Mongolian Traditional Music adapted from Boris Avramets
I
found this on the net. I do not know who Boris Avramets is. If anyone knows
please enlighten me. There are quite a few anomalies to my knowledge of
khöömii, for example it being widespread in Eastern Mongolia, which is not the
case as is the spelling of some of the instruments.
The
web site it came from is….
http://www.greenkiwi.co.nz/footprints/mongolia
Mongolia,
with its relatively small population, has a strikingly rich and varied
traditional musical culture. It combines archaic elements dating from ancient
times with musical traditions connected with borrowings dating from later
periods. Traditional music was influenced deeply by the lifestyles and economy,
as well as by the beliefs of the Mongols. Many specific features of Mongolian
music the way the sound is produced vocally, the timbre and colouring of the
sound, the way musical instruments are played all of this is determined by the
close relationship of music to the natural environment and by the Mongol's
notions about the essence of music and its purpose. It is a reflection of the
relationship between people and nature as seen through the patterns of its
inherited and evolving logic.
Legends & Herdsmen
It
is not by chance that folk legends link the origin of some instruments and
Mongolian music as such with the sounds of nature: the noise of the wind, or
rivers and waterfalls, the cries of animals and birds. From the beginning of
time it seems Mongolian tribes were engaged in cattle-breeding. A typical
figure of the traditional Mongolian society is the shepherd arat, who
wandered with his herds for weeks and weeks, facing only wide, boundless space.
The key role of horses in the traditional lifestyle was reflected in the
legends about the creation of the most important traditional Mongolian musical
instrument- the spike fiddle Morin khuur.
Although
the legends are variously stated they all contain the following common
elements: a cultural hero who is a nomadic cattle-breeder, and his friend - a
winged steed. In the horse’s mane, which flutters in the wind, an enchanting
melody appears; its sounds help the cattle-breeder to drive the horse-herds
together. An evil witch interferes through the medium of the hero's jealous
wife. She cuts the steed's wings and it dies. The inconsolable hero makes from
the steed's remnants the first Morin khuur. The Morin khuur, or spike fiddle,
consists of a trapezoidal wooden frame covered with horse's skin. In earlier
days horse-ribs were used as the shaft of the bow. At the top of the wooden
peg-box of the fiddle that head of a horse is carved. It is worth noting that
when the legend about the origin of the Morin khuur is performed, the singer,
while playing the instrument, imitates neighing and the clattering of hoofs, and
reproduces the sensation of galloping and flight using expressive melodic,
rhythmical and onomatopoeic devices.
These
ancient forms of musical expression directly connected with cattle-breeding and
hunting, have been carried over to our time. Among these forms are
exclamations-incantations and invocations-calls addressed to animals;
instrumental playing, and melodic whistling. Many examples of more modern
Mongolian music are closer to the western concept but are still rooted in
melodic formulas as the types of expression dating from ancient times. Gyngo,
or shepherd's signals-exclamations used to drive together herds are widely
used in the open steppe spaces. It is worth noting that every arat family
has its own favoured and freely varied melodious cries usually sung by
adolescent riders. The signal is often a long melodic phrase with a complex
modal and rhythmical structure.
Traditional
competitions in archery were accompanied by group, actually, choral songs
engaged in by all participants, and made up of special sung exclamations. The
performing of collective exclamational refrain Uuhailakh has long been
connected with competitions in national wrestling, and with races. In both
cases the chorus of those present repeats the glorification of the winner in
wrestling or of the horse-winner. According to the famous Russian investigator
of Mongolian music B.F. Smirnow 1975 a collective game in deer bones Shagai is
still one of the most common everyday past times. The game is accompanied by a
continuous exclamational singing of the participants and the onlookers.
Shagai-uuhai, as well as Surin-uuhai, during bow-shooting,
reflect in their whimsical melodic and heterophonic-choral singing, all the
peripetias of the ancient game's progress. Exclamational singing gave rise to
non-textual accompanying songs such as Unshuu, which horsemen sing
during their wanderings in the steppe. At the same time such songs function as
a specific means of signalling, making it possible to recognize the singing shepherd
across great distances. The purpose of communicating across considerable
distances and the expression of man's contact with majestic nature determined,
to a considerable extent, the purely musical peculiarities of one of the
highlights of Mongolian traditional music: the long songs called Urtin Duu.
Urtin Duu is a strophic song without real refrain, performed with a full voice.
The voice production is trained and guttural. The ornaments are largely
improvised. The range up to three octaves and the size of intervals may be
considerable, and this range is emphasized by the frequent passage from throat
voice to falsetto. Urtin Duu are performed by women too, but male performances
are characterized by greater variety of specific ways of sound production. In
the highest registers their vibration and tremolos bear witness to a highly
developed vocal technique. To expand the vocal range and to develop a unique
vocal technique is an honored accomplishment. Mongolian folk music for the
voice aims to overcome the natural limitations of the human voice. The Mongols
have developed a technique whereby an individual can sing in two voices at the
same time. It is true that one of these is a single prolonged droning,
fundamental tone above which a flute-like melody is sounded in a high register.
Even so, two voices are heard simultaneously from the same throat! These sounds
were simulated from the Jew's harp which, in essence, is an instrument
producing a drawing fundamental tone when the small vibrating metal tongue is
held to the lips, and whose overtones are produced by altering the shape of the
oral cavity.
The
Mongolians, however, can produce the same effect without the instrument by tensing
their vocal chords and pressing air through them with great force. This gives
the instrument-like effect of a fundamental note rich in overtones, which can
then be modulated by different formations of the mouth cavity. This vocal
production makes great use of the diaphragm, demanding at the same time special
use of the throat and mouth; all of these elements have to be learned
separately. Not everyone can acquire this talent, but it is still fairly common
among male singers, especially in Eastern Mongolia. And what is even more
incredible, some individuals can produce this wordless, almost supernatural
whistling while riding on horseback. This specific kind of singing called Khoomiy
was cultivated by professional singers called Khoomchi. Another category
of professional singers exists as well: Rhapsodes Ulgerchi, or
raspodic poets, who sang and recited in the long winter evenings long epic
poems called Ulgers which belong to the great heroic tradition of
Central Asia. Singers accompany themselves on the Morinkhuur. Each singer has
to be able to compose a plot freely. This is done by combining and varying
particular strophes of the text and at the same time by leading a vocal melodic
party accompanied by an instrument. It also involves improvising instrumental
introductions and interludes. The performance of traditional epic legends can
last up to three days.
Music,
as an essential part of the shamanic ritual, is a most important vehicle of
influence. Singing and playing and the frame drum leads to the condition of
trance. This music, especially, secures a communication with the supernatural.
Obviously the practice of Shamanisity, so widespread in Mongolia, is rooted in
the Mongolian concept of music as a symbolic journey to the supernatural world.
Music, and singing in particular, is an obligatory component of most of the
actions in traditional Mongolian society. Thus well-wishers Yorolchi
sing solemn songs at family and social festivals. In ancient times even the
reports of counting in the form of singing - or reading any prose in a
sing-song, even including newspaper - is noticed till this day. Moreover, even
the record-keepers and accountants count money in this way; distinct melodious,
rhythmical formulas are always utilized. In modern conditions this tradition
sometimes produces astonishing results. B. Smirnov describes one such case:
"A strange effect of multi-party sonority I once happened to hear in the
choir of some tens of voices of 'The Trade Ministry's record keepers', placed
under the roof of money-bills in a song form. But through the velvety sound
haze and continuous glittering one could sense the common, basic principles and
sounds of one pentatonic mode."
In
ancient times a great variety of musical instruments in Mongolia were used.
These can simply be divided into three according to location:
1
church and palace
2 home, for marriages and other feasts
3 mass musical instruments.
Besides
these there are also the shepherd's instruments - for example, the flute limba.
Until the end of the XVI century instruments making loud ringing sounds were
used during hunting and wandering. In Mongol Buddhist monasteries - till the
revolution there were more than 740 site specific and original orchestras.
Their instruments were identical to the orchestras of the Lamaic monasteries of
Tibetan included copper trumpets, short trumpets made from human bones, and
different percussion instruments. Most of the string instruments, associated
with court music or with theatrical forms, came from China or were widespread
throughout Asia. These include the Yatag board zither, and the Shurdaga
or Shadz - a long necked lute, which has three plucked or bowed
strings. The Kluchir has four bowed strings, which are tuned to a
soprano register. A variant of tenor register - called Khuur, is the
favourite instrument of tale-tellers - musicians Khuurchi from the
east country. The yoochin is a string percussion instrument of
trapezoidal body. Its sound is seduced out by the strokes of plaint reed sticks
on its strings. Such instruments are popular in Asian countries. In Mongolia
Yoochin is mostly used as an ensemble orchestral instrument.
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