Tuva is a territory of Russia
The republic of Tuva, a remote territory in southern Russia located on the border with Mongolia, is perhaps best known for its vast mountainous geography and the unique cultural practice of "throat singing". These singers simultaneously create two different pitches: a low-pitched drone, along with a hovering whistle above it. This practice has deep cultural roots and has now been shared more broadly via world music performances and the 1999 documentary Genghis Blues. Despite many scientists being fascinated by throat singing, it was unclear precisely how throat singers could create two unique pitches. Singing and speaking in general involves making sounds by vibrating the vocal cords found deep in the throat, and then shaping those sounds with the tongue, teeth and lips as they move up the vocal tract and out of the body. Previous studies using static images taken with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested how Tuvan singers might produce the two pitches, but a mechanistic understanding of throat singing was far from complete. Now, Bergevin et al. have better pinpointed how throat singers can produce their unique sound.