5.17.2015

Tibetan Buddhism - Tantras of Gyuto: Sangwa Dupa


Tibetan Buddhism - Tantras of Gyuto: Sangwa Dupa (1975) - Monks Of The Monastery Of Gyuto, Tibet

This is the entire first side of the album (almost 25 mins) so kick back with the lights out and prepare to have the crap scared out of you!

Overtone Singing is known to a few different cultures, mostly across Asia, but also to the Inuit in North America. The Tibetan Buddhist chanting variant is practiced primarily as a meditative and religious rite. The example from this record is about 40 Buddhist Monks chanting A capella, but in practice the it is often accompanied by wind instruments, drums, bells, and the like.

The practice involves manipulating the shape of the vocal folds in the throat to accentuate certain harmonics over top the fundamental of the chanted note.  A bit about the science behind this here.

Typically, the accentuated harmonic is a major 3rd or perfect 5th, though it can venture all over the place, and result in some very interesting perceived intervals and chords within the drone texture.

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