Post by Kanashimi on Jul 7, 2016 16:23:31 GMT -6
Kulning - an ornamentation of the surrounding emptiness: about the unique Scandinavian herding calls
by Susanne Rosenberg
It is hard to describe in words both how kulning sounds and how you do it. The starting point for the vocal technique is that you want to be heard and to communicate outdoors with the help of the voice. As it has mainly been women who have traditionally worked on the fäbod (summer grazing pasture with small buildings for people, pets, dairy products, and animal feed), the use of the voice has also evolved according to the strengths and limitations of the female voice.
Technically speaking, you can say that the voice produces a clear, directed sound, without vibrato, both at a high pitch range using a vowel of choice, and when calling, using the voice’s breaking point to change register. The larynx is flexible and relatively high, and there is high sub-glottal pressure under the vocal folds.
The Scandinavian fäbod system has its roots in the middle ages. Looking after animals and processing animal produce has largely been a woman’s responsibility. Therefore, it has often been the women who worked on the fäbod during the summer, where the animals could find grazing away from the village’s valuable arable land. From the beginning of June to the end of September, the young girls and older women from the village lived on the fäbod, and took care of everything from herding the cattle, milking, and producing butter and cheese to making whisks, brooms, and, amongst other things, knitting socks. Work on the fäbod was hard, and full of responsibility. At that time, animals were one’s most valuable possessions, and butter the most valuable product (you could say that an animal was money in the bank, and butter the interest on that money!). It was important that nothing went to waste, and a use could be found for everything. A working day could be up to 16 hours long. In spite of all this, the chance to work on a fäbod was almost always highly sought after. The work had a freedom to it, allowing women to be completely independent throughout the whole summer. In this environment, a specific high-pitched voice-technique developed—kluging.
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(Includes Instructions)
Two examples of kulning: Close and Far
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by Susanne Rosenberg
It is hard to describe in words both how kulning sounds and how you do it. The starting point for the vocal technique is that you want to be heard and to communicate outdoors with the help of the voice. As it has mainly been women who have traditionally worked on the fäbod (summer grazing pasture with small buildings for people, pets, dairy products, and animal feed), the use of the voice has also evolved according to the strengths and limitations of the female voice.
Technically speaking, you can say that the voice produces a clear, directed sound, without vibrato, both at a high pitch range using a vowel of choice, and when calling, using the voice’s breaking point to change register. The larynx is flexible and relatively high, and there is high sub-glottal pressure under the vocal folds.
The Scandinavian fäbod system has its roots in the middle ages. Looking after animals and processing animal produce has largely been a woman’s responsibility. Therefore, it has often been the women who worked on the fäbod during the summer, where the animals could find grazing away from the village’s valuable arable land. From the beginning of June to the end of September, the young girls and older women from the village lived on the fäbod, and took care of everything from herding the cattle, milking, and producing butter and cheese to making whisks, brooms, and, amongst other things, knitting socks. Work on the fäbod was hard, and full of responsibility. At that time, animals were one’s most valuable possessions, and butter the most valuable product (you could say that an animal was money in the bank, and butter the interest on that money!). It was important that nothing went to waste, and a use could be found for everything. A working day could be up to 16 hours long. In spite of all this, the chance to work on a fäbod was almost always highly sought after. The work had a freedom to it, allowing women to be completely independent throughout the whole summer. In this environment, a specific high-pitched voice-technique developed—kluging.
PDF Download
(Includes Instructions)
Two examples of kulning: Close and Far
(Download)
Full Text HTML