The use of overtone singing is a treasured tradition in many regions around the periphery of China, including in Tuva and Mongolia as a blend of nationalist celebration and idyllic folk song. In Tibet, the overtone exists mainly in Buddhist chanting and throat singing, by Tibetan monks in the Himalayas, in Qinghai, and many other locations. Within Western musicology, overtone singing and basso profundo are classified into the lower tiers of operatic and vocal bass scales; formally, basso profondos can be expected to hit a range of low C, and below, including notes like
G1 and F1.
For example, the following video is a Russian liturgical chant in basso profundo, performed by Vladimir Pasuikov and Yuri Wichniakov, whose vocal range extends all the way down to, respectively, Ab1 and G1.
Within the Tibetan canon, Tibetan throat singing is delineated into three pitch ranges and styles: Gyuke (རྒྱུད་སྐད་) uses the lowest vocal range of the voice, while Dzoke ( མཛོ་སྐད་) and Gyer (གྱེར་) compose other ranges.
Below is a performance of basso profundo droning in the Tibetan style, as one would expect to find in Tibetan monk chants.
The distinctly religious nature of these performances implies a lack of more frivolous musicality found in its geographic cousins. For example, below is a performance by Tuvan musician, actor, and Russian-educated academic Saydaş Monguş, who composed it for the Hamag Mongol music festival project in Elista, Russia.
Tibetan-inspired throat singing as a genre and more global musical form has seen a resurgence in recent years, especially in pop culture and film. This subject is discussed in the “A Global Phenomenon” section.
Tibetan Music 