Vietnamese
Music Intruments |
Dan Bau
consists of a long
piece of wood, on which is stretched a silk or brass string, which
is fastened at one end to a peg and at the other to a flexible bamboo
plate. The string is passed repeatedly through an open dried gourd
as sound box. Although having only one string, it can emit all the
sounds in the pentatonic scale. The eight notes of Vietnamese music
give modulations of greater amplitudes than those obtained by any
other single-stringed instrument in the world. Today, Dan Bau is made
very carefully to ensure aesthetic and sound quality. When played
in public, it is often used with an electronic amplifier.
Danda , discovered by the
French in Dac Lac in 1949,Danda (Lithophone) is an ancient
musical instrument with 11 slabs of stone. Later, four more Dan da
were discovered in Song Be and Khanh Hoa. It results from the
researches that Dan da existed between 4,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Also called Tinh Ning, ��n gong
is a musical instrument of the ethnic minority Ba Na (in Western
Highlands). It has between 10 and 18 chords. The player uses his fingers
to pluck the chords when playing. Each chord generates a separate
tune, but ��n gong has no key. Young men use it to make solo performances
when promenading, going to milpa or confiding to their sweethearts.
Nhi (or Co) is a sort of
vertical violin with two strings of braided silk, a long handle and
a sound box covered by a membrane of snake skin. With its melodious
sounds, Nhi can express the subtle mood of man's soul. Due to its
diversified use, Nhi is indispensable in a traditional musical orchestra.
��n tranh is also
called Dan thap luc (16-chord zither). The holed bottom of its box
makes echo. There are different musical skills, such as vibrating,
clapping, pressing, stroking....Women use it when making solo performances,
playing in an orchestra, accompanying a singer, declaiming poems...
The T'rung consists of
5-7 bamboo stems graduated in length and tied together with two parallel
cords. It can be rolled up and put in a back basket. But on stage,
the T'rung is hung in a metal stand, and the player uses two or even
four beaters to strike the bamboo stems at the same time. The sound
of T'rung is said to resemble that of the running or falling water
from the streams and waterfalls in the Highlands
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