Ongod

Mongolian khöömei (overtone) singer Ganzorig Nergui and morin huur (horse head fiddle) player Ganbold Muukhaï are the two remaining members of Altaï Khangaï who released a splendid album Naariits Biilye on Pan in 1999. On Ongod they are joined by Garavkhuu Badmaabazar on Mongolian zither and dulcimer. ‘Ikh Mongol,’ a contemporary piece, demonstrates Ganzorig Nergui's various styles of throat singing, from the chesty, resonant sub-harmonic kharkhiraa style through the highly compressed shakhalt-khailkah style – in which it's the words that dominate – to the melodic, overtone-based khöömei method. It is interesting to hear Nergui trying to sing an overtone melody in a minor scale; traditionally a major pentatonic scale is sung in the overtone series. His khöömei is sometimes heavily influenced by the Tuvan style, particularly on ‘Nuuts Tovchoo.’ The unique sound of the two-string horse head fiddle is heard on every track, with ‘Mongol Boukh’ (Mongolian Bull) being the most traditional, a song that tells the tale of a bull that escaped from China back to its homeland in Mongolia.