Re: [MMM] Throat overtones

Gerry!
Are the Xhosa people also in Angola ? I ask because in the journal of
African music ( I think in the 50' or early 60's maybe) there was an article
about an Angolan tribe that used the 7-9-11-13 harmonics as opposed to the
6-8-9-10-12-13 we find with the mongolian/tuvans. I saw the Article once while
hunting down something else. Anyway i would be greatly interested if you know
of any recordings of the Xhosa (please send offlist)
Overtone sing will produce the harmonic series with slight distortion
caused by the physical properties involved.

And what is bespoke furniture.?

>
>
> The only place in Africa where throat singing is found is in the Western
> Cape (I've heard it). Amongst the Xhosa people (within a few miles of
> Nelson Mandela's birthplace) there can be found some throat singers. (The
> xhosas, unlike other black South Africans, have an element of 'bushman'
> blood and influence of 'bushman' culture)
>
> My Question:
> Am I right in thinking that overtone singing will inevitably produce
> harmonics from the natural harmonic series or could it be possible that any
> harmonic could be sung in this way?
>
> Gerry Platt

-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria island
http://www.anaphoria.com

The Wandering Medicine Show
Wed. 8-9 KXLU 88.9 fm

Kraig,

{you wrote...}
>Gerry!
>And what is bespoke furniture.?

Mom's gonna take a stab and figure that it's the same 'British' term for clothes (as in a bespoke suit), which means "custom made (tailored)"...

Gerry?

Cheers,
Jon

Kraig Grady wrote:

>Gerry!
> Are the Xhosa people also in Angola ?

No. Xhosa belongs to the Nguni language group, found mainly on the Eastern
coast of Southern Africa (Zulus and Swazis are also Nguni, there is also an
Nguni language in Malawi but I'm not sure what the historical links are).
Angola is at least 2 thousand miles from the Eastern Cape (error in my last
posting - 'Western Cape' should have been ' Eastern Cape).

There are several thousand different African languages.

I ask because in the journal of
>African music ( I think in the 50' or early 60's maybe) there was an article
>about an Angolan tribe that used the 7-9-11-13 harmonics as opposed to the
>6-8-9-10-12-13 we find with the mongolian/tuvans. I saw the Article once while
>hunting down something else. Anyway i would be greatly interested if you know
>of any recordings of the Xhosa (please send offlist)
> Overtone sing will produce the harmonic series with slight distortion
>caused by the physical properties involved.

Well, I have to say that I know very little about Angolan music except that
many 'Latin' rhythms can be traced to Angola (eg. Rumba). Furthermore there
are still San (Bushman) people in Namibia which borders on Angola.
Regarding the 7-9-11-13: was this overtone singing? If not it does not
surprise me.

Some Xhosa music:

1. 'Songs of the Rainbow Nation' (Music Village 101) (** not to be confused
with other CD's with 'Rainbow Nation' in the title).
South Africa is a nation of many cultures, you won't find a better
representation on any other CD. Includes 3 tracks from the Ngqoko Village
Ensemble who sing above a throat singer.
The sleeve notes read: "One of the Ngqoko Ensamble, Mrs. NoWayilethi
Mbizweni is an expert in the technique, almost unknown in Africa, of
Umngqokolo split-tone or harmonic singing ...... In this technique, the
singer intones a deep, gruff note or drone. She then selects harmonic
partials of this note to resonate in her mouth and throat. thus producing a
melody which is heard as an almost ethereal, whistling sound, high above
the low drone.

2. The book: 'Xhosa Music' by David Dargie (ISBN 0-86486-102-8 Daviid
Philip, Cape Town and Johannesburg). Comes with an excellent cassette.

3. Madosini: MELT2000: BW108. Madosini plays the traditional mouth bow as
well as the jaw harp, I had the privalige of meeting her last year. More of
this another time.

Bushman music:

1. Bushman of the Kalahari: BW2128
2. Bushmen - Qwii - The First People: EUCD 1553

Gerry

_____________________________________________________________
GERRY PLATT
gerry@...

phone: 020 8801 8191
mobile: 0775 956 2047

86 Dunloe Avenue,
London
N17 6LA

Designer/maker of fitted and free-standing bespoke furniture.
_____________________________________________________________
.

Mom wrote:

>Kraig,
>
>{you wrote...}
>>Gerry!
>>And what is bespoke furniture.?
>
>Mom's gonna take a stab and figure that it's the same 'British' term for
>clothes (as in a bespoke suit), which means "custom made (tailored)"...

Bespoke is not a term for clothes but is often used in such a context (eg.
Bespoke Taylor) so you're not far off!

It could be said that many on this list use bespoke scales rather than the
one-size-fits-all BigMac-12TET!

Gerry

_____________________________________________________________
GERRY PLATT
gerry@...

phone: 020 8801 8191
mobile: 0775 956 2047

86 Dunloe Avenue,
London
N17 6LA

Designer/maker of fitted and free-standing bespoke furniture.
_____________________________________________________________
.

Gerry,

{you wrote...}
>Bespoke is not a term for clothes but is often used in such a context (eg.
>Bespoke Taylor) so you're not far off!

Yes, poor cobbler of the language that I am, I meant it that 'bespoke' referred to 'custom-made', not intricately linked with clothes. As my foot is intricately linked with my mouth...

>It could be said that many on this list use bespoke scales rather than the >one-size-fits-all BigMac-12TET!

Well, there's a good one!!

Cheers,
Jon