On April 15, 2014, Prof. Gareth Lubbe, Professor of Viola at Folkwang, gave a practical introduction to overtone singing and other polyphonic singing techniques. To those who didn't make it to this event, I can only say: you missed out! But luckily there are the StudiScouts who will summarize everything for you and even prepare an audio recording - it's almost as if you were there yourself ;-).
Judging by the title of the event, you might think that it is mainly designed for singers, but in fact you don't need to have any vocal or musical expertise to be enthusiastic about the phenomenon of overtones, because: The overtone is universal.
Prof. Gareth Lubbe describes it as follows:"The overtone is a natural vibrational phenomenon that can be found throughout the cosmos. With every vibration, the basic vibration generates additional, faster vibrations that overlap. This is a universal oscillation behavior of nature."
If you can't imagine what this means, you can find out more here in a first small sound example (overtone singing with two overtones simultaneously):
So it can be found everywhere, the overtone. In everyday speech, coffee machines, cars, streetcars and, of course, in music, according to Lubbe in his further explanations. We all produce a variety and vast quantities of overtones every day - we are just not aware of them and have not learned (or forgotten) to hear them.
Hearing is also the primary issue when learning overtone singing. Specialist Lubbe, who taught himself overtone singing through years of trial and error and listening, would have "not much to say" to an overtone student. He admits this himself with an almost apologetic attitude. "It's not about how do I sing overtones, but how do I hear, how do I recognize my own overtones. And that's the principle."
But of course there is a basis from which you can start, and that is open vowels (O, U, A, E, I, Ö, Ü, Ä) on the one hand and a resonant fundamental tone on the other.
The word WOW is particularly suitable for starting out and trying it out for the first time. After practicing a few times, it could sound like this, for example:
A resonant room, such as a church, is also recommended for practicing overtones. The bathtub at home is also well suited for this. Lubbe himself likes to use the car as a keynote when driving, for example. He says that singing overtones is "like a connection to a deeper world. A feeling as if you are producing rainbows."
Your own rainbow production - what a beautiful idea. My fellow listeners are also hooked by now at the latest, and I watch as one or two of them curiously form their mouths into a vowel.
Another technique for approaching the overtones is to form the position "L" to the resonant fundamental tone with the tongue in the mouth:
The back muscles of the tongue control the overtone. This means that depending on how tightly these muscles are tensed, a new overtone sounds. And when you have progressed and finally reached the point where you can go through the entire overtone series, the different tones actually melt into each other like the colors of a rainbow:
Another type of polyphonic singing is throat singing, also known as "Khoomei". It originates from the Central Asian region, where it is mainly found. This type of singing may take a little getting used to at first and should only be enjoyed with caution if you practise it yourself. Because this throat singing is "not necessarily healthy", as Lubbe himself says. What happens is that when you sing (don't sing extra low!), you relax your tone so much that you have the feeling that it is jumping down two octaves.
The whole thing then sounds like this, for example:
At the end of the evening there was a small overtone concert, with singing and viola in personal union. Here is an excerpt:
If you have now caught fire and would like to know more about overtone singing, you are welcome to contact Prof. Gareth Lubbe directly: gareth.lubbe(at)folkwang-uni.de
Have fun producing rainbows!
<link en/home/music/teachers/?more=1&detaildozent=702 _self Normal>More about Prof. Gareth Lubbe
A contribution as part of the Folkwang StudiScout project.
Elisabeth Hofmann / 29.04.2014