Support the development of Mongolian Altai Harp

Hello everyone!

Below I want to tell you about: 1. About the crowdfunding itself and about the instrument. 2. What the money will be used for. 3. Extra: a really cool custom made jaw harp a random contributor can "win" as a token of appreciation from me!

In short about the goals (more details at the bottom):

In short about the Altai Harp as a cultural heritage

The Altai Harp (“Altai Yatga”) is one of the most unique finds from cave burials in the Mongolian Altai Mountains. Because not only the name of the instrument and the name of its owner were engraved on the soundbox of the instrument (in ancient Orkhon script), but also the fact that there is an engraving with the contents of rituals and worship makes the instrument not just a simple artifact but a national treasure and a cultural heritage. This discovery clearly shows that the nomadic peoples of those times were not just war and darkness as some may think; but also had a rich musical culture, a written language, and a proud crafting culture.

My Altai Harp-teacher Ganpurev has spent all of this time ever since the discovery in 2008 to bring this instrument to where it is now. He really brought it back to life. His 14 year extensive research around the instrument resulted in a rich, growing collection of music you can play with it. Which includes transcribing traditional Mongolian songs and melodies for the instrument, but also developing playing techniques and even developing a unique musical notation system (that everyone is able to understand within a few minutes).

If it wasn’t for Ganpurev, we would’ve never heard the sound of this harp today. And now it’s time to share it with the world. I truly hope people will support Ganpurev in realizing his next steps with this instrument, to share it with everyone out there with a heart for Mongolian culture and beautiful music in general.

About the discovery of the instrument and what happened next

In collaboration with scholars from Bonn´s Landesmuseum (Germany) the instrument was dated to be over 1400 years old. Truly a unique discovery. And a very lucky one, too. A Mongolian nomad from Western Mongolian, Dandar, accidentally found a cave high in the mountains while herding his animals. The cave happened to be a grave with the remains of a body and all kinds of artifacts, including a surprisingly intact musical instrument.

Ganpurev is really an amazing man with a big heart for Mongolian culture and music. He’s the founder of the Altai folk band. And also of the Boerte folk band. He’s a composer and a great musician and throat singer himself. But since 2008 he’s a full-time researcher and teacher. He’s spend so much money and time into his extensive research.

His research includes experimenting how to build this instrument so that it will last for musicians. He’s writing various books about his research on this instrument and the music we play with it. He’s really eager to publish these books as soon as possible. He set up and teached the very first Altai Yatga ensemble. On top of that he set up the very first Altai Yatga school in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Where he welcomes… really everyone, Mongolians, foreigners, children, adults….to learn about this beautiful instrument.

Maybe one of the most awesome things he’s accomplished is creating a notes-system for the Altai Yatga, that literally everyone can understand. Whether a professional musician, or someone who never touched a musical instrument. And that is exactly his goal; to introduce music into your life. Playing this music, and learning about the songs, it just opens your eyes to unique type of music and the culture that surrounds it.

Unfortunately Ganpurev became ill last year, but even while being sick he works for 200% in trying to reintroduce this instrument back into the Mongolian music culture. And I respect him so much for that.

I truly hope we all can support him a little bit. It would be amazing if you and me can contribute to this GoFundMe crowdfunding I’ve set up to help Ganpurev realize his goals and for all the brilliant work he’s done to share the musical heritage of Mongolia with the world.

As the official start for the crowdfund I’ve had this amazing jaw harp custom made (see video). It features a special symbol of 4 intertwined Altai Yatga instruments. It will be one of my gifts for him to seal my support. As a fun bonus you can actually "win" a really beautiful custom made Mongolia-themed jaw harp (worth 320 USD!). Made by master jaw harp maker Danil Ahmetzyanov. You can see at the end of the video or here below in the photo:

What will the money be used for?