Kargyraa Throat Singing

I heard a Tuvan (Kargyraa) throat singer years ago at the Richmond Folk Festival.  I was fascinated with the strange (to my Western ears) multitonal sound.  (Yes, Tuvan throat singers can sing more than one note at once.)  Without any clue on how to go about it, I spent the next couple of weeks walking around the house trying to duplicate the grumbling, buzzing, droning sound.  My wife was relieved when I lost interest.

Flash forward about 20 years.  I'm always looking for fun ways to develop my voice.  A week or so ago, I remembered throat singing.  And since there are multitudinous tutorials on YouTube nowadays, I'm having a blast.  My friends are too--it's a great team-building activity.  Also fun for the family. You might want to give it a try.  This video will get you well under way to learning a new hobby or party trick  in just one minute: https://youtu.be/Vz5Lrwngzwc

I find life is so much easier if I just let good things happen.

Did you know that the webbuilder I use allows me to use AI to write my blogs?!  (It all started with bowling.  Used to be you scored your own games; then it automatically  scored the games for you. There must be a bowling alley out there now where AI bowls for you!)  Anyways, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned this: will you ever trust my blogs again?

Some people talk about music and songwriting as a business.  I prefer to see them as a joy.

It's a gorgeous sunny day in Rotterdam, NL and there's some super cute news out of Tasmania! 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/19/possum-hobart-airport-gift-shop-soft-toys

Headed to the studio tonight.  Boldly going where I've never gone before musically.  First time for a song with violin.  And even more surprising working on a dance number, complete with groove, shout-along chorus and rave up!  What would the teenager who found inspiration in Sid Vicious, Johnny Thunders, The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones have to say about that?!

I saw the new Elvis interview/concert film, Epic, yesterday.  Several takeaways: 

1) That Elvis, he sure could sing!  I guess I hadn't heard his voice over such a good sound system before.  Wow!

2) Elvis loved to perform and valued his audience. 

3) Most importantly:  He and his band were MAKING music onstage, not just performing.  And it was a joyous process!  I was really struck by how the band and background singers constantly looked at him with smiles on their faces, paying attention to his every move and adjusting as inspiration struck him or them.  Elvis even talks about this in the film.  It keeps the repeated performing from getting boring.

So why am I struck by this?   Because I think that's what performing is all about.  And I think that it's a nuance that is lost on many budding musicians and seasoned performers alike.  Anybody who has had piano lessons knows how difficult and frustrating it feels as you work to perfectly reproduce the notes on the page.  You feel defeated when you can't play the song "perfectly."  Traditional piano teachers reinforce this depressing feeling.  Many a budding pianist has quit over this.  I've known several wonderful pianists who more or less stopped playing.  I attribute this to the painful memories they had of studying under a strict, old-school teacher.

But there's more:  modern popular music performers are often just lip syncing (sinking?) to pre-recorded tracks.  Also a band often plays their instruments, but are backed up with pre-recorded music.  I know of one band that had to cancel a show because they'd lost their laptop!  I guess audiences have no problem arrangement.  There doesn't seem to be any shortage of people willing to pay exorbitant prices to do watch well-known acts do this sort of thing.

But that wasn't what Elvis & co. were doing.  They were interacting with each other.   The whole band adjusted when Elvis did something unexpected, repeated or changed a line.  He sometimes teased the background singers mid song causing them to laugh audibly.  He introduced songs with the caveat that it was the first time they had ever performed it.  (I can't ever remember seeing a big act do that.)  And several songs clearly ended in an unexpected way.  You could hear and see the band compensating and making it work.  It sounded just fine.

Why am I so impressed by this approach?  BECAUSE IT'S FUN!  It's fun for everyone, not just the musicians. You could see in the film too that the audiences were smiling, laughing, screaming, jumping up and down, and even kissing Elvis.  (Elvis kissed a lot of girls during each show!)

I know too many musicians who get hung up on this idea that performances have to be "perfect."  They feel insecure. They have a hard time accepting compliments because they didn't perform a song exactly as they had practiced it.  

My feelings about performing improved dramatically when I let go of the "note-perfect" expectations I'd had of myself.  

To be truthful, one of my favorite performing moments is when our band screws up and then we smoothly get back on track.  That's making music.  On the spot.

Live performance isn't about perfect notes.  It's about a perfect feeling.

I met the head of the Stardumb record label yesterday.  They specialize in punk and power pop.  Good stuff!  Check out some of their music here: https://www.youtube.com/@StardumbRecords

And, of course, you'll want to learn more about the Godzilla tote bag here https://www.stardumbrecords.com/products/stardumb-records-godzilla-totebag

A beautiful thought for a Sunday (and every day for that matter):

Take away wealth, fame, and social organizations, which weigh not one jot in the balance of God, and we get clearer views of Principle. Break up cliques, level wealth with honesty, let worth be judged according to wisdom, and we get better views of humanity.
-- Mary Baker Eddy

So yesterday we're sitting in the Zeezicht Cafe in the Borgerhout neighborhood of Antwerp and what starts playing: "The Guns of Navarone" by the Skatalites, which is on Club Ska '67.  Coincidence? I don't think so!  Hey, here's my little offering to the Ska muse:  "Ska Fun"  

Just noticed that it's Friday the 13th :-D.  

Listened to the awesome ska compilation "Club Ska '67" last night!  One of my favorite records.  Sounds like it was recorded in someone's bathroom.  First bought it for 99 cents at Kemp Mill Records somewhere in the MD DC suburbs back in the late 80's.  I now have it on vinyl.  That cost me 25 Euros--well worth it!  Been building ska tracks on my looper.  Details to come on that.

Nothing on the calendar today, but I've already thought of a million things to do: play some bass or guitar, practice songs, organize setlists, get out in the sunshine, work on my flower beds out in the street.  My free days are my busiest!

Reading in church today.  Chose some nice hymns.  Nothing well known, but you can never go wrong with a bunch of hallelujahs 😃

I read that a one-line journal each day “transforms” your life.  Gonna give it a try.  Saw Johnny Dowd  with his sister, Amy Lavere and Will Sexton last week at Koffie en Ambacht.  Bought a CD and LP.  Loved the line in one song singing about a crow, “All dressed in black like a funeral director; Looking more evil than Hannibal Lector” 😃