Huun Huur Tu – Concert and Documentary

Concert filmed live at Fantasy Studios on November 18th 2008. Documentary shot on location in Tuva, June 30 – July 4, 2007.

1. Prayer/Oske Cherde
2. Sygyt
3. Chiraa-Khoor
4. Kargyraa
5. Saryglarlar
6. Kozhamyk
7. Kongurei
8. Camel Caravan Drivers
9. Sagly Khaldun Turula Boor
10. Eerbe Aksy
11. Orphan's Lament
12 Odugen Taiga
13. Aa-shuu Dekei-oo

HD Video only

Fantasy Studios Crew

Producers Vladimir Oboronko, David L. Brown, Dorian Maras
Special Guests on Odugen Taiga Michael Manring – bass and Irina Mikhailova – back vocals
Location Producer / Director / Director of Photography David L. Brown
Art Director Kia Resnick
Camera Operators David Brown, Steven Baigel, Garrett Low, Tom Anderson, Maya Sedgwick, Autumn Turley
Production Crew Wendy Krueger, Autumn Turley, Michael Schrecker, Elisabeth Walter, Stan Ng, Dorian Maras
Audio recording and mixing John Cuniberti
Microphones provided by Telefunken USAM
Video editor Matthew Jolly
Special thanks to Jeffrey Wood, Amanda Howell and the staff at Fantasy Studios, Konstantine Baranov at Digidesign, Steven Baker

Documentary crew

Director of Photography Pavel Samokhvalov
Sound editing Anto Kuryshev
Photographer Vladislav Efimov
Graphic Design Marina Zvidrina, Alexander Pishalnikov
Creative Producer (post production) Tania Detkina
Additional Video Editing Hayden Chisholm
General Producers Alexander Cheparukhin, Alexander Pishalnikov

Executive Producer Vladimir Oboronko

Plushmusic Executive Producer Hayden Chisholm

Greenwave Music General Director Alexander Cheparukhin

The first time I heard the music of Huun Huur Tu was in 1998. It was a deep musical epiphany that resonates with me to this day, and I look back with much joy at this moment and the group who so profoundly "opened" my ears. Overtone singing in it's many forms is a central pillar of the Tuvan music, and certainly in the modern world the area of Tuva can safely be regarded as the true home of overtone singing. Through the human voice, the music of Tuva connects man with his environment and with the unseen world around him.

Several years after this first encounter I met the group whilst taking part in a music festival in a wild nature park in Kenya along the Great Rift Valley. For over a week their overtones sung out amongst the animals and over the planes and it was here that I got my first taste of the deep connectivity between their music and the open landscapes surrounding us. They kept their singing art as a precious secret, but I remember clearly the last night when I donned my kilt and played my bagpipes before an open bonfire and Sayan, one of the Huun Huur Tu members, came to me and sung in my ear along to my pipes – his crystal clear overtones are still reverberating inside me to this day!

Hayden Chisholm

Huun Huur Tu
Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, lead vocals, Igil, doshpuluur
Sayan Bapa, doshpuluur, igil, acoustic guitar, back vocals
Radik Tyulyush, vocals, flute, byzaanchi, igil
Alexey Saryglar, traditional drums and percussion, vocals

In 2008 Huun Huur Tu took advantage of a five-day break in their US touring schedule to record their most popular songs at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley CA. The group felt that over fifteen years of playing their songs had evolved significantly and deserved a new recording. The sessions were electric, and they decided to open up the studio doors for an invitation only performance and recording of their best songs.

The result is a spine-tingling film of Huun Huur Tu's performance at Fantasy Studios on November 20, 2008 which we are now delighted to present on Plushmusic. This was clearly one of those special moments when a band at the height of their creative power are blessed with a perfect recording environment and a wonderful audience to receive them.

We at Plushmusic are immensely proud to present Huun Huur Tu.

This stunning documentary film, "Been Away for a While" takes you on a journey of discovery to the source of Huun Huur Tu's music.

On June 28, 2007 Huun Huur Tu (Kaigal-ool, Sayan, Alexey, and Radik) came to the end of another European tour. On their journey home they were joined in Moscow by GreenWave producer Alexander Cheparukhin and Vladimir Oboronko, and a video team of Pavel Samokhvalov, Vladislav Efimov, and Rex Weiner.

The team spent four days with Huun Huur Tu, meeting the musicians' families and friends, traveling to their favourite areas around Tuva, listening to and recording the musicians performing on a farm, in the mountains and on the steppes. The result is a beautiful document and rare portrait of this exotic land. We are given a unique insight into the origin of the songs, the workings of their shamans, their veneration of their nature, and the faces of their people.

There are numerous touching and inspiring moments in this film: the "master" removing his hat when he sees the camera, Kaigal-ool singing overtones in the car, the shaman's incredible office all linger in the mind long after the film has finished. Being able to follow any music to it's source, as this film allows us to, is an immensely rewarding experience.