Dan K’Ni

Dan K'ni is a stringed musical instrument for men to play in communal houses in ethnic minorities' hamlets or in watch-towers in milpa land. It is said that the K'ni is a speaker of spirits. The K'Ni is a stringed musical instrument, sawing bow branch and is popular among many ethnic minority groups living in northern highlands (central Vietnam) such as Bahnar, Gia Rai, E De, Se Dang, Pako, and Hre, etc. Dan K’Ni- The traditional musical...

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MONOCHORD OR DAN BAU

One of only two purely Vietnamese instruments, the dan bau consists of a hardwood frame and a softwood surface, over which a string is stretched and connected to a handle decorated with dried gourd (bau). “Do not listen to the music of the dan bau if you are a young woman.” Such is the romantic and emotional appeal of music played on the dan bau that Vietnamese parents used to warn their daughters against listening to it. For the...

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H'mong Pen Pipe

The Pen-pipe is a musical instrument of the wind family with the free vibrated reed, popular among almost all of Vietnam's ethnicity in different forms. The Kinh (Viet) group calls it Khen, while the Mong ethnic minority call it the Kenh, and the Ede in the Central Highlands use a similar instrument called Dinh Nam, etc. The Pen-pipe may have an even number of 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 sections of small hornless bamboo pipes arranged in two...

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The Gong Zither

The gong zither is a stringed musical instrument of flipping branch. It is popular among some ethnicities in the North of the Central Highlands such as Bana, Gia Rai, Xe Dang, Ro Ngao, Je Trieng. The special instrument often accompanies its player to the field, to festivals held at the communal long-house, or to a meeting place where the player reveals his feelings to his lover. The body of the gong zither is made of a hollow bamboo pipe...

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The Dan da (lithophone)

The Dan da (lithophone) is a set of stone slabs of different sizes and shapes fabricated through an elementary technique. Lithophone is composed of a set of eleven resonant stones. The examination of the stone slabs found at Binh Da archaeological site in the southern Dong Nai province has revealed that this kind of instrument may have existed for over 3,000 years. For some ethnic groups in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands), the stone...

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