Two notes, one voice | Anna-Maria Hefele | TEDxGenova | Anna-Maria Hefele | TEDxGenova

No technical glitch, no audio system failure: what you're about to hear in this extraordinary talk is totally real, and totally human. It is a technique we can all be trained for, and our speaker Anna-Maria Hefele is one of its most prominent representative. It's called "Polyphonic overtone singing" and it consists in singing two notes in a single vocal emission. Looks like magic, but it's science-backed hard work and research. Enjoy!
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Learn more at ted.com/tedx Anna-Maria Hefele is an overtone singer and voice artist. In 2018 she graduated as Master of Arts in Elemental Music and Dance Pedagogy with classical singing as her main subject from Mozarteum Salzburg. 2014 she published her KZbin video „polyphonic overtone singing“ that became viral and has resulted in more than 13 million views, followed by regular appearances of Anna-Maria in various international television shows and radio broadcasts. „A voice as from another world“, „the lady with the two voices“, „polyphonic vocalist does the impossible“ - these and other headlines have spread across the world.
Anna-Maria Hefele began with overtone singing in 2005 and has written compositions and arrangements for polyphonic solo voice from 2006. Since 2010 Anna-Maria is working as a soloist with different ensembles, choirs or orchestras and collaborates with contemporary composers. As a musician she is frequently integrated in contemporary ballett, circus and dance theatre productions. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@enriquelandaf]

I imagine this is how the angels sing in heaven not in unison, but in thirds, in fourths, in fifths, and so on .

[@cheuthao7624]

Hmmm. Interesting! :)

[@keegobricks9734]

The minor fall and the major lift.

[@kittybell108]

I watched this this morning, then tried it in the car and actually managed to do it on the third try!! I was so excited I stopped the car to call my mum 😂

[@gaomu4376]

I just love how overtone singing is being remembered by our generation, slowly but surely. Thank you Anna 🐘

[@victoriataylor5584]

I this kind of singing is sooo cool.

[@StanErvin-yo9vl]

Weird, but sensual.

[@LilyOfTheTower]

Last year I taught myself to whistle through my teeth with a KZbin video. This year I know what I'm going to be spending my time learning :)

[@ripinpepperonies9754]

Two notes one girl

[@victoiredeflamand]

2 girls 1 cup.

[@walangchahangyelingden8252]

@@victoiredeflamand I prefer glasses!

[@Agua6505]

@@walangchahangyelingden8252 hahah you don't know the context xd

[@shaskins15]

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[@Acoustic-Rabbit-Hole]

That comment just made me vomit!

[@nobody3692]

16min in and just realized she did all that without taking even a sip of water .. when sanding and fine cutting long pine boards (16'x2"+ thick) . they sing like this sometimes, and it its like it stops time. before you know it, half a days works done in 2 hours. and once you hear it you notice it everywhere for sure. after watching this i think the 60hz motors of the sander or saw is the fundamental and the board overtones like a reed in a flute changing as i work from one end to the other... thank youuu

[@royalkiller2]

What a terrible camera operator, not focusing on her when pointing at her mouth, not displaying the screen when she was focused on it, it's like they didn't even listen and just pointed the camera at whatever seemed to be moving.

[@cyee1355]

This is typical of some of the Ted Talks I’ve seen

[@dianaunger6782]

Actually typical of camera work in sports. Focus on the face of skaters when their bodies are doing something amazing. The wrong opponent in combat sports. Too many things to say, I wish the camera person could reply. What were you told to record?

[@sethrenville798]

​@@cyee1355 the TedX talks are out on locally, often in smaller towns where almost everyone who works it are, at best, novice volunteers. Having said that, my cat is 17 years old, and nearly blind, and could still do a better job

[@cruse1177]

I LOVE HER , I’ve learnt how to do this last year when I saw her videos on her channel

[@karendalsadik7119]

excellent! Video? You sure are lovely. Takes a bow.

[@kingo_friver]

In the first video on her channel, I didn't get what's going on in her mouth nor what I'm hearing. Now I grasped it after watching this. That's the very same effect as what an electric synthesizer makes thru its filters and resonance. She is a human synthesizer.

[@loveyoustill497]

Yeah I love her too but one question. How do you control your overtone? I can do it but I cannot control my overtone. Howw?

[@kingo_friver]

@@loveyoustill497 I think we all are already controlling it when we speak our language. You can vocalize multiple vowels because you intentionally resonate a specific overtone in your body. We just need super-strong resonance to sing like Anna. She has a KZbin channel and you can take their lessons, maybe. Tbh modern electric tools can produce the same effect, so I wish I can find something unique to acoustic human voice. I'm gonna dig around her music.

[@loveyoustill497]

@@kingo_friver yeah, I watched her videos but I can't find something that she taught how to control it😥 I wanted to make my overtone goes up and down while my fundamental is stable. Yeah you should dig in to her music, it's beautiful and the musicians are unbelievable

[@natasakaleskovic1690]

I tried and its fantastic and not hard to achieve. You just need to listen to what you're doing very carefully. I am a trained singer, but today I tried something completely new to me 🤗❤️😊

[@eldaabouffartiqueroyer3790]

Curiosity. Have you blended this technique in your performances? Or use some form of it to better perform your technique?

[@ricfootball]

My rabbit popped his head up fascinated with the last song!

[@kristycopp447]

How generous of her to share her gift and be so interesting in her presentation

[@lastcomment4532]

its not a gift, its rather a skill

[@LoisSharbel]

Fascinating! Wish I had known about this long ago! Building muscular control of the tongue and oral cavity can add compelling qualities to our speech and to singing.

[@shredfix1993]

2:52 By far one of the best TLDRs when it comes to explaining the harmonic series. I've been able to throat sing for a couple of years and I've been working on the overtone stuff, this talk is a fantastic overview if anyone wants to get their head around what overtone singing is all about.

[@jlkkacz2423]

Omg I tried this and I heard my overtones!!!

[@rcarlosnunesrc]

Me too, but i can't amplificate them.

[@lukcervino8844]

Your contribution is really important to the musicians community. Thanks for your generosity Anna.

[@senul976]

Love the way she talk 💕

[@grantikos]

When I was 8 I taught myself to make outboard motor sounds with my lips in the bath.

[@MrSeedi76]

When I was 6 I saw E. T. and learned to do his voice and say "E. T. phone home". Only later I found out that I learned the basics of "false cord" singing which can be one step on the way to learn "throat singing". Might in fact be similar to doing "motor boat sounds".

[@ArtunYazici]

This was very inspiring. Thanks Hefele...

[@60viking]

Wow, being a fan of her early work this is just mind blowing, for me anyhow.

[@jacobopstad5483]

I would love to hear a choir singing something involving this.

[@fighterflight]

The Polyphonic Spree

[@jacobopstad5483]

@@fighterflight Oh, I had never heard of them. They have a really nice sound. It's kind of like REM meets Coldplay

[@filia1428]

My choir is singing a song called “Past life melodies” and it has overtone singing in it

[@jacobopstad5483]

@@filia1428 Sounds intriguing

[@erealuv]

You have MuOM static voices as well. Check them out!!

[@user-lh7bg6tn2h]

Шедеврально,БРАВО !!!

[@jamesdelaney5810]

This is really amazing...I have been a fan and now to get a great lesson is perfect! Icy highs and rolling lows at the same time...is just a state of mind.

[@geddeonello94]

Incredible Talent!!!! Wow!

[@taraclarke6850]

Bravo to the seers, the listeners, the music makers and those beautiful creators of harmony😌🎵🙏💝🙏💃🎵☀👍🌸

[@seidi6945]

Fantastic!

[@grigoir]

It's just incredible

[@brnne]

She gives the ASMR vibes. It's so hypnotizing to hear

[@knownothing5518]

Trying this at home and hearing this stuff in my own voice is so much fun!

[@7EarthCat]

Bravo!

[@francescocennamo854]

She's fantastic!

[@missdale3829]

This was very interesting and she was wonderful. Thank you for this.

[@Tebbypantgungun]

Lockdown sure has helped enlighten me to the wonders of us

[@MrSeedi76]

Honestly the pandemic had some interesting side effects for me (and I don't wanna disrespect all the death and suffering) - in the first lockdown I took up astronomy as a hobby and when I had Covid myself my voice became so low that I learned "false cord" throat singing and later overtone singing.

[@Changelingheart]

Amazing and for me, very complicated. But so unique and interesting.

[@julioh.peralta8629]

¡Brillante Anna Maria! ¡Gracias!

[@taiyliahify]

I sing in general. But I learned how to do this and sometimes when I am singing regular, I can hear about 2 or 3 other voices in the background

[@natalia9316]

Those are the voices in your head sweety

[@55CINCO55]

@@natalia9316 Overtones are always present when you sing or play a note, people usually people can't hear them because they tend to be lower in volume then the fundamental note

[@echadmiyodea]

Clearly the work of Dr. Noonian Soong.

[@johnathanfowlds7587]

Hel da. Mak sha. Jo Kahn mohonk. Seyahala sheleval dah.

[@richbutnotfamous1158]

I super curious about how you might apply lyrics to this. The restrictions of the phonation appear to limit the vocabulary but perhaps overrone elements could be added into longer held notes? Super inspirational, I'm gonna try this.

[@justrandomthings112]

How does Anna-Maria Hefele hum that well? How is it possible? I didn't even believe that it was her own voice. I thought that there were sounds in the background or that the video was edited. She must be really talented.

[@user-qc9mj2xc6q]

Потрясающая женщина.

[@Chelsea123Chii]

Mindblowing

[@PenguinsGirandMusic7]

Am i the only one that noticed her absolute fear when speaking and trying to get this audience engaged

[@mabaws1254]

No it's quite obvious, the quaking in her voice gives it away

[@lisettegarcia]

She’s a professional singer explaining in scientific terms in what is not her native language a pretty complex technique she only learned in the last decade. If she weren’t nervous, she would be a fraud.

[@infjness]

@@lisettegarcia yes she's trying to find her words in english, which is cute. I didn't find her excessively nervous here, I saw her channel and she's always like that when she speaks in videos even when she's alone

[@KingGabrielCollymore]

She's amazing!

[@claranimmer7349]

Yes, she seemed very nervous, but she could sing very well in spite of this.

[@saloniuppal]

I really like this vedio ⭐ Thanks for sharing 👍

[@katrussell6819]

My cat was alarmed when I did this. Wow.

[@petunia88]

Interesting!

[@seanwesthafer4028]

Magical

[@7EarthCat]

Yes! One angel in heaven can harmonize with his own voice multiple times, even better than we can using overtone technique! God has a voice that sounds like "many waters."

[@soulditty]

The Best! of you tube university!

[@saloniuppal]

😊Believe in yourself 😊 Believe in your capacity to do good and great things 😊 Believe that no mountain is so high that you can't climb it😊 Believe that no storm is so great that you can not weather it 😊 For instance 👉A Bird 🐦 sitting a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not on the branch but on it's own wings Always believe in yourself 😊

[@camhowelse5797]

Saloni Uppal beautiful

[@guillermodozal628]

Saloni, are you sure that you practice what you preach? The chances of that being the case, is nil. If a millionaire person tells you that money, really, is not everything, then at may be believable. If you don’t have any money, you would not be able to know that, so, just stay quiet.

[@pitersagan3720]

Du bist ein wunderbarer Engel.

[@ocevicheband502]

FABULOUS Daughter of Freya!!!

[@mircea-bogdantataru3754]

Very good I'd like to know more about it...

[@eclecticambience5389]

I imagine her to be like Snow White, like pictured on her computer, with all wildlife flocking to her majestical singing.

[@apollard1968]

Wow!

[@victoriataylor5584]

Cool right?

[@Giesela0815]

nice

[@lisettegarcia]

Interesting.. I would have thought that the strain called overtone is actually the base, ie the fundamental, whereas the more traditionally recognizable melody is the overtone because it lays over the background harmony. Really, it’s like the way sound is carried over radiowaves. There is the basic transmission, ie carrier signal (white noise), and then the 4k Hertz voice sound over top of it, ie intelligence.

[@michaelbruchas6663]

Have seen and heard her before. The first time was sooooo weird. Thought she was singing with a theremin. She has so much better breath control than most of us.

[@eldaabouffartiqueroyer3790]

That was my thought as well. What a combination of vocal training to learn how to use this technique and also train in vocal control and breath control

[@JustMe-vk4fn]

...................this is the quietest audience I have ever listened to............

[@marcorojas1435]

Me suena a voz común impostada y un silbido muy bien logrado al unísono, más no un politono.

[@lilgee9159]

I always knew this was possible

[@donnysandley6977]

OMG 😳 so rite 👍😻

[@eldaabouffartiqueroyer3790]

One thing I have never seen and hope I will get a link to is using words with this technique

[@Gott6666]

17:40. Ahh. The same lullaby my mother used to sing to me

[@algee6245]

A freaking mazing.

[@smaklilu90]

This is amazing, I wish it is possible to do thirds or 6th because parallel fifths as she demonstrated in this video doesn't sound that good

[@bannor216]

the vowel sounds eee to oooo really works

[@polinabon559]

Her anxiety triggers mine.... But her talent is wonderful!

[@soulditty]

Uhhh... Anna Maria is the highest form of humble goddess

[@withlovelyarmy]

That snow white laptop tho

[@user-rh6xk8xf7i]

I noticed it too, brilliant idea!

[@gregstickler3798]

I use to be a singer but now my vibrato is more of a wobble So when I sing a note i wabble so much it sounds like I’m sing two notes

[@theseangle]

You have probably hurt your vocal cords. If you used to sing in falsetto too often, or sang in it improperly, then there's huge chance that you hurt your cords. Most people who have this problem are speaking in broken vibrato constantly when they reach old age, even when they're not trying to vibrato. I advice you to go to an otolaryngologist and to a vocal teacher

[@MsLilyFay]

Dead audience!

[@user-rh6xk8xf7i]

yeah, absolutely:(

[@johnnowakowski4062]

She's one of "them"☝...

[@ahmadjaber7546]

Who's "they"

[@MecdiAn]

@@ahmadjaber7546 pleiadians

[@Guinevere2200]

It appears.

[@alienindisguise5546]

1:20 sounds like what an Alien would say

[@Guinevere2200]

Exactly.

[@deborahmoses1512]

I can do this but I haven’t practiced in a while because I think everything will think I’m crazy or possessed or something.

[@joshuaultrainstinct5082]

Don't listen to people just do it even if you think that they will make fun of you enjoy the beautiful sound in it and you will find peace :)

[@user-xg8uo9ht5o]

Wow! Уау!

[@Amy_mee]

oh my god it works???

[@MrMishnou]

2:03 is unreal

[@GendaijinBlog]

This is a mellow beatboxing of sorts... that's what this is. It's her beatboxing in her style.

[@ocevicheband502]

Bavarian ?

[@princesse523]

Austrian

[@MisokoFukumoto]

Two voices, one song.

[@natalia9316]

Brilliant comment

[@MisokoFukumoto]

Finally someone got the reference... i think? ;-;

[@pyonzon]

BARB

[@seanwesthafer4028]

That is very impressive. But tell me why you would spend years learning it , please. I'm very interested

[@russpaxman3660]

It amazes me that real talent and practice like this is unrecognised, whilst bad vocals and poor voices of “PoP” singers is rewarded with recognition, fame and money? It makes no sense to me, perhaps I am strange?

[@eldaabouffartiqueroyer3790]

I believe it has to do with the ability to replicate the music. Pop singers can be easily replicated to some extent depending on individual listeners ability were as trained singers usually you can only listen to and most likely can not be replicated. Of course this is my observation

[@mgc7199]

Anna-Maria, try the bassline of Belle qui tien ma vie + overtones please. It will prove to you that what you say at 14:16 is inaccurate.

[@ghostint6921]

Who else is here from the voice

[@MrDeterministicchaos]

Is this where the sounds of scotland came from

[@annapallidou8213]

Try listening to the clapping sound in the end in 0,25x speed.

[@Gouiwar]

I would love for her to voice aliens in the next Avatar movies. She’s awesome!

[@Freenure]

Listen to her singing at 0.25 speed. See what happens.

[@ripinpepperonies9754]

All the lights in my house started flickering and furniture was sliding across the floor on its own

[@ctrockstar7168]

rip in pepperonies I listened to it backwards and all of my furniture started flickering and my lights started sliding across the floor

[@MisokoFukumoto]

accidentally gained new kingdom, but it is underground.

[@LilyOfTheTower]

Now I have demons in my house. Anyone have any sage I can burn?

[@VN.FANTASTICO]

@@LilyOfTheTower 😂 😂 😂 😂

[@saxazax]

aliens probably sing 100 notes at once

[@JugglingForCake]

Interesting, at 12:05 you adjust the fundamental to make the harmonic fit to an equally tempered scale. I must say, I prefer surrendering to just intonation and letting physics do its magic in our bodies, because otherwise we're doomed to always be out of tune :)

[@camhowelse5797]

Joseph Viatte so, are you saying that she is “surrendering” or “just intonation and letting physics do it’s magic in our bodies”?

[@camhowelse5797]

Joseph Viatte your first sentence makes total sense to me but not your second sentence.

[@JugglingForCake]

@@camhowelse5797 haha i see the confusion. I meant that surrendering to just intonation is something that I prefer over adjusting and trying to fit in with equal temperament

[@victoriataylor5584]

That's not true. She's still in tune while she's doing it.

[@victoriataylor5584]

In music, that's all you need basically.

[@giozenderan]

La evolución y encarnación del carrito de los camotes

[@micaelabekendam6174]

Jajajajajajajajajaja

[@maryjanewilliams1755]

is this not the same technique that Mongolian throat singers use?

[@Immanuel_jijo]

It is but there are many types of throat singing :D

[@IsraelRuizGodot]

I feel bad for her. She had a dead audience.

[@wolfdieter3127]

did not see one in the audience singing along. Very lame.

[@shaskins15]

Shite audience

[@nikitas9221]

Une femme extraordinaire avec une voix hors du commun.....dont le texte en anglais est sans sous-titres, sans traductions. Ted X : Bande de sale racaille...... I

[@AJ___USA]

So what demons are you summoning today 😂

[@nashmanama2257]

😂😂😂😂

[@toofancy]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@mrhyperbolic7455]

I think she is a Krell come back from the dead...

[@mousheghkaravartanian8277]

Her voice is purely amazing and this presentation does not do her justice! Her fear (of crowds perhaps) got in the way... However, why is there no mention whatsoever of the origins of overtone/polyphonic singing coming from Mongolia and Tibet? These ancient people have been practicing these techniques as an artform, for entertainment, as well as a form of meditation, and path to enlightenment for over centuries, if not millennia!

[@user-rh6xk8xf7i]

she sounds not so confident because of the language she is using, speaking german she would have sounded more confident

[@Chris-ithaca]

Did you actually watch? Full discussion at 14:00.

[@user-rz7cm2we3x]

@@Chris-ithaca : Yes! She starts telling about the Mongolian origins of this singing technique at 13:19 precisely. But it’s not only the feature of Mongolian singing (in several styles!), it is also used in Buryatia, Tuva (again in a few styles), in Altai and Khakassia, in Chukchi (Chukotka) Peninsula, in Tibetan Buddhist chanting in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and India, in oral poetry in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, in parts of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, in Kurdistan, on Sardinia, by the Sami people of the far north of Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. It is practised by the Bashkirs of Bashkortostan, Russia, by the Andalusian flamenco singers, by the Inuits of Canada and was once used by the Ainu people of Hokkaido, Japan. And these are only the examples of traditional overtone singing. There are also some modern ones, you can check on Wikipedia under “ Overtone singing” : )

[@wolfdieter3127]

Moushegh, it looks like you did not watch it in full? Of course she talks about Central Asian people singing overtones!

[@eldaabouffartiqueroyer3790]

Yes she was nervous but she did mention the origins, not much but she did. Standing confident in a room of strangers is not an easy task for many man people. The more she does this the more comfortable she will get and I believe she will say much more that she may have forgotten because of anxiety.

[@sowasvonlustig2977]

Of course the audio system failed. :D In addition to the overtone singing.

[@Sam-Pereira]

Incredible demonstantion. Absolutely atrocious videography and direction. Even more dismal audience. What a lovely display, thank you!

[@kuncesorzech1991]

is it offensive to ask a question if you are straight?

[@basementboy1910]

Some would say you are the worst human being for asking that question xD, but she has a husband if im not mistaken

[@brnne]

@@basementboy1910 having a husband only would not make anyone straight. She could be bi, pan and so on

[@basementboy1910]

@@brnne of course she could also be a damn bag of chips superficial questions deserve superficial answers

[@brnne]

@@basementboy1910 but why are you even mad lol

[@MitchellDouglas4933]

​@@basementboy1910 lol facts