Skip to main content
Scientific American
  • Sign In
  • |Newsletters
  • COVID
  • Health
  • Mind & Brain
  • Environment
  • Technology
  • Space & Physics
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Subscribe
  • Current Issue
  • Sign In
  • Newsletters
      • Share
      • Latest

      Save $10 on digital!

      The Sciences

      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 on September 1, 1999
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on Reddit
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share via Email
      • Print
      Advertisement
      Rights & Permissions

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

        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).

        Advertisement

        Newsletter

        Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter.

        Sign Up

        Support Science Journalism

        Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.

        Subscribe Now!Support Science Journalism

        Follow us

        • instagram
        • soundcloud
        • youtube
        • twitter
        • facebook
        • rss

        Scientific american arabic

        العربية
        • Return & Refund Policy
        • About
        • Press Room
        • FAQs
        • Contact Us
        • Site Map
        • Advertise
        • SA Custom Media
        • Terms of Use
        • Privacy Policy
        • Your US State Privacy Rights
        • Your Privacy Choices/Manage Cookies
        • International Editions
        Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

        © 2023 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc.

        All Rights Reserved.

        Scroll To Top

        Support science journalism.

        Scientific American paper issue and on tablet

        Thanks for reading Scientific American. Knowledge awaits.

        Already a subscriber? Sign in.

        Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue.

        Create Account

        See Subscription Options

        Continue reading with a Scientific American subscription.

        You may cancel at any time.

        Sign in.