shaman voices

Last night I spent the evening at our local Borders store, browsing and reading and drinking coffee. Oh, and way too much cheesecake.

I bought the most amazing CD. It’s an album by Okna Tsahan Zam. He plays the dombra, which is beautiful to hear, but it is his voice which is breath-taking. I know that’s a corny expression – but this literally does stop you in your tracks. He is Kalmyk, a Mongolian. He sings using overtone chanting, called hoomii. The CD came with a bonus DVD on which you can see him doing this chanting. He can produce two notes at the same time, which then resonate together. It has to be seen and heard to be believed. The music on the album is stirring, soul reaching music. It is interspersed with fragments of sounds of the landscape. The whole album is something that you really should hear.