throat singer

noun

plural throat singers

: someone who engages in any of several culturally distinct singing traditions typically involving the production of simultaneous overtones via control of the throat and mouth : a practitioner of throat singing

A throat singer is able to selectively amplify harmonics naturally present in the voice to produce two, or sometimes three, notes simultaneously.

—The Ottawa Citizen (Canada)

… seekers of new forms of world music discovered the phenomenal skills of Tyva's throat singers, whose traditions of multiple voices sung at once by one person were developed through the reverberations of herders in mountain valleys as well as their harmonizing with babbling brooks.

—Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer

"It is a very difficult technique. … A throat singer has to have good lungs, he has to be able to hold his breath for a long time."

—Dashdorj Tserendavaa

Examples of throat singer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Visitors not only immerse themselves in the landscapes, whether by foot, snowshoe, or ski, but also in Inuit culture by watching throat singers perform and soapstone carvers at work. —Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2024

Dhani Harrison awakens new sounds and spirituality with help from Tuvan throat singers. —Defne Karabatur, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2024

There might be a singer from Guam, some Tuvan throat singers, some African dudes with guitars and an Eastern European choir. —Kathryn Shattuck, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1974, in the meaning defined above