While studying computer music in the late 1980s, one of my classmates brought a tape into CCRMA, Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Accoustics.  The tape had a snippet of music with a sound we had never heard before — a very pure flute like instrument played atop a deep and raspy drone.  We spent a fair bit of time debating what the instruments were, even analyzing the sounds in our lab, before it was revealed to us that there was only one instrument, not two, and that the instrument in question was the human voice.  The tape we heard sounded something like this.  This encounter was the first time I heard throatsinging, a singing technique unique to the region in outer Mongolia called Tuva.  For literally years in college I worked at throatsinging to very little success.  But the very nature of this unique sound (a musical system based upon the individual components of the sound itself rather than a melody per se) and the isolated culture that created it has fascinated me for going on two decades.

Given my fascination with Tuvan throatsinging, it is more than a little surprising that it has taken me this long to get around to watching Genghis Blues, but better late than never.  Genghis Blues is a wonderful documentary that chronicles the journey of blind blues singer Paul Pena to Tuva to compete in the national throatsinging competition.  The film is a glimps into a fascinating culture and a thrilling musical tradition.  While I can probably do without the "delicacy" of goat blood sausage, Genghis Blues left me — life Richard Feynman before me — dreaming of a trip to this remote part of the world.  Genghis Blues is well worth a watch and If you ever get a chance to hear authentic throatsingers in concerts, I highly recommend it.  — David Hornik