Watching coverage tonight of the Fiji coup I was reminded of something that struck me when visiting Tonga:
The harmony singing of Pacific Islanders is very distinctive. It has a brightness to it, almost an artificial loudness. What is this due to?
A couple of WAGs: it is in the voicing - a different and unfamiliar version of a chord or triad is being sung.
Or perhaps the spacing between the notes is different - maybe the third is sung a bit sharp?
What accounts for this difference in timbre? Do other regions also have distinctive sounds in harmony singing?
picmr