Have you ever heard of throat singing?
Tuvan throat singing, or khoomei, is a style of singing that’s widely used in Tuva, Mongolia, and Siberia.
Batzorig Vaanchig, a musician from Mongolia and a member of the band, Khusugtun, uses this style of singing.
Together with his daughter, he has shown his viewers how throat singing sounds.
The truth is, throat singing sounds like a strange concept.
Throat singing? How does that work?
Does their voice come out of the throat? Is it all guttural, windy, or hoarse?
Khoomei has a softer sound of singing.
The fundamentals of throat singing utilize the low-mid to midrange of the singer’s normal voice.
Surprisingly, this style of singing uses less pressure, less tension, and the body is more relaxed.
There is less tension on the larynx and the diaphragm is relaxed.
Despite the less tension, throat singing uses a combination of movements of the lips, throat, tongue, or jaw. It’s still not easy. Fortunately, it can be taught and developed.
This is what Batzorig Vaanchig did.
He studied music at the Institute of Culture in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia, where he is from.
Although he studied the morin khuur in school, he eventually became known for playing this instrument and a khoomei.
In 2009, he co-founded the Khusugtun ethnic band with his colleagues.
In the band, he plays the morin khuur and one of their khoomei. In 2015, they performed in the first season of Asia’s Got Talent, where they were able to showcase their talent and Mongolian culture to the rest of Asia.
They bagged 2nd place that season.
Batzorig Vaanchig continues to share Mongolian culture and music through his YouTube channel and videos.
He is qualified to showcase their culture and music because of all the achievements he has received.
Khusugtun Band was awarded the best band at the Rainforest Music Festival in Malaysia in 2012, as well as at the PercPan – Percussion Panorama Festival in Salvador, Brazil in 2017.
He won 2nd place as a soloist, vocalist, and instrumentalist at the “MIRA” Ethnic Music Award Competition in Russia in 2014.
In 2018, he was awarded the Order of the Polar Star (Altan Gadas) by the Government of Mongolia, which is the highest state of honor they can give to their citizens.
In the same year, he also worked with the Latvian band, Auli, to produce an album that won the best folk album in Latvia.
This song is about Mongolia’s strong horses.
He played the morin khuur while his daughter sang and played her own instrument. His daughter didn’t perform as a throat singer but with the traditional way of singing.
It was fun to see the father and daughter perform differently and still have the same goal in mind.
They still wanted to showcase their music and culture together to the rest of the world.
See this adorable daddy-daughter throat singing performance in the video below!
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