Tumivut, the direct translation to english means "our footsteps" and is the name of a musical project marrying traditional inuit throatsinging with multiple contemporary styles of music. The ranges of music that Tumivut dip in and out of borrows from hip-hop, trip-hop, classical, rock and new frontiers of the avant garde. Timeless and beautiful traditional inuit throatsinging of Cynthia Pitsiulak and Charlotte Qamaniq-Mason seamlessly weaves in and out of the musical soundscapes created by the production team of Orick Terry and Daybi.

Four lives that took the time to acknowledge each other's diverse backgrounds and talent over a couple of weeks on the Plateau of Montreal is how this project was born. Day after day of sculpting sounds and music into frames that would not stifflel or dishonor the tradional people of Nunavut's music was top priority and on the mind of all involved. Attention to detail and care went into each audio offering making for simple yet moving and powerful music that was built to enhance on compliment the complex rhythm and sounds of the throatsinging duo.

Tumivut was not a pre-conceived idea it was born from the right time and place. It also was never inteded to be a commercial release. With that being said all things happen for a reason and just like the music naturally occured so did it's path for success. It is with great pleasure that we can annouce a release date for Tumivut on Arbor Records as of Spring,2008. So hopefully you can share "our footsteps" over and over again. The first single and video "Movement" is slated for realease at least one month prior to the album release date so keep your eye out for that.

The following is brief explanation about Inuit throatsinging and its origins. As well we would like to mention that we attempted to incorporate the back and forth aspect of the duo even during vocal performances from the duo that were not throatsinging.

Inuit throatsinging or katajjaq and also known under the generic term overtone singing is a form of musical performance among the inuit . Unlike the throatsingers in other regions of the world, particularly, Tibet, Mongolia and Tuve the Inuit performers are usually women who sing only duets in a kind of entertaining contest to see who can outlast the other.

Traditionally when the men were away on a hunting trip, the women left at home would entertain themselves with games, which may have involved throat singing. Two women face each other usually in a standing position. One singer leads by setting a short ryhthmic pattern, which she repeats leaving brief silent intervals between each repetition. The other singer fills in the gap with another rhythmic pattern. Usually the competition lasts up to three minutes until one of the singers starts to laugh or is left breathless.

At one time the lips of the two women almost touched, so that one singer used the mouth cavity of the other as a resonator, but this isn't so common today. Often the singing is accompanied by a shuffling in rhythm from one foot to the other. The sounds may be actual words or nonsense syllables or created during exhalation.- source Wikipedia

I was struggling with the idea of using throatsinging in contemproray music and what some people might think. I did not want to feel like I was betraying my people because we have fought to keep our traditions and culture alive for so long. but what I've learned is that I have to stay true to myself, I am Inuk and I always will be. I am so to proud to have represented who I am and where I am from on this project.-Cynthia Pitsiulak

Cynthia and Charlotte were acquaintances and knew of each other as most people from small towns do (Cynthia moved to Iqaluit from Kimmirut and Charlotte grew up in Iqaluit via Iglooik) but its when they were both new to Ottawa when they became close friends. They shared the same interests and began to learn and practice throatsinging together which brought them closer as friends and as throatsinging partners. The girls met Daybi while attending an artist in residence program at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto but never imagined they would be recording with him one year later in Montreal. As a duo they both agree that after moving "down south" to a larger city that their identities as Inuit women has become stronger and more clear. This southern migration has helped them develop and get in touch with their home values and traditions and pushed them to strive to be good at whatever they choose to do.

Daybi- With the ability to play the part Film Director, Digital Media Designer and Recording Artist, Daybi's time has now come to burst onto the scene. Greatly inspired by the depth of his native heritage, he developed simple aspirations for 'good music and freedom' from his early adolescence. While his first memories of lyrical composition stem from grade school, his passion for music started at the age of eleven when he took up playing the drums and at twelve when he pursued playing the guitar. Once he began to channel his writing abilities into more than just poetry Daybi knew he was comfortable reaching out to make a career out of doing what he loves.
"I loved every moment that I spent creating and working on this project. It was so natural to shift in and out of the different genres my favorite moment was at 4 a.m. when we were finishing Aquanatomy, it was an unforgettable moment"-Daybi

Orick Terry- Music producer, singer, actor and director. Since he was 5 years old Orick has shown an interest for music and art. He started to demonstrate his interest to music by joining the high school orchestra and quickly after, he was doing shows for local town events. By doing so, he soon found a craving and love for music and wanted more and more. Growing up Orick pushed further into this art and started developing his own music production. Orick has made his name by producing music, sound FX for artists, commercials, corporate presentations, film scoring, video games, websites, jingles and has even provided his voice for voiceover and narration for radio and TV commercials.
When I was approached to work on the project I had no idea where to start, throatsinging was somehow new to me. We are from different cultures and backgrounds but The more we created together, the more everything blended together to create one single minded music with a spirit of it's own...Dominus cunctus tyrannus. -Orick Terry