Aldar Tamdyn, born 1975, in Chadaana, Republic of Tuva, Russian Federation.
"Tuvan language and Xöömei are very much connected. The Tuvan language is very useful for singing xöömei. the language is useful even because of the pronunciation in the mouth. Now, other people’s problem with singing xöömei is the language, for instance the Mongolians have the letter ‘x’ and when you pronounce that letter your xöömei gets interrupted. In the Tuvan language, we can sing it all with the mouth no problem. That’s the first thing. I’ve also found, since starting to work with musical instruments, that I’ve discovered a lot of words I didn’t know I didn’t know. For example, I didn’t know the name for the sticks (rus. palochka) for playing the Chadagan. I thought they were called sakpyt (chopsticks), I couldn’t find a Tuvan word for it. I asked Alexaner Darzhai to see if he knew, and it turns out they’re called toldur. There’s these beautiful words in there, tekpiish, üstükkü tekpiish, itkiish, the byzaanchy has something called tyrtkyysh, because it’s pulling the strings (tyrtyp algan turar). There’s a lot of interesting stuff. Still, sometimes, when you’re working on stuff, you can’t find the Tuvan names for your tools. Hammer, pliers, people now that. I found a wood file and didn’t know what it was called in Tuvan until this older fellow comes in and says, where did you find that dürbüü, that’s a really old tool! And so I learned a new word. "
"Lots of interesting revelations. Revelations about sound, revelations about everything. My wish, my thoughts, they’re not just about making Tuvan instruments, but to re-awaken and restore the Tuvan culture. The yurts, right now we’ve made ones that are more modern, but my wish is to make real Tuvan yurts, all the different kinds, with 7 wells and 12 bashtar, six walls and 14 bashtar, nine walls, eight walls, twelve walls. These days, even we don’t know completely all about the different items that go into the yurt. How to call them, I can’t say that I know them all. I know the main parts. But there’s a lot of words in there, starting from the small words, beautiful words that you would never think of. A person can only remember them by living in a yurt I think. If we tried to think of them now they wouldn’t come to us. "
Aldar Tamdyn is an accomplished Musician on traditional instruments, highly proficient throat singer, maker of Tuvan instruments byzaanchy, igil, doshpuluur, chadagan, byzaanchy. He also works with yurt-making and yurt-furniture making. Mr. Tamdyn is a leading artist of his tradition. It is safe to say that he has made a huge contribution in revitalizing and legitimizing Tuvan traditional instrument making as an art form. Furthermore his intimate knowledge of throat singing and excellent performance abilities make him a living example of a strong and vital tradition.
Aldar Tamdyn is a key figure in the revival of traditional Tuvan instrument making. Tuvan traditional instrument making experienced somewhat of a bottleneck in the 1990s as the older masters such as Marzhymal Ondar passed away. This bottleneck was partially due to the fact that this art practically skipped a generation due to its discouragement by the communists throughout a large portion of Soviet times. Starting in his kitchen, Mr. Tamdyn quickly become one of the most prolific makers of Tuvan instruments, and has used his good work ethic, energy, and excellent people skills to create an institution for making Tuvan instruments, Ovaa. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the number of legitimate traditional Tuvan instruments on the planet has at least tripled thanks to Mr. Tamdyn. In addition to his work as an instrument maker, Mr. Tamdyn is skilled performer on Igil, Byzaanchy, Doshpuluur, and Xomus, as well as a top performer of all Tuvan throat singing styles. He also has written a good amount of work on Tuvan-language classification and nomenclature for Tuvan singing styles.
Interview and video recorded by Sean Quirk in 2012 in the Republic of Tuva, Russian Federation, for the Smithsonian Folkife Festival “One World, Many Voices” under the curatorial direction of Dr. K. David Harrison. It is shared with the consent of the subject. Support for this research was provided by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and the National Geographic Society’s “Enduring Voices Project”.