MuOM, BARCELONA HARMONIC SINGING CHOIR

And now for something completely different, I want to speak about harmonic singing.
Also known as overtone singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the sounds created as air travels from the lungs, passing the vocal folds and out of the lips to produce a melody. This way the singer can produce two sounds at the same time, and even three!
I can’t really say more about it of what you can google around, but I really wanted to introduce you to a lovely choir from Barcelona that performs this special kind of singing that is used traditionally in various countries and cultures like in Mongolia, in Siberia, Tibet, Pakistan and even the Inuit and in Sardinia.
MuOm is a Barcelona based ensemble that uses harmonic singing and Mongolian throat singing with a unique concept of connecting to their audiences. They not only make audience sing with them during a part of their performances, but are able to choreography, design and conceptualize every performance so that there is always really interesting happening all the time.
MuOm has just visited London and Wales for the first time, giving two concerts in London (St Peter’s Church in Vauxhall and St Etherlburga’s Centre for Peace and Reconciliation) plus one at Llangollen Fringe Festival 2014.(Find more information here).

 

Even if as a choir singer you are not specifically interested in practising harmonic singing, I can assure you that this practice does indeed make your voice richer in tone, and at the same time helps with your concentration, as it can be meditative and calming.
I had the pleasure to lodge at home one of the singers and founder of the choir, Moisés Perez, and that was a fantastic opportunity to talk about music, singing, live, songs, choirs… and more music and how that is good for your body and your mind. We have recorded a podcast together that will come out as soon as I have the time to translate it into English.
Thanks to Cumie Dunio for making contact, and thanks to all the fabulous singers who decided to show up and sing with us at a party in London the day before.
It was a lovely experience to be at the concert at St Peter’s Church in Vauxhall. My arms and legs felt softer after listening one hour of this fabulous music. A truly unique experience that I will recommend again should they visit UK again.