Shamanic Music

Shamanic music includes both music used as part of shamans' rituals and music that refers to, or draws on, this. A shaman's ritual is a ritual and not a musical performance, and this shapes its musical dimension. In shamanism the shaman has a more active musical role than the medium in spirit-possession. A shaman uses various ways of making sounds to which different purposes are ascribed. Of particular importance are the shaman's song and shaman's drumming. Recently in Siberia, music groups drawing on a knowledge of shamanic culture have emerged. In the West shamanism has served as an imagined background to musics meant to alter a listener's state of mind. Korea and Tibet are two cultures where the music of shamanic ritual has interacted closely with other traditions.