Throat-singing

The great lamp lighter in the sky has failed to turn up to work today. The resultant dark, dark day turned my thoughts to the total winter darkness endured by the Inuit people. Just the day to photograph another of our Inuit stone carvings. This one, sadly unsigned, probably dates from the 1950s and represents a throat-singing woman.
Throat-singing was a form of competitive entertainment among Inuit women while the men were away on hunting trips It was regarded more as a type of vocal or breathing game in the Inuit culture rather than a form of music.
Two women face each other usually in a standing position. 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.
You can enjoy some throat singing in this video clip.