Learn more

 

History 

Overtone singing - an ancient art of singing

Overtone singing is rooted in almost all cultures and religions. Traditionally, 
various overtone techniques are used in Sardinia, in Tibet, among South American 
Indian tribes and especially among the Mongolian Tuvas people. The overtone 
singing from Africa or Papua New Guinea is extremely virtuoso. However, overtone sounds can also be found in traditional chants of the Arab peoples. Judaism and Christianity have used overtone singing for religious purposes. In Europe, Gregorian chant is still sung with overtone techniques in some monasteries.

Since 1960, a new style of western overtone singing has developed into an 
independent form of singing and music in Europe, North America and Japan.

Nowadays, a distinction is made between western overtone singing and Asian 
throat singing “Khöömej”. There are clear differences in the technique and the 
musical implementation. However, this does not do justice to the variety of styles.

Effect 

 A meditative sound!

The most natural human instrument is the body.

The vocal folds are comparable to the strings of an instrument that our entire 
body serves as a resonance chamber. Our breath energy determines our sound beauty. 

This resonance space technology brings your voice into a fantastic spatial sound 
in a very short time and enormously strengthens the tones in the indifference 
pitch (this is the natural speaking pitch)! 

The speaking tone automatically becomes fuller, softer, rounder and deeper.

The singing voice becomes stronger, more diverse and more sonorous.

In order to bundle the breath energy and to filter out different timbres from a 
basic tone and to generate them audibly, absolute concentration is necessary.

In total:

*an inner tranquility through conscious concentration,

*a felt harmony with oneself and the environment through the harmonic sounds that we create,

*an increase in energy through the physiological processes.

FUNCTION

 What is overtone singing?

A tone or sound audible to the human ear comes about when something vibrates back and forth at least sixteen times and at most twenty thousand times a second, causing the air to vibrate.

The vocal sound consists of many tones sounding at the same time. The lowest partial of this series is the root. The partials above are called overtones. The 
volume distribution of the overtones determines, among other factors, the timbre 
of a tone. You can break down the tones that resonate with the fundamental tone 
and sing / play one after the other (overtone scale). Harmonic overtones are 
called a natural series or natural scale

How does overtone singing work?

The singer controls the resonance spaces and the flow of breath in the mouth and 
throat with his tongue in order to amplify individual overtones and weaken others.

The three elements of vocal sound generation:

Larynx = source of sound

The air is pressed through

- the vocal cords (speaking, singing, European overtone)

- the pocket folds (as with the Mongolian overtone),

- the aryepiglottic folds

- the esophagus 

which start to vibrate. 

Back of the throat = breathing filter

The back of the throat, the base of the tongue and the epiglottis act as filters 
for the overtones.

Anterior oral cavity = amplifier

The front tongue and lips form a variable resonance space.