Missionary work in Tuva and Mongolia using overtone singing

[Andrew Colwell]

Recently I have been looking into missionary work in the Altai region in which "indigenous" music forms--like xoomi/overtone singing--are being researched or even used for spreading the presence of "The Lord". Here is one video from Mongolia:

Psalm sung with xoomi with western instrumental back up, posted by Heart-Sounds.org:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pccNVrBV7Ss&feature=related

Heart-sounds.org, a missionary organization trying to facilitate Christian worship through traditional/local song and music forms, notes research projects in Tuva and Siberia (which  includes Mongolia even though this page doesn't mention Mongolia).

http://www.heart-sounds.org/about/history.htm

Also, there are so-called "ethnodoxologists" like Robin Harris doing "ethnomusicological" work in Tuva. Ethnodoxologists investigate how worship can be superimposed upon traditional art forms by researching them. Recently, a magtaal or "praise song" has been written.

This is not a polemic, but to let you all know about this important issue. It shows another way in which religious narratives are being created using xoomi/overtone-singing.

Regards,

Andrew Colwell