Inuit throat singers

Inuit throat singing or katajjaq, also known (and commonly confused) under the generic term overtone singing, is a form of musical performance among the Inuit. Unlike the throat singers in other regions of the world, particularly, Tibet, Mongolia and Tuva, the Inuit performers are usually women who sing only duets in a kind of entertaining contest to see who can outlast the other. However, at least one notable performer, Tanya Tagaq Gillis, performs throat singing as a solo artist and as a collaborator with non-throat singing musicians such as Björk. The musical duo Tudjaat performed a mixture of traditional throat singing and pop music. Physical representation of first (O1) and second (O2) overtones. ... For other uses, see Inuit (disambiguation). ... This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... Tyva Republic IPA: (Russian: IPA: ; Tuvan: ), or Tuva (), is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). ... Diverse women. ... The duet, by Hendrik ter Brugghen A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers, most often used for a vocal or piano duet. ... Tanya Tagaq Gillis (BFA) (sometimes credited as Tagaq) (born 1977[1]) is an Inuit throat singer from Cambridge Bay (Ikaluktuutiak), Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria Island. ... This article is about the musician. ... Tudjaat are Madeleine Allakariallak and Pheobe Atagotaaluk, two Inuit women from Nunavut, Canada who are keeping the ancient tradition of throat singing alive. ... This article is about the genre of popular music. ...

Migration

The Ainu people of Japan had throat singing (rekkukara) until 1976, when its last practitioner died. It resembled more the Inuit variety than the Mongolian. If this technique of singing emerged only once and then in the Old World, the move from Siberia to northern Canada must have been over Bering Strait land bridge some 12,000 years ago.^{[citation needed]} Ainu ) IPA: (also called Ezo in historical texts) are an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. ... This article is about Siberia as a whole. ... Satellite photo of the Bering Strait Photo across the Bering Strait Nautical chart of the Bering Strait The Bering Strait (Russian: ) is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Russia, the easternmost point (169°43 W) of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point (168°05...

New World terms

The name for throat singing in Canada varies with the geography:

• Iirngaaq^[1] - some Nunavut communities
• Piqqusiraarniq^[1] or Pirkusirtuk^[2] - Igloolik and Baffin Island
• Qiarvaaqtuq^[1] - Arviat
• Katajjaq^[1] or Katadjak^[2] - Nunavik and South Baffin
• Nipaquhiit^[2] - some Nunavut communities

The natives of Alaska have lost the art and those in Greenland evidently never developed it. For the Canadian federal electoral district, see Nunavut (electoral district). ... Igloolik, sometimes spelled Iglulik, is a community in Nunavut, northern Canada. ... Baffin Island (Inuktitut: , French: ) in the territory of Nunavut is the largest member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. ... Two of the churches in Arviat Arviat (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐊᕐᕕᐊᑦ; formerly called Eskimo Point until 1 June 1989) is a predominantly Inuit hamlet located on the western shore of Hudson Bay in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut Canada. ... The Nunavik Region of Quebec, Canada Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) is a region making up the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. ... Baffin Island (Inuktitut: , French: ) in the territory of Nunavut is the largest member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. ... Alaska Natives are indigenous peoples of the Americas native to the state of Alaska within the United States. ... For other uses, see Alaska (disambiguation). ...

Inuit throat singing

Traditionally when the men were away on a hunting trip, the women left at home would entertain themselves with games, which may have involved throat singing. Two women face each other usually in a standing position. One singer leads by setting a short rhythmic pattern, which she repeats leaving brief silent intervals between each repetition. The other singer fills in the gap with another rhythmic pattern. Usually the competition lasts up to three minutes until one of the singers starts to laugh or is left breathless. For other uses, see Game (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Rhythm (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Competition (disambiguation). ...

At one time, the lips of the two women almost touched, so that one singer used the mouth cavity of the other as a resonator, but this isn't so common in present day. Often, the singing is accompanied by a shuffling in rhythm from one foot to the other. The sounds may be actual words or nonsense syllables or created during exhalation. A resonator is a device or part that vibrates (or oscillates) with waves. ... The riffle Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. ...

"The old woman who teaches the children [throat singing songs] corrects sloppy intonation of contours, poorly meshed phase displacements, and vague rhythms exactly like a Western vocal coach." ^[3][4]

Inuit throat singing in Popular Culture

• A scene of Inuit throat singing appears in the 1974 Timothy Bottoms film The White Dawn.
• The 2003 film The Snow Walker contains a scene of Inuit throat singing.
• The 2007 film, Wristcutters: A Love Story, features a "mute" character named Nanuk who practices this style of throat singing.
• A rather imaginative variation on throat singing is featured in the 2007 Dan Simmons novel, The Terror.
• In a scene of the The Simpsons Movie (2007), Homer Simpson is shown throat singing with an Inuit woman in order to have an epiphany.
• Rick Mercer in an episode of his self-hosted show, The Mercer Report, attempted to throat sing with an Inuit woman when he visited the 2008 Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife.

Timothy Bottoms (born August 30, 1951) is an American actor. ... (Redirected from 2003 in movies) See also: 2002 in film, other events of 2003, 2004 in film and the list of years in film Events February 24 - The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski, wins 7 Cesar Awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Sound, Best Production Design, Best Music... This article is about motion pictures. ... The Snow Walker is a 2003 Canadian film based on the short story Walk Well, My Brother by Farley Mowat. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons, directed by David Silverman, and scheduled to be released worldwide by July 27, 2007. ... Homer Simpson is also a character in the book and film The Day of the Locust. ... For other uses, see Inuit (disambiguation). ... Diverse women. ... This article is about a feeling, for other meanings see epiphany (disambiguation). ... Richard Vincent Rick Mercer (born October 17, 1969 in St. ... For other uses, see Inuit (disambiguation). ... Diverse women. ... Yellowknife may refer to: Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, a city in Canada. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Iirngaaq, Nunavut Arctic College - Inteviewing Inuit Elders, Glossary
2. ^ ^{a b c} Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1983), "The Rekkukara of the Ainu (Japan) and the Katajjaq of the Inuit (Canada) A Comparison", Le monde de la musique 25 (2) 
3. ^ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1987/1990), Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, pp. 57, ISBN 0691091366 
4. ^ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1987), Musicologie générale et sémiologue, ISBN 0-691-02714-5 

Jean-Jacques Nattiez is a musical semiologist or semiotician and professor of Musicology at the University of Montreal. ...

External links

• Inuit Throat-Singing
• Canada Inuit Games and Songs | UbuWeb Ethnopoetics