Page | 56Music.........................................................................................................................
Throat singing (also referred to as overtone singing) is a style
often associated with the Tuva region on Mongolia’s
northwestern border. Western Mongolia also has many
practitioners of this style, which is known as koomei. The koomei
singer—expertly manipulating the larynx, throat, diaphragm, and
palate—generates two tones at the same time, one a growling
low-to-midrange note similar to a bagpipe drone and the other a
higher-pitched flute-like sound.302,^303
Another traditional Mongolian musical style is urtiin duu (often
translated as “long song”), typically a 32-verse vocal piece
marked by trills, a sweeping melody cascading up and down a
vast octave range that peaks at falsetto, and a complex rhythmic
pattern.
(^304) Urtiin duu singers frequently perform at ceremonial
festivities, such as weddings, new home inaugurations, child births, and livestock
brandings, as well as at national celebrations such as Naadam and Tsagaan Sar (Lunar
New Year).^305
Architecture...............................................................................................................
Visitors to Mongolia are immediately struck by
the numerous tent-like homes known as gers.
Modern gers reflect Mongolia’s long nomadic
tradition, and they are as likely to be seen in urban
areas as in rural areas. The ger, typically 3.7–9.1
m (12–30 ft) in diameter, is easily transportable
due to its wooden, latticed framework that folds
and unfolds like a circular baby gate. Felt covers
the walls and wooden-raftered roof.^306
(^302) Ken-Ichi Sakakibara et al, “Growl Voice in Ethnic and Pop Styles,” 2004,
A hole at
the top of the ger is the only window and is used
http://www.soundtransformations.btinternet.co.uk/GrowlVoiceinEthnicandPopStyles.htm
(^303) Theodore C. Levin and Michael E. Edgerton, “The Throat Singers of Tuba,” Scientific American, 20
September 1999, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-throat-singers-of-tuv
(^304) The Silk Road Project, “Uriin duu (longsong),” 2011,
http://www.silkroadproject.org/MusicArtists/Instruments/Urtiinduulongsong/tabid/331/Default.aspx
(^305) UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage, “Urtiin Duu–Traditional Folk Long Song,” n.d.,
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011&RL=00115
(^306) Bioregions.org, “Traditional Mongolian Ger,” n.d.,
http://www.bioregions.org/pdfs/GerOwnersPamphlet.pdf