The sound that emanates from the instruments of Aldar Tamdyn reflects the religion, culture and landscape of the Republic of Tuva, a country of some 310,000 people in southern Siberia. Once a part of the Soviet Republic, Tuva is rediscovering the rich musical culture suppressed by the Soviets. The music and throat-singing capture and reflect the natural world of Tuva, a place of deserts, mountains and steppes where summer temperatures break 110 degrees and winters can see temperatures of 60 below zero. The music has been kept alive in this harsh environment by shamans and shepherds.

The Ovaa Collective makes a variety of traditional Tuva instruments, including the four-stringed spike fiddle (byzaanchy); the flat drum used by shamans (dungur); the three-string plucked lute (chanzy); and the large frame drum (kengirge). Often the necks of the stringed instruments are topped by an intricately carved bust of an animal of Tuva – the horse, ox, yak or reindeer. As a young boy in a repressive Soviet environment, Aldar would take home instruments no longer in use and deconstruct them, learning how the masters fashioned them from oak, goatskins and other available materials.