Inuit throat singing, or katajjaq, is a form of musical performance uniquely found among the Inuit. The traditional form consists of two women who sing duets in a close face-to-face formation with no instrumental accompaniment, in an entertaining contest to see who can outlast the other; however, one of the genre's most famous practitioners, Tanya Tagaq, performs as a solo artist. Several groups, including Tudjaat, The Jerry Cans, Quantum Tangle and Silla + Rise, also now blend traditional throat singing with mainstream musical genres such as pop, folk, rock and dance music. An analogous form called rekuhkara was once practiced among the Ainu of Hokkaidō, Japan.
Names
The name for throat singing in Canada varies with the geography:
Originally, katajjaq was a form of entertainment among Inuit women while men were away on hunting trips, and it was a regarded more as a type of vocal or breathing game in the Inuit culture rather than a form of music.
Performance
Two women face each other usually in a standing position and holding each other's arms. Sometimes they will do some kind of dance movements while singing. One singer leads by setting a short rhythmic pattern, which she repeats leaving brief silent intervals between each repetition. The other singer fills in the gap with another rhythmic pattern. The sounds used include voiced sounds as well as unvoiced ones, both through inhalation or exhalation. The first to run out of breath or be unable to maintain the pace of the other singer will start to laugh or simply stop and will thus be eliminated from the game. It generally lasts between one and three minutes. The winner is the singer who beats the largest number of people. At one time, the lips of the two women almost touched, so that one singer used the mouth cavity of the other as a resonator, but this is less common in present day. Often, the singing is accompanied by a shuffling in rhythm from one foot to the other. The sounds may be actual words or nonsense syllables or created during exhalation.
"The old woman who teaches the children corrects sloppy intonation of contours, poorly meshed phase displacements, and vague rhythms exactly like a Western vocal coach."
Notable performers
Notable performers include Tanya Tagaq, who performs in a contemporary style, and The Jerry Cans, who incorporate throat singing by band member Nancy Mike as a musical and rhythmic element in a conventional folk rock sound and style. Traditional performers include Qaunak Mikkigak, Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt, as well as Alacie Tullaugaq and Lucy Amarualik who perform in the Katajjaq style.
An August 2008 an AT&T radio commercial references kadajjat/throat singing in reference to the speaker's roommate.
In 2005, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra recorded The Four Seasons Mosaic CD and DVD documentary. A reinvention of Vivaldi's Four Seasons by Mychael Danna featuring Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; Jeanne Lamon, violin; Aruna Narayan, sarangi; Wen Zhao, pipa and throat singers Aqsarniit.
The electropop band Row of Cookies incorporated a sample of Inuit throat singing in their version of the song New Girl Now by Honeymoon Suite.
The British ITV documentary ' features Billy Connolly in the Canadian Arctic. In the second episode, he visits a pair of women demonstrating the finer points of throat singing.
The 2012 CBC TVdrama seriesArctic Air features a theme song written by Tim McCauley and performed by Tanya Tagaq, incorporating elements of traditional Inuit throat singing over a modern dance beat.
A task in the seventh leg of the first season of The Amazing Race Canada required teams to listen to a traditional Inuit throat singing performance.
The Inuktitut language children's program Anaana's Tent has featured performances of Inuit throat singing by Celina Kalluk as part of cultural education about Inuit traditions.
In 2014, Nunavik throat singing became the first cultural item to be given the intangible cultural heritage designation by the government of the province of Quebec, Canada.
