Recommended reading about Tuva?

Send your suggestions. Here's what I've found.



    1 - Tuva or Bust! Ralph Leighton. W.W. Norton, 1991.



         The canonical work. Describes Feynman and Leighton's

         decade-long struggle to reach Tuva. Semi-related works

         are ``Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!'' and ``What

         Do You Care What Other People Think?'', both by Richard

         Feynman (with Ralph Leighton).



    2 - Journey to Tuva



         Otto Mänchen-Helfen, extensively annotated and

         translated from German to English by Alan Leighton.

         Ethnographics Press, University of Southern California,

         1931/1992



         Available from Friends of Tuva. A great book detailing

         the visit of a Westerner in 1929. Contains an appendix

         about present day Tuva and a map.



    3 - Nomads of Eurasia Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

    County University of Washington Press, 1989.



       * This book accompanied the museum exhibit "Nomads: Masters of

         the Eurasian Steppe" in 1989-1990. Great pictures and text.



    4 - Nomads of South Siberia Sevyan Vainshtein, translated by

    Michael Colenso Cambridge University Press, 1980.



         Wow. The detail is impressive as the author examines

         Tuvan nomadic life.



    5 - In Search of Genghis Khan Tim Severin, Arrow Books, 1992.



         The author joins a horseback expedition to trace the

         steps of Genghis Khan from Mongolia to Europe in 1990.

         An intriguing foray into the life of the modern

         Mongolian nomad, with many details that may frighten

         prospective visitors to the region.



    7 - The Peoples of the Soviet Far East Walter Kolarz, published

    by Frederick Praeger of New York, 1954.



    8 - The Tuvan Manual John Krueger, available from the Mongolia

    Society, 322 Goodbody Hall Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

    47405, USA.



         An indispensable work that includes a primer on the

         area and culture, lessons on how to read and speak

         Tuvan, a Tuvan to English glossary, and several samples

         of Tuvan text. An extremely valuable book that is worth

         double the price (about $20). A word of caution; the

         only Tuvan I know to have seen the book commented that

         "no one uses those words anymore".



    9 - Ancient Traditions: Shamanism in Central Asia and the

    Americas Edited by Gary Seaman and Jane S. Day. Published by the

    Denver Museum of Natural History and the University Press of

    Colorado, 1994.



         Based on the proceedings from ``Nomads: Masters of the

         Eurasian Steppe,'' Volume 4 of the Soviet-American

         academic symposia in conjunction with the museum

         exhibitions. The one chapter devoted to Tuvan shamanism

         is by Russian ethnographer Vera P. Diakonova.



    10 - The Lost Country: Mongolia Revealed Jasper Becker. Hodder &

    Stoughton, 1992. ISBN: 0-340-57978-1



         Written by the Asia correspondent of the Guardian

         newspaper, who visited Mongolia and surrounding

         countries several times in 1989-90. Includes are

         chapters on Buryatia and Tuva. Plenty of personal

         observation as well as background history.



    11 - The Last Disco In Outer Mongolia Nick Middleton. Onon, 1992.

    ISBN: 1-85799-012-9



         About the travel experiences of a British student who

         visited Mongolia in 1987 and 1990. He observes the

         changes that have taken place between his two visits.



    12 - Recherche experimentale sur le chant diphonique Hugo Zemp

    and Tran Quang Hai. Cahier de Musique traditionnelle,

    4,p27-68,Atelier d'ethnomusicologie, Geneve, 1991.



         The most thorough analysis of Tuvan, Tibetan, Mongol

         and Altai styles. Plenty of sound spectra representing

         excerpts from a variety of songs, including cuts from

         the Smithsonian Folkways CD. [BD]



    13 - Structural, aerodynamic and spectral characteristics of

    imitated Tibetan chanting. Aliaa Ali Khir, M.D. and Diane

    M.Bless, Ph.D. Proceedings of the 21st symposium of The Voice

    Foundation. Philadelphia, June 1992.



         A study on ``the underlying physiological adjustments

         of this unique phonetary mode''. For those with high

         interests in acoustic and physiological details. The

         subject under study was an American male, not a Tibetan

         monk. The study suggests aphonic patients may benefit

         from Tibetan chanting, as it requires minimal mean flow

         rates. It quotes and agrees with previous authors

         (Smith, Stevens, Tomlinson 1967), that Tibetan style

         may be due to ``two modes of oscillations, one at the

         normal frequency and another at some ``ill-defined''

         low frequency that synchronized to every pulse of the

         higher frequency''. It rules out glottal fry as the

         source of the low note, which I believe is an error.

         [BD]



    14 - Sons multiphoniques aux instruments a vent Michele

    Castellango Rapport IRCAM, 34|82. Paris, France.



         Wind instruments, not just voices, can play multiple

         sounds. The trombone, the flute, the oboe, bassoon and

         bass clarinet are examined in that respect. Defined as

         : ``l'entretien d'un son stable percu comme un

         accord'', multiphonic instrumental emissions are

         compared to vocal overtone singing. ``Si l'on renforce

         l'intensite de certaines harmoniques, ceux-ci peuvent

         etre percu isolement et former une melodie

         independante. A un instant donne, on percoit alors deux

         hauteurs. C'est le cas du chant diphonique, de la

         guinbarde et de l'arc musical ou l'on a dailleurs

         souvent deux ou trois melodies formantiques en

         contrepoint.''



         N.B In previous years, Michele Castellango and Trang

         Quang Hai have worked together on a number of

         occasions, trying to pin down the nature of biphonic

         singing. [BD]



    14 - Theorie physiologique de la musique Hermann von Helmholtz

    Editions Jacques Gabay Paris, 1990.



         The Bible of acoustics and music, from the well known

         19th century Heidelberg university professor. First

         edition in French: 1868.



         When we sing overtones, we behave as Helmholtz

         resonators, amplifying certain harmonics in the note we

         sing. We do so by slightly changing the volume of air

         contained in our vocal tract or by changing the surface

         of the aperture of our mouth. Helmholtz shows us that

         in matters of resonance, there are no other variables

         at play than volume of air and surface of aperture.



         Following up on Helmhotz I hypothesized that whenever

         three notes were distinctly heard in a given style

         (i.e. Kaigal-ool Khovalyg singing in khoomei style) one

         was amplified using the tongue as a means to vary the

         volume of air, one was amplified using the aperture of

         the mouth. Both field observations of professional

         Tuvan singers and personal practice seem to verify

         this. [BD]



    15 - Tuvan Folk Music A.N. Aksenov Asian Music IV, 1973



         I've been unable to confirm the existence of this book,

         or even find out what language it has been published

         in. It was listed as one of several books being

         auctioned by a specialist in antique books.



    16 - The Choomij of Mongolia: a Spectral Analysis of Overtone

    Singing R. Walcot Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology 2, 1974



    17 - The Land In The Heart Of Asia Vladimir Semenov and Marina

    Kilunovskaia Bronze Horseman Literary Agency (1995) 70-52 Olcott

    Street Forest Hills, NY 11375



         $22, 112 pages, 72 color illustrations. Bronze Age,

         Neolithic, and Scythian artifacts from excavations in

         Tuva.



    18 - Unknown Mongolia: A Record of Travel and Exploration in

    North-West Mongolia and Dzungaria Douglas Carruthers Hutchinson &

    Co., 1914.



         ``Unknown Mongolia'' is an enormous two-volume tome

         based on British geographer Douglas Carruthers'

         20-month journey and mapping expedition through what is

         now Tuva and Mongolia. The first volume is almost all

         about Tuva. Carruthers was literally charting uncharted

         territory. The stated intent of the journey was as a

         geographic expedition. Carruthers set out to map the

         territory and investigate its geology, flora and fauna.

         The result is a fascinating and highly informative

         account, written in the somewhat overblown, erudite

         manner typical of the aristocrats who were members of

         the Royal Geographic Society.



         Despite his understandably "Orientalist" approach,

         Carruthers for the most part manages to avoid the

         judgmental condescension of many other British

         explorers. His account of the indigenous people and

         their ways of life is sensitive and respectful, and his

         painstaking attention to detail is rendered more with

         refreshing candor and wide-eyed wonder than with the

         bored skepticism of some of the other British travel

         accounts of the period. It's informative, entertaining,

         readable, and full of vivid geographic and ethnographic

         detail. [Review by Brian Donahoe.]



         Booksellers list a 1994 edition of this book (ISBN

         8120608577) with a price in the $40 (US) range - much

         better than the rare 1914 edition.



    19 - Open Lands: Travels Through Russia's Once Forbidden Places

    Mark Taplin Steerforth Press, 1998, ISBN 1-883642-87-6



         In 1992, when the doors to formerly forbidden areas of

         the Soviet Union were opened, Taplin visited seven

         newly accessible cities and regions. One chapter is

         devoted to Tuva; the chapter is an interesting read,

         the highlight being his run-in with Mongush

         Kenin-Lopsang. Taplin has an eye for detail and

         provides generous descriptions of the situations he's

         encountered; his Tuvan chapter doesn't include much on

         aspects of Tuvan tradition or day-to-day life but does

         provide much insight on the legacies of the Soviet

         system.



    20 - Books by Lev Nikolayevich Gumilev (1912-1992)



         Several Russians have reported that they first became

         interested in Tuva through the works (in Russian) of

         this author. Some titles of interest are "Hunnu in

         China" "Ancient Turkic people".