Tsam religious dance of Mongolia

The ancient religious mask dance, or Tsam, is a significant religious ritual which reflects Buddhist teachings through images. It is a theatrical art performed by skilled dancers wearing magnificently ornamented costumes, which represent characters of different holy figures and devils, animals, and people.Through story, music, and dance, the wide range of personalities of the characters are depicted. To symbolize positive and negative attributes, characters from popular stories, and animals such as the Khangarid (lord of birds), Lion (the king of wild animal), stag (the beauty among animals), crow (the soothsayer) and various domestic animals are imitated. Furthermore, the colors and decoration of the costumes are clues as to the nature of the personalities of each character. 
Tsam mask dancing is included in the art form called “Doigar”, which embodies independent imagination, one of the ten kinds of sciences according to ancient Indian philosophy.The Tsam dance ceremony was introduced in Mongolia, in 8th century, when the famous Indian Saint Lovon Badamjunai was invited to Mongolia to sanctify the construction of the first Tibetan Buddhist temple, Samya. From the time, the Tsam dance performed following the traditional teaching of Nyambdeyan. During the 16th century, it became popular in Dash-Ihum monastery, Uigien Namjra, and other places. Eventually, more than 500 of the 700 Mongolian monasteries had their own local variations of the ceremony.

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Morin khuur

Perhaps the most ancient musical instrument of the Mongols is the “morin khuur”, invented at least a thousand years ago. In Mongolian, morin means horse, and khuur means sound, rhyme, and melody. 

This instrument’s history is based on a legend of a man, who had a beloved, magical horse that could fly. When an evil man killed the horse, the man made a musical instrument so that he could remember the horse. Originally, the handle of the horse-head fiddle was made of horse ribs and its base is made of horse skin. Today, the long tail hair of a horse is used for the strings. It is said each tail hair fiber should be processed until it “starts talking”. To honor the horse, its head is carved of wood and placed where the scroll would be on a violin. The wooden neck and the sound box of the instrument are often decorated by the five elements and the horoscope animals of the Buddhist 12-year calendar. Finally, the symbol of eternity is depicted on the sides of the box. The tone of the morin khuur is tender and beautiful.

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Khuumii-throat singing

Mongol khuumii involves producing two simultaneous tones with the human voice. It is a difficult skill requiring special ways of breathing. One tone comes out as a whistle-like sound, the result of locked breath in the chest being forced out through the throat in a specific way, while a lower tone sounds as a base. Khuumii is considered musical art - not exactly singing, but using one's throat as an instrument. 
Depending on the way air is exhaled from the lungs, there are various ways of classifying khuumii, including Bagalzuuryn (laryngeal) khuumii, Tagnainy (palatine) khuumii, Hooloin (guttural) khuumii, Hamryn (nasal) khuumii, and Kharkhiraa khuumii: under strong pressure in the throat, air is exhaled while a lower tone is kept as the main sound.Professional khuumii performers are found in only a few areas with certain traditions. The Chainman district of Hovd aimag (province) is one home of hoomii. Tuva, a part of Russia to the north of Mongolia, is also a center of khuumii.

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Long song

Mongolian unique traditional singing style is known as Urtiin duu, or long song. It's one of the oldest genres of Mongolian musical art, dating to the 13th century. Urtiin duu involves extraordinarily complicated, drawn-out vocal sounds. It is evocative of vast, wide spaces and it demands great skill and talent from the singers in their breathing abilities and guttural singing techniques. 

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