This is some of Ensemble Tumbash info from the net The ensemble was founded in June 1999. All members of the ensemble have
either studied at the conservatory in Ulaan Baatar and work as professional
musicians today. The link to the latest CD’s are below
-
"Ayalguu - Vol. I": FM 50027 – "Höömij -
Vol. II": FM 50028 – "Urtyn
duu - Vol. III": FM 50029
Mongolia today
Today Mongolia is sparsely populated. The
population confesses to Buddhism in the lamaistic form. Only 2.5 million people
live on a surface of almost the size of the whole of Western Europe. The
distance from the west to the east of the country measures 5'500 kilometres
(3420 miles approx.). The different tribes living in Mongolia have their own
costumes, musical instruments, singing traditions and speak different dialects.
The largest group, the Khalkha, lives in Central
and Eastern Mongolia; the Bayad, the Dorbet, the Khotan, the Altai-Uryankhai,
the Torgut, the Olöt, the Dzakhchin and the Mingat live in the West; in Eastern
Mongolia live the Dariganga, the Barga, the Üzemchin, the Buryat and the
Chamnigan, and in the North the Chotgoid, the Darchat, the Chöwsögöl-Uryankhai,
the Tsaatan and the Khakhar. Also the Kazaks, who are Muslims, live in the
Altai. The artwork of the people, their great poetic talents, their epic works
and the lyric poetry are outstanding. Singers and poets used to walk from camp
to camp, singing their songs and epics of heralds to the accompaniment of the
lute "tovshuur" or the "horse-violin" "morin
khuur". The songs talk about love, everyday life or animals, especially
about horses. They reflect the expression of freedom and the immensity of the
Mongolian steppes. Special songs are sung at ceremonies, at festivals, on
special seasonal occasions and to accompany rituals.
The nomad shepherds in Mongolia, like other nomads
from Central Asia, use to play string and wind instruments.Percussion
instruments though, were only used in connection with Shamanism and Buddhism,
the origins of which are to be found in Tibetan Lamaism, as well as with the
"Tsam dance", which was performed in Mongolia for the first time in
the 8th century.
- Hel khuur (Jew's harp)
Nowadays, a Jew's harp is made of brass or steel, but in earlier days it was
made of wood or bamboo. A spring, acting as a vibrator, is fitted into a
horseshoe-shaped metal holder and is called ,tongue'. The player places the
long part of the instrument close to his mouth, touching it with his front
teeth and manipulating the tongue with his right hand. Changing the shape of
the mouth cavity, which at the same time acts as a resonance chamber, can vary
the pitch.
- Tsuur (wind instrument)
The tsuur is a traditional Mongolian wind instrument (flute) made of uliangar
wood (bur chervil - umbellifer). Melody and sound resemble the sound of the
waterfall of the River Jeven. The "aman tsuur" made by the
Altai-Uriankhai tribes are the most popular ones and produce the best sound.
- Limbe (wind instrument)
The instrument is frequently used in accompaniment, occasionally also as a solo
instrument. In former times it was made of bamboo or wood, nowadays mostly of
plastic, particularly those imported from China. These flutes (transverse
flutes) are closely bound up with the nomads of Central Asia. The length of
this instrument is approx. 64 cm, with nine holes, whereof one is the blowhole
and two others are reserved for the tuning. It is often played with circular
breathing*. The sound reflects what is heard in the nature or the sounds of the
natural and social environment.
- *Circular breathing: one note is blown while the
musician inhales through his nose. The air is collected inside the cheeks and
exhaled by the pressure of the cheeks' muscles (same principle as for the
bagpipe). The base of the tongue is used as a valve.
- Surnai - ever buree (wind instrument)
Reed instrument - a folk oboe with a conical body made of wood or horn,
widening towards the end. It has seven finger holes and one thumbhole. A metal
staple carries the reed and a lip-disc in the shape of a funnel. The short form
of the instrument is known as "haidi", meaning 'flute of the sea'.
- Lavai - tsagaan buree (wind
instrument)
"Tsagaan buree" - white shells.
- Bishgüür (wind
instrument)
A richly ornamented metal trumpet, in Mongolian also called "shell
trumpet" (bishgüür).
- Khun tovshuur - Tovshuur (string instrument)
The khun tovshuur is a two-stringed instrument similar to the lutes of Tuva,
Altai or Kazakhstan. The body and the neck are carved from cedar wood and the
body is often coated with the leather of wild animals, camels or goats. The
head of the neck is formed like a swan. The Mongol legends say that they
originate from a swan. The strings are plaited with horsetail hair and tuned in
the interval of a fourth.
The West Mongols use this lute to accompany the "tuuli" (heroic-epic
myths) and "magtaal" (praise songs).
-Khuuchir (string
instrument)
Formerly, the nomads (called "the savages") mainly used the snake
skin violin or horsetail violin. The Chinese call it "the Mongol
instrument" or "Huk'in". It is tuned in the interval of a fifth
and is small or middle sized. The khuuchir has a small, cylindrical, square or
cup-like resonator made of bamboo, wood or copper, covered with a snake skin
and open at the bottom. The neck is inserted in the body of the instrument. It
usually has four silk strings, of which the first and the third are accorded in
unison, whereas the second and fourth are tuned in the upper fifth. The bow is
coated with horsetail hair and inseparably interlaced with the string-pairs; in
Chinese this is called "sihu", that is "four", also meaning,
"having four ears". The smaller instruments have only two strings and
are called "erh'hu", that is "two" in Chinese.
-Morin khuur (string
instrument - horse-head-violin)
The morin khuur is a typical Mongolian
two-stringed instrument. The body and the neck are carved from wood. The end of
the neck has the form of a horse-head and the sound is similar to that of a
violin or a cello. The strings are made of tried deer or mountain sheep sinews.
It is played with a bow made of willow, stringed with horsetail hair and coated
with larch or cedar wood resin.
This instrument is used to play polyphonic
melodies, because with one stroke of the bow the melody and drone-strings can
be played at the same time. The morin khuur is the most widespread instrument
in Mongolia, and is played during celebrations, rituals and many other
occasions, as well as an accompaniment for dances or songs. Even the sound and
noises of a horse herd are imitated on the morin khuur.
People say that it is connected with a handsome
man. It is also played when a ewe doesn't want to suckle her lamb. It is
believed that the ewe, hearing this music, will feel better and accept her
lamb.
There is a legend about the origin of this
instrument. A Mongol missed his dead horse so much that he used its head, its
bones and its hair to build an instrument on which he started to play the
familiar noises of his beloved horse.
- Yoochin (string instrument)
Box zither - dulcimer with 13 double-wire strings. The strings are struck with
two wooden sticks, so-called little wooden hammers (comparable with the santur
of the Persians). It has a black wooden soundboard richly decorated with
ornaments.
The instrument was only familiar to townspeople and first of all only they
played it.
- Shudraga / Shanz (string instrument - with a sound comparable to that
of a banjo)
The shudraga or shanz is a long-necked spiked lute with an oval wooden frame
with snake skin covering stretched over both faces. The three strings are fixed
to a bar, which is inserted in the body. The instrument is struck or plucked
with a plectrum made of horn or with the fingers. As the tones do not echo,
every note is struck several times.
- Yatga (string instrument)
The yatga is a half-tube zither with a movable bridge. It is constructed as a
box with a convex surface and an end bent towards the ground. The strings are
plucked and the sound is very smooth. The instrument was considered to be
sacrosanct and playing it was a rite, bound to taboos. The instrument was
mainly used at court and in monasteries, since strings symbolised the twelve
levels of the palace hierarchy.
Shepherds were forbidden to play the
twelve-stringed zither, but they were allowed to play the ten-stringed zither,
which was also used for interludes during recitations of epics.
- Urtyin duu (long song) melismatic and
richly ornamented, with a slow tempo, long melodic lines, wide intervals and no
fixed rhythm.
It is sung in verses, without a regular refrain
and with a full voice in the highest register. The melody has a coat, which
covers over three octaves. This requires a strict observance of the breathing
rules. The breathing is actually free, but the singer has to keep to the strict
rules of performance, making only the absolutely necessary breathing breaks
without interrupting the melodic ornaments. The richer the voice is and the
longer the singer can hold it, the more intensive is the attention paid by the
auditors and the more this performance is appreciated.
People usually practise these long songs while
being alone in the open steppe and riding along slowly. The repertory is an
expression of the liberty and the vastness of the Mongolian steppe and is used
to accompany the rites of the seasonal cycles and the ceremonies of everyday
life. Long songs are an integral part of the celebrations held in the round
tents and they must be sung after the strict rules of performance.
There are three categories of long songs:
- The extended ones with uninterrupted
flowing melodies, richly ornamented, containing long passages in falsetto.
- The usual ones are shorter, less ornamented, and without falsetto.
- The shortened ones have short verses, refrains and melodic courses
full of leaps and bounds.
- Bogin duu (short song) - strophic, syllabic,
rhythmically tied, sung without ornaments.
Short songs are never sung at celebrations, since
they are spontaneously improvised and rather satirical. They are often sung in
the form of a dialogue and speak of certain friends and incidents, or they are lyrical
tales about love, about everyday life and about animals, especially horses.
- Tuuli (heroic-epic myth)
Mongolian epics report about fierce fights between
the good end evil powers in a highly qualified literary poetry.
The recital of epics was always bound to rituals,
and it was believed to have magical power. The recitation should have a
favourable influence on natural spirits, as well as the power to expulse evil
spirits. Generally, the epics were sung inside the round felt tents of the
shepherds during the period of their search for the winter quarters, before the
hunt or a battle, and against infertility or disease.
- Magtaal (praising songs)
Magtaal are sung in honour of the gods of Lamaism
and the spirits of nature, heralds or particular animals. Epic texts also
contain praise songs for the mountains, the rivers and nature in general. This
is an ancient tradition still practised up to date by the tribes in the region
of Mongol-Altai in Western Mongolia.
- Höömij (overtone song)
The performance of overtone singing takes usually
place during social events such as eating or drinking parties.
The Mongols call their overtone singing höömij (= throat, pharynx). The
singer creates a constant pitched fundamental considered as a drone, and at the
same time modulates the selected overtones to create a formantic melody from
harmonics. Several techniques are known, depending on the vocal source and the
place of resonance: kharkhiraa = lung, khamriin = nose, tövönkhiin
= throat and bagalzuuriin = pharynx. Overtone singers form and vary
sound and timbre with their mouth, teeth, tongue, throat, nose and lips. They
always form two distinct tones simultaneously sustaining the fundamental pitch.
Overtone singing can also be heard from Turkic-speaking tribes in disparate
parts of central Asia. The Bashkir musicians from the Ural Mountains call their
style of overtone singing uzlyau; the Khakass call it khai, the
Altai call it koomoi and the Tuvinians khoomei.
Up to date, overtone singing is a common feature of Siberian peoples as well as
the Kazakhs and Mongolian tribes. Overtone or throat singing is a special
technique in which a single vocalist produces two distinct tones
simultaneously. One tone is a low, sustained fundamental pitch (a kind of
drone) and the second is a series of flutelike harmonics, which resonate high
above this drone. Who masters this singing technique may even make the overtone
sound louder then the fundamental pitch, so the drone is not audible anymore. A
different technique often used by overtone singers combines a normal glottal
pitch with the low frequency, pulse-like vibration known as vocal fry. The
Turkic tribes in the Altai use to sing their texts in such a low vocal fry
register of about 25-20 Hz).
- Folk dance
When the Khalkha and the tribes of Western
Mongolia dance their folk dances ("bij" - "bielgee"), they
mainly move the upper part of the body. With their movements they express their
identity and the gender as well as their tribal and ethnic affiliation. Besides
the gender-specific movements, there are others that imitate typical activities
of their everyday life, such as the nomadic herdsmen's life, the daily work in
the fields or the historical events of their tribe. This kind of dance is
mainly performed during celebrations inside the tents, during festivals of the
local nobility or during ceremonies in the monasteries.
Every tribe has its particular forms of
expression, e.g.:
- the Dörbed and the Torguts accompany their
dances with dance songs;
- the Buryats dance in a circle, always moving in
the direction of the sun; a solo singer improvises pairs of verses followed by
the chorus singing the refrain;
- the Bayad dance with their knees bent outwards,
balancing on them mugs filled with sour mare-milk (airag).
- the Dörbed balance mugs filled with airag on
their heads and hands.
- Religious dance - "Tsam"
In the past, the mystery dances were of
considerable significance in Mongolia. They were always accompanied by music.
For these ritual dances the monks wore dance masks made of papier maché. The
tsam symbolised the battle of the gods against the enemies. In animism, the
oldest form of religious belief (e.g. the Bon-religion), man thinks that the
whole nature is animated. Human beings and animals are surrounded by good and
evil spirits.
- The White Old Man - The Mongols worship an important god of fertility,
who is represented by the mask of an amiable, white-haired and white-bearded
old man with waggish and cunning features. He is considered as the master of
earth and water. His attributes, such as the white clothes and the wand with
the dragonhead, are reminiscent of shamanism.
He is the main figure in the tsam mask dance, in
which he appears in the role of a clown and dolt.
Artistic music
In Soviet times European arts, such as the
classical music, the opera and the ballet, were introduced to Mongolia. The
traditional vocal and instrumental music was adapted to the tempered tuning and
so the Western tone system gained ascendancy.
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