrificing certain intervals for the sake of others
e.g. the Third. For a fuller explanation of this complex
subject visit Kylie Gann's site and his article on Just
Intonation (click HERE).

Some modern composers have tried to create scales more

in-tune with this Natural Law of Overtones. The
Californian composer Harry Partch (1901-1976 - for more
on Partch and his music click HERE) is a case in point for
he wrote an entire book, on this issue of Just Intonation,
called 'Genesis of a Music.' Several composers have tried
experimenting with alternative tunings leading to, in the
case of Partch, his so-called 43-tones-to-the-octave (in
place of our normal 12 tones) and others experimenting
with 52 or even 72 notes to the octave. Overtone singing
can consequently be seen as a way of producing musical
forms arising organically from within the Laws of Nature
and, therefore, potentially more healing and harmonious to
the human being. Listening to a Major Triad in Just
Intonation, as compared to a Major Triad in Equal
Temperament, is an interesting experience - for we find
that in the case of the latter we have three unrelated notes
forced into co-existing together whilst with the former it is
more of the case that three related musical notes combine
together harmoniously and reinforce one another forming
a relationship that communicates far more of a sense of
wholeness and unity. This echoes within the soul of the
listener something of the spiritual philosophy of wholeness
that is founded upon an interrelatedness and
interconnectedness between the disparate factors of our
complex modern lives and enshrines a sense of the Human
Family.

© Copyright 2001 by Frank Perry. All rights reserved.

Slightly revised 2004
© Frank Perry, 2001. All of these articles are copyright.
They may individually be copied and shared with others in
a spirit of knowledge-sharing and fair play, but they may
not be sold, printed or reproduced in quantity or changed
in form without the permission of the copyright holder.
None of this material may be reproduced in workshops or
lectures of any kind unless quotes are credited or properly
attributed. Magazine and other editors may e-mail me for
permission to reprint. E-mail: frank@frankperry.co.uk

BOOKS:
OVERTONE SINGING Mark C, van Tongeren (2002)

Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics. Jonathan Goldman (1992)

CDs:
WESTERN

Movements of Mind Nigel Charles Halfhide Jecklin Disco 615-2

Colours of Silence Nigel Charles Halfhide Jecklin Disco 634-2
The Harmonic choir David Hykes & The
OCORA C 558607
Hearing Solar Winds Harmonic Choir
David Hykes & The Celestial Harmonies 13010-
Current Circulation
Harmonic Choir 2
David Hykes & The Celestial Harmonies 2CD
Harmonic Meetings
Harmonic Choir 14013-2
David Hykes & The FONIX MUSIC FMFCD
Breath of the Heart
Harmonic Choir 1132
MOUNTAIN BELL
Infinite Peace Frank Perry
MUSIC BEL CD 002
MOUNTAIN BELL
Rainbow Healing Peace Frank Perry & Stargate
MUSIC BEL CD 009
MOUNTAIN BELL
Divine Peace Frank Perry
MUSIC BEL CD 007
MOUNTAIN BELL
Planetary Peace Frank Perry
MUSIC BEL CD 011
Ancient Tibetan Initiation MOUNTAIN BELL
Frank Perry
Bowls MUSIC BEL CD 012
Overtones in Old European
Michael Vetter WERGO SM1078-50
Cathedrals SENANQUE
Overtones in Old European
Michael Vetter WERGO SM1080-50
Cathedrals THORONET

EASTERN
Mongolian Songs Various KING RECORDS KICC 5133
TUVA Voices from the SMITHSONIAN/FOLKWAYS
Various
centre of Asia CD SF 40017
TUVA Echoes from the The Tuva Ensemble from
PAN Records PAN 2013CD
spirit world Kyzyl
Konga Ondar, Kaigal-ool
TUVA Voices from the
Khovalig, Gennadi PAN Records PAN 2005CD
Land of the Eagles
Tumat
Uzlyau Guttural singing
of the peoples of the
Various PAN Records PAN 2019CD
Sayan, Altai, and Ural
Mountains
DEEP IN THE HEART
OF TUVA CD & Various ellipsis arts 4080
BOOK
TUVA CHOOMEI:
WDR WORLD NETWORK
Throat Singing From the Various
55.838
Centre of Asia

Some of these recommendations may be extremely hard to

purchase - I certainly had to go to a lot of trouble myself. If
so, maybe you could try a local (music) library etc.

If you require more information regarding the CDs

featuring overtone singing by Frank Perry then please
click on CDs in navigation bar and then either look up
individual CDs by Title or view the entire Catalogue - or
click HERE.