One of the more interesting presentations / workshop at the conference ‘The Multivalent Voice’ in Istanbul was ‘Inner Asia Throat-Singing (Xöömei) Workshop: Perspectives from Tyva and Mongolia’ with Robert O. Beahrs (Center for Advanced Studies in Music, MIAM) and the Mongolian throat-singer Davaadalai Munkhbat.
Thanks to simultaneous interpretation from Mongolian – Turkish – English and back it was possible to ask questions to Davaadalai. When asked how he remember the songs/stories the answer was: ‘He remembers the stories naturally in a holistic way. They represent a way of tuning in the landscape by the different singing styles and voice-types he uses’.
Below in the short video-clip were Davaadalai tunes in the horse in the landscape.
Dörvön Na
Four-Year-old chestnut-colored horse.
Stretching my leg to the stirrup,
he takes a gentle trot
I see something in the distance
A shortcut I will take to my lover!
Folk Song Lab 