Byzaanchy

Choduraa Tumat is one of Tyva’s finest female khöömeizhi (master throat singers), being leader of the group Tyva Kyzy, but on her latest album, she highlights the byzaanchy, a four-stringed horse-hair spike fiddle with a split bow threaded between the strings. It is similar to the Mongolian dörvön chikhtei khuur. However, uniquely to the byzaanchy is the method of fingering the strings. The nails or the skin just below are pressed under the string to be played. (Read more about the byzaanchy and its unique playing technique on p75).

Opener ‘Munzuktarnyng Duedi’ sets the tone for the album, its soft-sounding pentatonic melody beautifully executed by Tumat. The byzaanchy’s double strings produce a richer tone than single strings, something like that of a bowed 12-string guitar. ‘Chashpy Khem’ (The River Chashpy), a love song, remarkably incorporates her khöömei as well as gentle lyric singing. ‘Doshpuluurum’ is dedicated to master byzaanchy maker Idamchap Khomushku. It uses an experimental tuning with only three strings that he developed in the 1970s; this automatically plays melodies harmonising in fifth intervals, a bit like the late Jon Hassell’s trumpet. Tumat should be congratulated for introducing us to this little known, but essential, Tyvan instrument.