Tuva.Asia / The New Research of Tuva

There are few musical cultures left on the planet that take us to a deeply primal place and even some of those cultures, mainly hailing from indigenous people have been swallowed up by electronic music or turned into popular culture in the form of world music. But for any of you who have listened to an a cappella Saami yoik, a traditional Navajo chant, Aboriginal didgeridoo, Tibetan nomadic music, or Tuvan throat-singing have experienced that deep primal place. Your root chakra opens. Shamanism and music were wedded to each other hundreds of thousands of years ago. The first flutes, drums, harps, etc were put to shamanic use, as were many of the early singing traditions. These shamans knew about the power and intent of sound and put it to good use either healing others in some way or put it to bad use through sorcery to trip up an adversary. But even without any prior knowledge of shamanism or ancient musical practices, a music listener can experience their rootedness to the natural world listening to primal music. This certainly proves true with the Tuvan quartet Huun Huur Tu’s latest recording, Ancestors Call.