Huun-Huur-Tu

Huun-Huur-Tu Хүн Хүртү
Performance in Tyumen, 28th october 2012
Background information
Origin	Tuva
Genres	Throat singing, folk music
Years active	1992-present
Website	www.huunhuurtu.ru
Members	Kaigal-ool Khovalyg Sayan Bapa Radik Tülüsh Alexei Saryglar
Past members	Albert Kuvezin Alexander Bapa Andrey Mongush Anatoli Kuular

Huun-Huur-Tu (Tuvan: Хүн Хүртү Khün Khürtü, Russian: Хуун-Хуур-Ту) are a music group from Tuva, a republic of Russia situated on the Mongolia–Russia border.

The most distinctive characteristic of Huun-Huur-Tu's music is throat singing, in which the singers sing both the note (drone) and the drone's overtone(s), thus producing two or three notes simultaneously. The overtone may sound like a flute, whistle or bird, but is solely a product of the human voice.

The group primarily use native Tuvan instruments such as the igil, khomus (Tuvan jaw harp), doshpuluur, and dünggür (shaman drum). However, in recent years, the group have begun to selectively incorporate Western instruments, such as the guitar. While the thrust of Huun-Huur-Tu's music is fundamentally indigenous Tuvan folk music, they also experiment with incorporating not only Western instruments, but electronic music as well.

The khöömei quartet Kunggurtug (Tuvan: Куңгуртуг, [ˈkuŋ.ɡur.tuk]) was founded in 1992 by Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, brothers Alexander and Sayan Bapa, and Albert Kuvezin. Khovalyg had been involved on the khoomei scene since 1979. Not long afterwards, the group changed its name to Huun-Huur-Tu, meaning "sunbeams" (literally "sun propeller"). The focus of their music was traditional Tuvan folk songs, frequently featuring imagery of the Tuvan steppe or of horses.

The ensemble released its first album, 60 Horses In My Herd, the following year. The album was recorded at studios in London and Mill Valley, California. By the time recording began for the follow-up, Kuvezin had left the group to form the more rock-oriented Yat-Kha. Kuvezin was replaced by Anatoli Kuular, who had previously worked with Khovalyg and Kongar-ool Ondar as part of the Tuva Ensemble. The new line-up recorded The Orphan's Lament in New York City and Moscow, and released it in 1994.