Throat Singing - Fulfilling a dream
About 6 months ago called over to a friends house on a social visit. When I arrived Rory and I launched into our usual conversation i.e. media exchange.
"Have you seen..."
"Check this out.."
"This is the latest from.."
Anyway, Rory gave me a quick taster of a movie called Ghenghis Blues. As he went about making tea I got sucked into the film. The story of a blind blues singer who ended up teaching himself how to throat sing, progressing to a level which enabled him to compete in a national competition in Tuva and taking one hell of a trip to get there. Read more about the movie here "http://www.genghisblues.com/".
Needless to say the movie is pretty amazing! Not only for the story line but also for the wonderful sound which it exposed me to. On hearing this music I decided that it had to become part of my trip. While i wanted make my way to Tuva to hear the music, practicalities meant that I would have to make do with the Mongolian strain ( in all reality they are just regional versions of the same style).
My first night in Ulan Bator I managed to find a show (having spent many hours in the previous weeks searching online). I arrived at the gig early and having the time to spare went and got some food. I picked what i thought looked like something light. It turned out to be enough food to feed a small army - it was a challenge I chose to accept. I proceeded to stuff my face, intermittently gulping down coke to cool the inevitable burn from all those spices. In the end I finally had to accept defeat and roll myself out of the restaurant, head hung low. Thanks to my greed, ego or stupidity I was 5 minutes late for my gig of a lifetime( yes this even comes close to beating that Kraftwerk gig in the Olympia back in 2004) .
So I had to be ushered into a darkened hall and given a seat near the front, not a bad reward for my undignified behaviour inthe restaurant 10 minutes earlier. The theatrics around the show implied that it was targetted at tourists. But nevertheless it worked and quickly set the mood, as each performer came to the stage to do their piece the accompanying lighting work intensified the focus.
As soon as the first notes hit the air the mood in the room changed. I felt an electric charge skip up and down my neck and although completely focused on the performer I couldn't help myself from looking around at the other guests to see if they were experiencing what I was experiencing.
To give you an idea of the style of music I'm talking about take a look at the following clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1pcEtHI_w.
The music I saw on the night went even further than this. One musician at one point inverted his loudly projected voice, giving the impression that he was singing the exact same tune but was somehow now performing from deep deep down inside the belly of a cave. A true spectacle. Sitting there experiencing this show was certainly a pinnacle moment in my life.
Two things that save Mongolia from entering into my life book of Dislike & Disdain are its countryside and my experience of throat singing. If you *ever* get the opportunity to hear this music live jump at the chance with arms and legs a flailing. However, try not to gorge beforehand, sitting through the experience of a lifetime whilst bursting to go to the loo is not something I recommend.
"Have you seen..."
"Check this out.."
"This is the latest from.."
Anyway, Rory gave me a quick taster of a movie called Ghenghis Blues. As he went about making tea I got sucked into the film. The story of a blind blues singer who ended up teaching himself how to throat sing, progressing to a level which enabled him to compete in a national competition in Tuva and taking one hell of a trip to get there. Read more about the movie here "http://www.genghisblues.com/".
Needless to say the movie is pretty amazing! Not only for the story line but also for the wonderful sound which it exposed me to. On hearing this music I decided that it had to become part of my trip. While i wanted make my way to Tuva to hear the music, practicalities meant that I would have to make do with the Mongolian strain ( in all reality they are just regional versions of the same style).
My first night in Ulan Bator I managed to find a show (having spent many hours in the previous weeks searching online). I arrived at the gig early and having the time to spare went and got some food. I picked what i thought looked like something light. It turned out to be enough food to feed a small army - it was a challenge I chose to accept. I proceeded to stuff my face, intermittently gulping down coke to cool the inevitable burn from all those spices. In the end I finally had to accept defeat and roll myself out of the restaurant, head hung low. Thanks to my greed, ego or stupidity I was 5 minutes late for my gig of a lifetime( yes this even comes close to beating that Kraftwerk gig in the Olympia back in 2004) .
So I had to be ushered into a darkened hall and given a seat near the front, not a bad reward for my undignified behaviour inthe restaurant 10 minutes earlier. The theatrics around the show implied that it was targetted at tourists. But nevertheless it worked and quickly set the mood, as each performer came to the stage to do their piece the accompanying lighting work intensified the focus.
As soon as the first notes hit the air the mood in the room changed. I felt an electric charge skip up and down my neck and although completely focused on the performer I couldn't help myself from looking around at the other guests to see if they were experiencing what I was experiencing.
To give you an idea of the style of music I'm talking about take a look at the following clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1pcEtHI_w.
The music I saw on the night went even further than this. One musician at one point inverted his loudly projected voice, giving the impression that he was singing the exact same tune but was somehow now performing from deep deep down inside the belly of a cave. A true spectacle. Sitting there experiencing this show was certainly a pinnacle moment in my life.
Two things that save Mongolia from entering into my life book of Dislike & Disdain are its countryside and my experience of throat singing. If you *ever* get the opportunity to hear this music live jump at the chance with arms and legs a flailing. However, try not to gorge beforehand, sitting through the experience of a lifetime whilst bursting to go to the loo is not something I recommend.
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