Anda Union

Anda means “good friends” in Mongolian. Anda Union was formed in 2003 in the Xilingol Grassland area of Inner Mongolia, a semi-autonomous region of China. Anda Union play traditional Mongolian instruments including the horse-head fiddle or tsuur, the three-holed flute or maodun chaoer, and Mongolian versions of the dulcimer, zither, lute, and mouth harp. The main singing style performed by Anda Union is khoomii, commonly referred to as throat singing, a traditional type of Mongolian overtone singing, which replicates the sounds of nature. Much of their repertoire is comprised of long songs, or urtiin duu, a traditional style of Mongolian folk music that evolved from melodies sung by nomadic herders.