Early Musical Instruments of Vietnam: Dong Son Drums and Bells

"Musicians! You are one of the most important people in the whole world. You and your instruments are inscribe in the hearts of every traditions."

I was looking for something interesting relating to music and culture. Hence, while in Vietnam I made sure that I could satisfy myself. I watched the puppet show accompanied by the traditional music of the country and got an opportunity to see the traditional musical instruments. I will talk more about this in another article. This time let us see a bit of discovery. I have been walking and the lady pointed me to this place, I didn't understand her but her suggestion worked well! Guess what? The lady just directed me to the Vietnam National Museum of History. As I came into the entrance of the museum, the group of bronze drums greeted me. That was an awesome greetings, isn't it?

Visiting museums and watching traditional music performances offer unique and holistic learning experience. I was so glad that during my visit in Vietnam I got to see the exhibit of ancient drums and important artifacts of Dong Son culture considered as national treasures of the country. The exhibition was hosted by the National Museum of History aiming to show the beauty, history and culture of Vietnam.

Don Son drums.

The Dong Son drums possibly named after the Dong Son culture which was a Metal Ages archeological culture. Generally, scholars in archeological field of study agree that the Dong Son drums are the finest examples of metalworking of the time. As a matter of fact, this type of drums were also found in Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, Laos and China.

Dong Son drums have been one of the most important musical instruments of the period. Nobody is certain why these bronze drums were made but certainly the drums itself could answer it. Prehistoric people just like what we are today often express themselves in many ways and just like today they also have their own form of documentation that I may say far more sophisticated than of ours today. Important events such as festivals, rituals and other social events are engraved in Dong Son drums. Images of dancers, musicians and musical instruments are also well documented. Engraving could have been the earliest form of blogging and the platform was the drums? The scenes engraved on the drums provide data of what are the musical instruments of the Dong Son culture. The museum clearly states that until now even the Viet people only see the instruments from the engraved scenes on the drums. These were the following:

Khen - bamboo pipes

Senh - coin clappers

phah - small wooden sticks beaten on a small bamboo platform.

However, on my research I found images of the mentioned musical instruments that are still in used today. Maybe it is right to assumed that the current instruments are the adaptations from the Dong Son culture.

Khen Mong

The khen is a musical instrument used by the Mong ethnic minority, who call it the kenh, while the Viet gave it the name Mong Khen (previously Meo Khen). The E De ethnic minority in the Central ...

http://www.vietnamtourism.com/en/index.php/about/items/1885

Vietnamese ethnic Hmong men play traditional bamboo pipes known as Khen during a promotional event in Hanoi

View the photo Vietnamese ethnic Hmong men play traditional bamboo pipes known as Khen during a promotional event in Hanoi on Yahoo Eurosport UK. View the photo Vietnamese ethnic Hmong men play ...

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/photos/vietnamese-ethnic-hmong-men-play-traditional-bamboo-pipes-photo-041741602.html

Bells

Along with Dong Son drums, bells flourished also in the Dong Son culture. These were decorated the same way as the drums.

Bronze bells include hammering bells and the swinging bells. I will note here the exact descriptions of the bells as I have seen in the museum.

• Hammering bells - were a flatty semi-oval shapes or isosceles trapezium shape rung by a wooden stick hammering on the ouside.
• Swinging bells - were commonly small in size, in other words, they were called clappers because of a clapper hung inside the bell. They are sounded by swinging the bells back and fourth against the clappers.

Bell music is actually recorded until now in many monasteries across Europe and I find it nice. It tells something very different from the music known to most of us. The bell music of the Dong Son culture probably have its own distinct characters especially that these bells were made in a culture of finest metal worker.

Engraved scenes on the drums or the bells could just be intended as decorations but in the present time, it serves well in learning the Viet ancient culture.

Bronze drums and bells are the early traditional musical instruments of Vietnam. And it doesn't end there because until today this country is very active in performing their musical traditions using their traditional musical instruments. Interested in other instruments? Check the link below.

Instruments

this is the only web for www.lachong-artgroup.com

http://www.lachong-artgroup.com/instruments.html

Veitnam traditional music instruments.

Looking at the sophisticated documentation of the Dong Son people, it is reasonable to say that the musicians played an important role in Dong Son civilization. Scenes of musicians and their instruments that were skilfully documented in a most artistic way convey their importance in the early society. Vietnamese musicians and their musical instruments evolve in many ways too. That is certain because change is inevitable. But the focal point is that in spite of global modernisation, Vietnam is still active in preserving their musical traditions.

That's all for now.

till next travel memories!