so- your question was this-
What place, if any, does the music and culture of the nomads of Tuva have in the west? How has it influenced your own music? etc etc.

RESPONSE-

I think I have gone through several phases in my understanding of these kinds of questions in my process over the years-

Whereas at one time I may have been, I am no longer so interested in making any music that "sounds" like Tuvan music. I am not Tuvan and never will be. I may or may not ever have the opportunity to visit, and if I do it would only be as a guest- so, what exactly does my music have in common with music in Tuva?

Throatsinging and the awareness its practice brings of the very intentional utilization of harmonics and timbre in sound are extrememy important to me and in my musical expression. By all accounts, throatsinging does impart or is at least conducive to encouraging a broader awareness of oneself as a part of the natural world around oneself. It may at certain times in history been a much more widespread practice in the world of musical expression and perhaps we see it residually in certains types of shamanic musics throughout Asia and Africa- Howling Wolf or Blind Willie Johnson, anyone?

There is a very strong tendency in the more priviledged quarters of the Western world to romanticize or idealize the supposedly idyllic situations of the Noble Savages all about the world- primitive conditions in culture and economy somehow signify an advanced form of ancient shamanic wisdom. I suspect this tendency to be very dangerous, not only does it put non-Western peoples up on a very high pedestal; it also serves to invalidate the realities of what is really going on around the world and the urgency with which we must immediately address the issues now confronting us as a human, not a tribal, species.

The practice of throatsinging has been an enormous springboard for me in such a multitude of ways I would not know where to begin- it is not enough for me to imitate recordings of Tuvan singers or judge my output solely upon imagined Tuvan aesthetics- I would like to create a musical expression that is completely real and honest for me myself in the age I live in, perhaps there is enormous potential for healing and spiritual communication to be found in this new discovery of forgotten musical idioms? I don't really know for sure, I just try to follow where my spirit guides me and see what happens next.