Gen Z Artist Story: Preserving the Soul of the Great Sound

With their natural talent and skillful hands, many young people in the Gen Z age group (born from about 1997 to 2012) have created unique works of art. They share creativity and a special passion for the profession they pursue.

Understanding indigenous culture, good at Ta Oi folk songs and dances to become the "pillar" of the A Luoi 4 commune art troupe ( Hue city), Ra Pat Ngoc Ha also surprised many people with her talent in making traditional musical instruments at the age of only 25.

WARM EXAMPLE OF SELF-STUDY

On a weekend afternoon, the clear sound of the flute resounded, and the people in the Vietnam - Laos border area in A Dot village, A Luoi 4 commune (Lam Dot commune, old HA Luoi) knew for sure that Ra Pat Ngoc Ha had returned home after days of going to the city center to attend university. In the misty mountains and forests, Ha's flute, sometimes deep, sometimes high, reminded people of old festivals, of nights singing and dancing together around a red fire.

Born in 2000, Ra Pat Ngoc Ha can create dozens of unique musical instruments.

Ha smiled gently: "I went to school to learn, but I learned to play music, make instruments, make flutes... all by myself. At 15, I knew how to play the panpipe. At 18, I made my first panpipe."

To have money to buy musical instruments, Ha went to the fields early in the morning and saved up for a whole year to buy a panpipe worth 2 million VND. "In the traditional music of the ethnic groups in Truong Son, the panpipe is the most difficult instrument to play. Once you master it, all the other instruments become simple," Ha said.

The buffalo horn flute was crafted by Ha.

PHOTO: HOANG SON

In 11th grade, seeing that his panpipe was old, Ha decided to take it apart to study how to make it. This was the panpipe made by the only folk artisan of A Luoi - Quynh Hoang (residing in A Ngo commune, deceased). Therefore, Ha thought that if he knew how to make it, he would know the secret of making panpipes. Looking at the bamboo tubes, pieces of wood, beeswax, copper blades..., the boy born in 2000 smiled lightly because he thought that the structure of the panpipe like that would not be difficult to make a new one. But then when he reassembled it, Ha was shocked because the panpipe... "stopped" from sound. Disassembling and reassembling it many times still did not work, Ha spent more than 10 million VND, buying 7 other old panpipes to experiment with.

"After a whole year of researching how to make it, I found the principle so that each panpipe not only has a round, clear sound but also lasts over time. Panpipes are really difficult to make, perhaps that's why for many generations in the A Luoi highlands, there has only been one person who makes and repairs panpipes - folk artisan Quynh Hoang," Ha concluded.

MASTERPIECE OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Ra Pat Ngoc Ha took the panpipe and put it to her lips to play the love song of a Ta Oi boy pursuing a girl. Ha said that the sound of the panpipe is characterized by 12 bamboo tubes (of different lengths) with a bronze reed attached to create sound, so when blown, it will produce different pitches. Therefore, a good panpipe must make the listener vibrate right from the first notes.

According to him, making a standard Khen does not only require skillful hands in carving wood, shaving bamboo... but also sensitive ears and accurate sound perception. A reed that is off by a millimeter will cause the note, the tone to be off, and the character to fade. What is very important in each Khen is that each reed is ground to the correct standard.

Ta Oi Ra Pat boy Ngoc Ha tests the sound of each bamboo tube fitted with a bronze reed.

"Once I bought copper from the lowlands to try assembling it, but after a few days it warped and broke. I went to villages in Laos and found a very heavy type of copper that was used as money for exchange. This type of copper can produce reeds that create beautiful tones and are also durable," Ha shared.

Over the past 7 years, Ha has sold many people these panpipes and everyone is satisfied when performing them in front of their village.

Ra Pat Ngoc Ha creates panpipes with a strong mountain and forest character.

Once he has made a panpipe, no other musical instrument can be difficult for him. Ha can make traditional flutes of the Ta Oi people such as: areng (2 holes and requires 2 players), tireen kakăn (4 holes), ahen (3 holes), tot (3-5 holes), toh an loh (2 holes, 7 hand spans long)... and other instruments such as n'trưl, tap preh alui, aben, pung pang, n'krao, nkoaiq, tap plưng.

Many people were surprised when they received the horn with a deep and majestic sound that echoed throughout the mountains and forests. There are musical instruments that have been lost for a long time, but through drawings and videos, he has successfully created them. The first is a horn called karyok ayon, made from goat horn, which only exists in the memories of village elders. Since ancient times, the Ta Oi people often used this horn to call each other when going into the forest, and when they were free, they used it to blow as a musical instrument. Goat horn was not available, so Ha thought of a way to use a calf horn of similar size to make it.

"The day I played the karyok ayon for an 80-year-old man, he cried because he was so moved. The sound of the karyok ayon brought back old memories," Ha said.

Sharing the reason for going to university after 6 years, Ha said that although he had a good income thanks to selling many products to art troupes, he was still determined to get a bachelor's degree in Cultural Management. Because he hoped that the knowledge and experience about music and cultural identity of ethnic minorities in Truong Son would be preserved, conserved and promoted better and more systematically after he graduated... (to be continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chuyen-nghe-nhan-gen-z-giu-hon-thanh-am-dai-ngan-185251013231843347.htm