Ethnic music of Yakutia: Yuliana

   

Pravda Report

 

Published on Jun 25, 2012

Yuliana is a very talented vocalist and guimbarde player. The music that she played in Pravda.Ru studio is titled "The Middle World."

Traditional music of Sakha (a.k.a. Yakut) people, mostly living in their homeland - Yakut Republic (part of Russian Federation). Khomus (jew's harp) and dunur (shaman's drum) are the most often used instruments. Vocals are the most important part of the music, utilized to great effect in Sakha throat singing and Olonkho epic, which is always performed by a solo singer.

The Jew's harp, jaw harp, mouth harp, Ozark harp, trump or juice harp, is a lamellophone instrument, which is in the category of plucked idiophones: it consists of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. The tongue/reed is placed in the performer's mouth and plucked with the finger to produce a note.

This instrument is considered to be one of the oldest musical instruments in the world; a musician apparently playing it can be seen in a Chinese drawing from the 4th century BC. Despite its common English name, and the sometimes used Jew's trump, it has no particular connection with the Jewish people or Judaism. This instrument is native to Asia and used in all tribes of Turkic peoples in Asia, among whom it is variously referred to as a temir komuz (literally, iron komuz), agiz komuzu (literally, mouth komuz), gubuz or doromb.
The instrument is known in many different cultures by many different names. The common English name "Jew's harp" may be considered controversial or potentially misleading, and is thus avoided by some speakers. Other speakers believe the avoidance of the term to be offensive and deliberately use the term so as not to cause offense. Another name used to identify the instrument, especially in scholarly literature, is the older English trump, while guimbarde, the French word for the instrument, can be found in unabridged dictionaries and is featured in recent revival efforts.
Since trances are facilitated by droning sounds, the Jew's harp has been associated with magic and has been a common instrument in shamanic rituals

The Sakha Republic is a part of Russia in Asia. Its most distinctive national instrument is the "khomus", a lamellophone.

The Yakut people are a large ethnic group in Sakha. They are known for an epic poem called "Olonkho". This epic is performed a cappella, generally at festivals, always by one man alone. The timbre and tone of the singer reveal the roles of the different characters. juliana


  AutoPlay Next Video