Have you ever heard a throat singing (Khoomei)? This is incredible! The unusual and impressive personality is the #1 "Khoomei" soloist in the world lives in the Kalmykia (South of Russia).
Okna Tsahan Zam ("The white road"), aka Vladimir Kharouev, was born in 1957 on the long road used by the Kalmyk people when returning to their own land after deportation to Siberia by Stalin. "The White Road" is the road that leads to Joy and Happiness. Okna belongs to an ancient Baatud tribe.
According to the legend this Mongolian tribe was founded by the second son of Doa-Sokhor the Cyclops. After a series of dreams, Okna Tsahan Zam gave up his engineering career and devoted his life to Throat Singing (Khoomei), the Mongolian vocal technique of his ancestors. This vocal technique is very spectacular : it allows the singer to sing two or more voices at the same time.
It's a very spectacular vocal technique, particularly developped in Mongolia and Tuva. Khoomei designates a large family of singing styles and techniques. Also known as "Throat-Singing". It permits the vocalization of 2 or more notes at the same time.
Western terms for Khoomei include Harmonic Singing, Overtone Singing, Diphonic Singing, Biphonic Singing, etc... All refer to similar, but not necessarily identical vocal techniques.
Okna Tsahan Zam is from Kalmykia. The Oirats (Kalmyks) and the Mongols are descendants of two brothers : Duo Sokhor and Doa Mergen. They lived in the IX century. In the beginning of the XVII century a large part of the Kalmyks moved toward the Altai and the Volga delta on the Caspian sea. They still have an intact passion for horses and Genghis Khan.
Kalmyk people are mainly Buddhists, even though shamabism is very present. They have always wanted to keeptheir traditions alive ; that's why they were tough opponents of Napoleon and Stalin who deported all the population to Siberia during World War II.
120 000 inhabitants live in this republic which is part of the Russian Federation. The steppe covers most of the territory. Elista is the capital. The Republic of Kalmykia stretches to the south-east of the European part of Russia between the Volga and Don rivers. In the south-east it is bordered by the Caspian Sea.
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