From the Land of Tuva!

About a week ago Sean and I went to see 'Daughters of Tuva', an all women Tuvan throat singing band at Beall Concert Hall on the U of O campus. Until recently, women were not allowed to perform throat singing in their native land because it was thought to cause infertility or even death. We sat next to woman who had just moved to Eugene from a small coastal town near Newport. She was quick witted and a little eccentric---we had fun laughing at some of the more traditional songs (which included loud grunting and sheep noises).

From the wikipedia article about Tuvan music: " The musician's intention was usually to emphasize timbre and harmonics over rhythm. The performances were often in places of natural acoustics such as caves, cliffs, rivers, and so on. The performer would often take long pauses to allow nature its own chance to converse back. The modern music found today is often composed of ensembles of musicians playing multiple instruments and often is much more pulsatile than its traditional uses".

Shamanism is prevalent in Tuva, so much of the music is seen as a utilitarian device to converse with nature or to help herd sheep.

Below is a video of the last song they performed.