September 1, 1999

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The Throat Singers of Tuva

Testing the limits of vocal ingenuity, throat-singers can create sounds unlike anything in ordinary speech and song--carrying two musical lines simultaneously, say, or harmonizing with a waterfall

By Theodore C. Levin and Michael E. Edgerton

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THEODORE C. LEVIN and MICHAEL E. EDGERTON began working together last year when approached by Scientific American. Levin has been conducting musical fieldwork in Central Asia since 1977 and, in 1987, became the first American allowed to study music in Tuva. The authorities welcomed him with a mixture of delight and terror. Entire villages were repainted, and meals of boiled sheep were served on linen-covered tables set up on the steppe. Since 1991 Levin has taught at Dartmouth College. He has organized many a concert tour, recording project and cultural exchange. Edgerton is a musical composer who has performed worldwide and directed vocal ensembles in the U.S. and Korea. His works, published primarily by CP Press Publications, often utilize uncommon performance gestures. Currently he is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin Vocal Function Laboratory and is funded by the National Center for Voice and Speech (NIH grant no. P60DC00976).

More by Theodore C. Levin and Michael E. Edgerton
Scientific American Magazine Vol 281 Issue 3This article was originally published with the title “The Throat Singers of Tuva” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 281 No. 3 ()
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican091999-39DNw94luejXNeKFGNVMgj
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