Mongolian music and instruments
Mongolian Music Instruments
Morin Khuur
The history of Morin Huur goes back to an ancient legend about a handsome Mongolian man Hohoo Namjil. Hohoo Namjil was a very good looking young man, who returned to his motherland after the military service and fall in love in a beautiful girl. He had also a dearly loved flying horse. One night, a jealous woman had the horse’s wings cut off and the horse died. The next morning, Hohoo Namjil found his horse dead. In memory of his beloved horse, Hohoo Namjil made a musical instrument. From the abdomen skin, he made the front and back parts of the sound box of the instrument. He carved the head of his horse and decorated the upper part of the instrument. From his horse’s beautiful long tail, he made the strings and the bow. This legend is believed to tell the origins of the earliest leather-bodied Morin Huur.
Morin Huur has an intense sounding. A leather-bodied Morin Huur is believed to have a “saakhalt” sounding. In the Mongolian language, a “saakhalt” is a neighbor who lives in about 20-30 km away in the steppes. So, they would hear the sounding and know that a Morin Huur player visited the neighbor saying: “Sounds like a Morin Huur player is visiting Dorj’s family”. This is how people described the intensity of Morin Huur’s sounding.
Until 1970s, Morin Huur had a leather sound box. Then, a Mongolian master craftsman Jugder and Russian violin makers Erevan and Burin replaced leather with wood. This is how a wood-bodied Morin Huur used nowadays was born. Wooden bodied morin khuur was more resistant to humid weather than original natural leather morin khuur, so can be used long outside Mongolia. Leather-bodied Morin Khuurs are very rare. Only from time to time, masters make them. A leather-bodied Morin Huur has a richer sounding than an ordinary Morin Khuur made from wood. However, leather-bodied instruments are very fragile. They do not stand even the slightest humidity. To the preserve and increase the resistance of leather, numerous techniques are being experimented with.
Morin Huur’s sounding has a wide range from the lowest octave up to sol. In other words, Morin Huur reads three octaves. Morin Huur can play any European music with two strings and this is its uniqueness. European instruments have usually four strings, which are played one by one, while Morin Huur’s two strings are played together.
There is no other musical instrument sounding like Morin Huur. Because of such uniqueness, Morin Huur was registered in the UNESCO’s cultural heritage fund.
A learner who starts to learn to play Morin Huur, first, learns the hand pressure skills. Then, the learner learns how to to retrieve sounds. The learning process involves a series of pressure and sound retrieving exercises.
During the times of Chinggis Khaan, there was a Morin Huur orchestra supplemented by other musical instruments as “yochin”, “yatga”, “limbe”, “Ikh Huur” (or Grand Morin Huur) and shanz. This is a classical collection of instruments still used in the modern national orchestra. Ikh Khuur or Grand Morin Khuur is a bigger version of Morin Khuur, which plays the role of the double bass.
Limbe
“Limbe” or flute is also believed to have a Mongolian origin. Originally, a flute was made out of feather grass and had both ends open. Then, one end was blocked and holes were made along the body of the instrument.
Huuchir and Yatga
“Huuchir” is one of the classical instruments in the national orchestra. It has a Chinese origin. “Yatga” is an instrument which originally came from Korea. One of the Mongolian kings is believed to have brought this instruments from these countries.
Now, they all have been mongolized and the instruments played in the modern orchestra are the Mongolian prototypes of these original instruments.
About our Maker
Few books have been written about the Mongolian musical instruments. Some can be found at Egshiglen, a store selling national musical instruments. Today, the most prominent maker of musical instruments, especially Morin Khuur, is Mr. Baigaljav.
He is considered the No. 1 among makers. From manual making one by one production, his workshop has grown into a group of skilled craftsmen capable to produce 100 Morin Huurs in one order.
Mongolian traditional songs and dance
Khoomii
“Khoomii” or Throat Singing is a specific way of singing which originates from the replication of natural sounds as the babbling of stream, the echoing of mountain rock or the reeling of thunder. By listening to these sounds, man tried to replicate them by forcing his throat and tongue to retrieve such sounds. First, these sounds resembled more whistling than throat sounds. By applying more force on the throat, these whistling sounds were refined into deep sounds coming from inside of the throat. By applying different vibrations of the tongue, the deep throat sounds are transformed into many sounds resembling, for instance, the babbling of a stream. So, Khoomii is believed to have originated from the natural forces of the earth.
Hovd, Altai mountain region in west of Mongolia, is believed to be the motherland of Khoomii. The famous Khoomii singer Sundui Jajaa was born in Chandmani Soum of Hovd Aimag. There are also different varieties of Khoomii singing such as chest Khoomii, stomach Khoomii, palate Khoomii, nose Khoomii. These are all different separate techniques of Khoomii singing. There four famous Khoomii singers in Mongolia: Sundui Jajaa, Tserendorj, Ganbold and Odsuren. These four singers are considered to be the most skillful and prominent Khoomii singers. They are all from Hovd Aimag. Khoomii singer Ganbold was the sound operator who made the Khoomii backgrounds for the well-known Mongolian epic movies Chinggis Khaan and Queen Manduhai.
Mongolian Traditional Dance
There isn’t just a Mongolian dance. The origins of all Mongolian dances go back to the traditional nomadic lifestyle of Mongols as kneading the flour, processing the skins and hides, shooting bows or herding livestock. The two distinctive movements in the Mongolian traditional dance are called “bielgee” (various shoulder movements) and “tatlaga” (quick pulling movements with arms). The European dances also originate from lifestyle events; however, they are artistic representations while the Mongolian dances are literally physical replications.
Mongolian Long Song
The origins of Mongolian long songs lie in the endless Mongolian steppes. And like their origins, the most famous Mongolian long songs praise the beauty of the Mongolian steppes. A Mongolian long song is unique to Mongolia. No similar technique exists in other countries where the singer applies various tints, beats and pulsations to his or her voice throwing it up and down. Foreign singers do not have these techniques. Occasionally, some modern singers in world apply similar but very basic techniques in their singing. However, these uses never go beyond the basics because the Mongolian school of long song is very specific. Mongolian traditional songs are all folk songs without a specific author.
There are several folk music and dance ensembles in Mongolia. The most well-known among them are Tumen Ekh, Jamuuhai, Domog, Altan Urga, Khan Huur.
|
