South African cellist Abel Selaocoe is redefining the parameters of the cello. He combines virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing...

Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq won the Polaris Prize in 2014 for Canada's best album of the year.  Animism  contained sounds never hear...

I recorded a collection of multicultural songs and chants in 2011 and made them freely available for download at Archive.org. I learned thes...

In her first new recording in a decade, Joy Harjo -- the first Native American named Poet Laureate of the United States -- digs deep into t...

Annie Humphrey is an Ojibwe singer, songwriter and visual artist who was born and raised on the Leech Lake Reservation in Northern Minnesota...

" Nayan Navaa " is the superb new album from Namgar, a band that plays modern sounds rooted in traditional music from the Republic...

Drummer, scientist, educator and improviser Milford Graves died in his Queens, N.Y. home around 3 p.m. on Fri., Feb. 12. He was 79. Lois, hi...

I invite you to listen to my latest release on Spotify. This song came to me as I was hiking the North Crestone Creek Trail near my home in ...

"Rhythms Within A Turquoise Dream" is the latest music release from Native American artist Louie Gonnie. Gonnie is Dine from the N...

"Inner World," the Dalai Lama's first musical album, is a sacred offering of mantras and teachings set to music. In "Inne...

Happy New Year to you all! As 2019 comes to a close, I will be celebrating New Year's Eve by drumming out the old year 2019 and drumm...

The Native American flute, a traditional ethnic wind instrument developed by indigenous Native American cultures, is an end-blown flute f...

Twilight Owls combines trance-inducing drums, flutes and nature sounds in a rousing celebration of shamanic music. Shamanic music is a w...

The conch, also known as a "seashell horn" or "shell trumpet," is a musical instrument that is made from a seashell...

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart is an American Grammy winning percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of t...

Playing a Khomus or Jaw Harp In Siberia, shamanism and music combined thousands of years ago. A Khakassian legend says that each of the...

Copyright 2004 © by Chris Bittner  My name is Chris Bittner, and I am a drum maker living in central Pennsylvania. As you already kno...

The most comprehensive study ever undertaken of the musical instruments of Native people in Northeastern North America ,  Visions of Soun...

by Chris Bittner Slit drums are a fascinating and ancient percussion instrument, common to cultures around the world. The basic design ...

Listen to the soundtrack to my new video " Song for the Whales ." "Song for the Whales" is a musical tribute to the whal...