Khoomei, otherwise known as Mongolian throat singing, enjoys a wide international audience thanks to inventive local artists looking for ways to share and save their culture.
Mongolian throat singers holding a horsehead fiddle. Alan Fieldus. CC BY-NC 2.0.
Across the steppes of Central Asia, the almost eerie but melodic droning of “khoomei” still echoes. Khoomei, more commonly known as throat singing, is the practice in which a singer can produce two or more notes simultaneously. By utilizing the jaw and larynx, as well as precise lip movements, the singer can produce unique harmonies using only their body.
Khoomei, which translates to “throat” in Mongolian, has origins with the Tuva people, an Indigenous group found in parts of Siberia, Mongolia and China. A 1999 Scientific American article traced back both the techniques of khoomei and its rich history. According to Tuvan legends, throat singing was the first way humans learned to sing. Throat singing was also designed to mimic the natural sounds of the surrounding wind and water. Coupled with their animistic beliefs, the Tuvan people believed that throat singing also served a spiritual purpose. Khoomei eventually proliferated and evolved among the Turko-Mongol tribes.
During the first half of the 20th century, however, throat singing was restricted. Communist governments considered the art as “backward” due to its heavy ritual and ethnic legacies. It was not until the 1980s that throat singing was restored to its former glory and preserved as a national art form. In 2010, UNESCO inscribed khoomei on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This honor was conferred to officially acknowledge the unique oral histories and philosophies that khoomei harbors. Despite its difficult history and almost seemingly jubilant ascent, khoomei and its singers are still under threat.
Mongolia’s wide-open steppes made it the ideal sound room for practicing and perfecting khoomei. Vince Gx. Unsplash.
Mongolia is a country that is landlocked between two geopolitical giants, China and Russia. The government has feared that both countries’ economic and diplomatic influences will overwhelm its own affairs. In 2010, Mongolian throat singers sought to defend the tradition against China. UNESCO mistakenly listed China as the sole country of throat singers, a misprint that angered the Mongolian community.
In 2013, China announced its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, a plan meant to enhance infrastructure connectivity and deepen financial cooperation, among several other aims. While China poured billions of dollars into creating trade routes and industries, the Mongolian people remain unappeased.
With these economic gains also came renewed cultural conflicts. When visiting the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar this past September, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was greeted by protesters who accused Beijing of suppressing the Mongolian language in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The former Mongolian president Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj condemned the Chinese government’s policy that replaced Mongolian with Mandarin in school curriculums. Elbegdorj condemned the action as “cultural genocide” and urged Mongolians to persist in preserving their culture at home and abroad. A part of this resistance also includes using khoomei as a way to reclaim and reassert identity.
Enter The HU. Through music, this heavy metal band uses its Mongolian roots as a way to share the country’s culture with the world. Its most popular pieces, “Wolf Totem” and “Yuve Yuve Yu,” have garnered nearly 111 million YouTube views combined. The HU has charted millions of listeners on Spotify and even covered songs for the video game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. In an interview, The HU shared that its music stays true to form, mimicking natural sounds in certain tracks. The members hope that they can continue to be cultural ambassadors for their country and its culture. In 2019, The HU was honored with the Order of Genghis Khan, a presidential award recognizing special merits to society.
While music may not solve political conflicts, its influence and reach has given many Mongolians something to be proud of. Khoomei especially has proven to be both a restricted and a revolutionary form of art. As this contested expression continues to endure and flourish, it is clear that the people need their music as much as a song requires a voice.
Rhiannon Koh
Rhiannon earned her B.A. in Urban Studies & Planning from UC San Diego. Her honors thesis was a speculative fiction piece exploring the aspects of surveillance technology, climate change, and the future of urbanized humanity. She is committed to expanding the stories we tell.