Recorded at Quad Recording Studios, New York and MosFilm Studios, Moscow, Russia. Includes liner notes by Ted Levin.
To accompany their Tuvan "throat singing," the members of Huun-Huur Tu use a combination of traditional Tuvan instruments and their own embellishments. Among them are the dazhaanning khavy, a rattle made from a bull scrotum and sheep kneebones; the amarga, a deer horn; and the ediski, a piece of birch bark pressed between the lips to imitate bird calls.
Recording information: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia; Quad Recording Studios, New York, NY.
Unknown Contributor Role: Alexander Bapa.
From the first track, their second album, Orphan's Lament grabs your attention with "Prayer" -- the deep, unearthly, sounds of Tibetan Lamaist chant. Next they move to khoomei singing. Known in the West as "throat singing," the performer produces two or more high- and low-pitched tones simultaneously. The resulting sound -- somewhat eerie, somewhat haunting -- is a combination somewhere between the sounds of a long whistle and a Jew's harp.
But Huun Huur Tu also adds new elements to the traditional sounds of Tuvan music. In addition to the igil, a two-stringed horsehead fiddle played with a bow, and the khomuz, a Jew's harp, (both traditional instruments) the group has incorporated percussion -- not a usual device in Tuvan music. Their use of a large goat-skin drum, generally reserved for shamanistic rituals, gives a rhythm to their music, making it very appealing to a Western ear. Similarly, their use of pouch rattle (made from a bull's scrotum filled with sheep knucklebones) adds a beat.
The fact Huun Huur Tu plays together, as a group, is itself unusual. Not content to blindly follow traditional Central Asian folk music, Huun Huur Tu's four, sometimes five, performers create an ensemble that offers a complex, fascinating, and harmonious mixture. ~ Robert Walker
Professional Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (12/16/94, p.70) - "...a rich, piercingly evocative musical universe..." - Rating: A
Option (3-4/95, p.109) - "...What sounds at first like a mixture of nasal singing and naive musical talent becomes a variety of subtle shifts in tone and color, worth dwelling on."
