How Did Chandmani Nutag Perform?

5. Chandmani Nutag (Mongolia) In this Mongolian throat singing piece, it begins with the guitar. This instrument backs up the vocalist for the duration of the work. The guitar swings it’s rhythm, but only a little to make it barely noticeable. The voice comes in a few measures after the guitar, and is now the playing the role of the melody. In the background, the guitar is harmonizing with the voice. The guitar uses the same 4 or 5 measure phrase for the majority of the song. It is able to lay well underneath The singer uses no specific pitches, as found on a piano. Instead, the pitch has a unique timbre that represents the sound of a sound that is forced out from the back of the throat, and as if he has to tightly squeeze every pitch out
In a specific rhythmic pattern, they interlock the “cha’s” or “shek” as the sixteenth note pulse, and then “hums” acting as an eighth note pulse. Once this ground rhythm is played out, it is repeated, with some slight variation, for the duration of the piece. This pattern is dominated by grunts interspersed throughout the entire piece, which always come in a fortissimo level. Pitch is irrelevant for this style of chanting. Instead, the group focuses on the timbre, and achieves a sound that is harsh and clean. They do not let the non-melodic sounds resonant for very long, so that the rhythmic pulse created is clear. The form of the piece starts with the non-melodic rhythmic pulse described above, and then moves to a person that sings a solo over top of it, and back again to the rhythmic pulse. It is similar to a “ABACAD…” format. Dynamic contrast plays a large role in their chanting. For 80% of the piece they sing at a forte dynamic level, but will suddenly brighten their sound and all move to a fortissimo, and then do the exact opposite by going to a mezzo-piano, and singing with a dark tone. There are multiple textures at play during the piece, but the most prominent is hocketing. As explained above multiple voices interlock with each other by alternating a “cha” sound, creating the sixteenth note pulse. This also happens with the “hums”, having multiple voice interlock this sound with each other to create the eighth note pulse. The piece has a driving tempo, it is always pushing forward on the beat and by doing this creates the energy needed to make this piece interesting. The register used by these men range from their mid-range to high. In fact, some shout so high that their voices are on the verge of