OVERTONES
Overtone singing is one of humanity's oldest vocal arts. By subtly shaping the mouth and resonance of the voice, hidden harmonics emerge, allowing one singer to produce two or more notes at the same time.
The first overtone often arrives as a surprise.
One moment you are singing a single note. The next, another clear tone seems to appear above it, almost as if another voice were hidden inside your own.

Overtone singing—also known as vocal harmonics—is the art of bringing these naturally occurring frequencies into focus. It is less about forcing the voice and more about learning to listen with extraordinary attention.
With relaxation, curiosity and a little practice, a single sustained note can open into an entire world of sound.

What are harmonics?

The hidden colours of sound
Every sound contains a fundamental tone and a family of quieter frequencies called harmonics or overtones. These harmonics give each voice and instrument its particular colour.

Just as a prism reveals the colours hidden inside white light, overtone singing reveals the tones already present within a single note.

By gently changing the shape of the mouth, tongue and vocal tract, the singer amplifies particular harmonics until they become clearly audible as a second melody.
If a fundamental vibrates at 100 cycles per second, its harmonics vibrate at 200, 300, 400 cycles per second and beyond.

The sound that changed everything
One night in the late 1980s, Igor heard David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir on the radio.

“They sounded like an aeroplane taking off. Suddenly one voice seemed to leap into the stratosphere, flying higher and higher with no parachute. It was my first encounter with overtone singing, and it completely blew my mind.”

Wanting to preserve the moment, he grabbed one of his mother’s classical music cassettes and pressed record. That sound became the beginning of a lifelong vocal journey.

More than thirty years later, harmonics still teach him about listening, self-expression and connection with others.

Beginning with harmonics
Listen first.

Relax your jaw, throat and belly. Sustain one comfortable note without pushing. Then slowly explore the vowel journey from U to O to A to E to I, noticing how the sound changes inside your mouth.

A gentle smile and small movements of the tongue can help individual harmonics become clearer. Do not chase them. Stay curious and let listening become more important than producing a result.

Overtones tend to appear when the voice is steady, the body is relaxed and the singer stops trying too hard.

Workshops and guided practice can make this discovery much easier, especially at the beginning.

Seeing the sound

Harmonics can be heard, felt and also seen.

In this animation, each complete spiral represents another octave of the harmonic series. The accompanying video offers a three-dimensional view of what happens inside the vocal tract during overtone singing.

Listen to western-style overtones

In this recording from Meteora, Greece, Igor uses a clear sustained fundamental and carefully shaped vowels to allow the upper harmonics to emerge as a distinct melody. Headphones will help you hear the finer tones.


Overtone traditions around the world
Overtone singing appears in different forms across the world.
Each tradition has its own sound, cultural meaning and relationship with landscape, ritual and community.
Tuva (Russia): Tuvan khöömei includes several vocal styles inspired by the sounds of wind, water, animals and the open steppe.

Mongolia: Mongolian throat singing often combines a sustained drone with high, flute-like harmonics and is closely connected with nature and nomadic culture.

  1. Tibet: Tibetan monks have long practiced overtone singing as part of their religious and spiritual rituals. It is often associated with Tibetan Buddhist chanting and is considered a sacred practice.
  2. Altai & Siberia: Several Indigenous communities of Siberia practise distinct overtone and low-throat-singing traditions, often linked with storytelling, spirituality and the natural world.

Explore Wolfgang Saus’ World Map of Overtones →
https://www.oberton.org/en/overtone-singing/styles/

Overtones with I Tenores di Bitti
In San Pantaleo, Sardinia, Igor had the opportunity to improvise with the Tenores di Bitti.
The encounter brought together two different approaches to vocal harmonics: Igor’s overtone singing and the ancient polyphonic tradition of Sardinian canto a tenore. What followed was a spontaneous meeting of voices, cultures and deep listening.

Listen to the masters
Traditional Mongolian and Tuvan overtone singing carries the memory of landscape, animals, ritual and community. These voices remind us that harmonics are not merely a vocal technique. They are part of living cultural traditions developed and transmitted across generations.

Harmonics, listening and wellbeing
Soundmasssage session with Igor
People often experience overtone singing as calming, centring and physically resonant. Sustaining one note naturally lengthens the breath, focuses attention and allows the vibrations of the voice to be felt throughout the body.

Harmonics are not a medical treatment, nor do they affect everyone in the same way. Their value lies in the quality of attention they invite: slowing down, listening inwardly and allowing the nervous system a moment of rest.

In group singing, this listening becomes relational. Separate voices begin to form a shared field of sound, creating a sense of connection without requiring anyone to lose their individuality.

The gift of harmonics may be less about producing extraordinary sounds and more about discovering an extraordinary quality of listening.

Continue listening
Harmonics brings together fifteen years of concerts and studio recordings, offering a wide range of overtone colours, meditations and musical explorations.

Listen with headphones, breathe with the sounds, sing along or simply allow the harmonics to create a light and spacious atmosphere around you.

Listen to the whole collection on Bandcamp  →