Central asian throat singing: Examination in terms of cultural origins and musical acoustics

Various peoples of Turkish origin live in this region, especially the Altay, Tuva, Hakas, Yakut peoples living in the Central Asia and Siberia region. Today these traditions are undoubtedly one of the most important elements that introduce these peoples. This musical concept, which is referred to as "Gırtlak Müziği" in Turkish literature and referred to by names such as "Höömei" and "Hörekteer" in regional languages, is a general name given to many different techniques. The main feature of Central Asian/Siberian throat singing is that the performers of this can make more than one sound from the throat of a single performer at the same time. Today, although throat music has a certain reputation in the world under the name of "Throat Singing", there is not enough knowledge among the audience in terms of historical background. Although this tradition, which has been going on for centuries, is used today in various music such as pop, blues, rock, metal in addition to traditional folk tunes, when we get down to its origin, we also see that it is used for different purposes than we see today, such as shamanic rituals. When we look at the origin, it is possible to see the connections of laryngeal sounds with spiritualism and animism. Throat singing has been the subject of research by many scientists because singers can create two unique sound fields at the same time. In general, singing and speaking involves making sounds by vibrating the vocal cords located deep in the throat, and then shaping these sounds with the tongue, teeth, and lips as they travel up the vocal tract and out of the body. Previous studies using static images taken with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have suggested how Tuvan singers can produce two pitches, but it has not been possible to fully understand the throat singing mechanically and acoustically. However, with new studies, its formation in mechanical and acoustic aspects has also been observable.