Monday, May 23, 2016

On My Mind: Hanggai

Greetings, Friends.

How many of you like to listen to music? Okay, how many of you like to listen to popular songs and artists, like Taylor Swift? Finally, how many of you like to listen to unique songs and artists?

I am one who prefers unique music over popular music. Actually, I really only used to listen to Christian music, classical, and movie soundtracks. I find them fun, exciting, and soothing in turn. However, I recently discovered a new type of music.

This is Hanggai. On a school field trip, we saw them perform, and when I got home, I started listening to their music. Hanggai is a Mongolian folk/rock band, and they combine traditional instruments, like the horse fiddle, with modern instruments, like electric guitars. Here is a link to a picture of a horse fiddle (I couldn't find any free images): http://www.festival.si.edu/images/past_festivals/silk_road/nomads_morin_large.jpg.

This is a video of one of their songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjRskDUq_eM

It's about horses, so here is a picture:


 
Their songs aren't in English, and one maddening thing about the one song I've looked up the lyrics to is Google Translate doesn't read Mongolian very well. Their are translations, but they don't seem to be 100% accurate. For example, there is a word, "Тогур" that is repeated many times, but is nonexistent in the English translation. The other word that is repeated is "Шигэp," which is in the translation.


They also use tuvan throat singing, which is traditional. The person playing the horse fiddle does the throat singing, and you can tell when he starts. Throat singing is amazing, and I have no idea how human voices can make those sounds.

Do you like Hanggai? Do you think it's unique? What types of music do you like to listen to?

Farewell, Travelers.








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