Khoomii – Mongolian Troat Singing

I’m taking a musical journey to Mongolia, prompted by Dolora Zajick’s mention of overtone singing in conversation with Terry Gross; with demonstration at 32.30 minutes into the interview.

Apparently in today’s world the shortcut to Wagnerian resonance goes via Mongolian folk song. And an amazing style this is! I found women singing in basso profono range and men with extremely high whistle:

The sound is almost electronic, or insect-like. Apparently this helps to “isolate resonances”. I can hear  some brass-like nasality, which in the method I use plays quite an important part. Would love to observe a class one day.

Several friends and family members traveled to Mongolia and brought interesting stories, mostly of great natural medicine (Tibetan) and politics free of corruption. And now the music! Something  profound about these people making these noises out in the wild.

 

Dolora Zajick on Terry Gross

Terry Gross just fell in love with opera! She interviews  dramatic soprano Dolora Zajick, star of the MET and teacher of Wagnerian singers. Fantastic question, superb answers with exercise examples by a singing master.

Zajick started her training “late” – at 22. She chose singing because it was too late for piano and she wanted to live in the world of classical music. She says that it is getting harder and harder to find great voices,  maybe because of the emphasis on chorus singing,. Because of “kinesthetic empathy” a great voice can get totally muted by blending in with average singers.

Zajick leads the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. Sounds great, except… where is the Institute for Mature Dramatic Voices? Where are the competitions for people who started singing not “late” like Zajick, but “very late” – in their 30s or 40s or even later? Hope someone will one day announce to the world that you can learn to sing  at any age.