The keeper of gong sounds for the village

Over the past 20 years, with his love and passion for the gong sounds of the Ede people, artisan Y Hy (Buon Tuong village, Ninh Tay commune, Ninh Hoa town) has been diligently carrying out many specific tasks to preserve and promote the value of gong musical instruments. To this day, the number of people who know how to use gongs in the villages of Ninh Tay commune is increasing. The sound of gongs resounds, spreading far and wide from the villages to the great mountains and forests.

Passionate about traditional national culture

In Ninh Tay commune, artisan Y Hy is a dignitary and prestigious person among the Ede people. That is not simply because he is the Party Secretary of Ninh Tay commune, but also because he is very passionate about the traditional cultural capital of the nation. Having visited Mr. Y Hy's house many times, each time we were surprised by what he did, how he cherished the customs, practices, and cultural beauty of his people. I remember that in early 2020, artisan Y Hy was very happy to establish a gong team that gathered people who had a passion for this musical instrument to practice and perform traditional gong songs of the Ede people together. He also collected and preserved valuable bronze gong sets with good sound quality. In November 2024, after many years of saving, artisan Y Hy completed the construction of a long house in the traditional style of the Ede people. The house is where he displays the tools, labor tools, and musical instruments of the Ede people such as: baskets, crossbows, bamboo sticks, wine jars, gongs, five-stringed trumpets, etc. In particular, this place has become a place for cultural activities of people in the villages in Ninh Tay commune. Every weekend or on holidays and Tet, people can hear the sound of gongs echoing, humming, and spreading from this long house. "Since I was young, my ama (father) taught me gong songs and how to recognize a good set of gongs, and that has permeated my soul. Later, when my ama passed away, I still practiced gong songs and gong playing skills to better understand the tones, timbres, and rhythms of each gong," said artisan Y Hy.

Artisan Y Hy has a deep affection for his people's gong musical instruments.

The outstanding feature in the gong performance is the participation of many people, each person uses a separate gong and sits together on the Kpan (traditional bench of the Ede people) to play different sounds. Each gong sound emitted from the gongs is like a dialogue, the feelings of the player through the collision of different rhythmic groups. The gong set of the Ede people usually has 5 gongs, symbolizing the members of the family and in order from large to small, including: Bõh knăh phun (grandfather gong), bõh knăh hleang (father gong), bõh diet hluoe khơk (son gong), bõh diet hluoe hliang (grandchild gong) combined with 2 gongs with knobs that the Ede people call mđụ ana hong mung. The set of 7 gongs as above harmonizes with the sound of the H'gor drums to create a solemn and soaring harmony. “The Ede people often perform gongs in the long house. Currently, I am holding traditional gong songs of the Ede people such as: “Tông hong klei drai êa” (echo of the waterfall); “Tông hong klei ư êpa, ư êpa”, “Bơ yoh, bò yoh”, “Kơtap dum anăn” (gong songs that encourage people to strive in life)…”, artisan Y Hy shared.

Promoting gong melodies

Not only mastering and practicing gongs himself, artisan Y Hy also sought out village elders and prestigious people in villages in Ninh Tay commune to invite everyone to encourage villagers to learn to play gongs and use some other musical instruments of the Ede people. Since then, the number of people who know how to use gongs has increased, which is also a necessary condition for artisan Y Hy and village elders to restore some traditional festivals such as: Water wharf worship ceremony, housewarming ceremony, wedding ceremony... In those festivals, the performance of gongs is indispensable. Thanks to that, in recent years, the preservation and promotion of traditional cultural values ​​of the Ede people in Ninh Tay commune has improved a lot. In particular, some typical gongs of the Ede people in Khanh Hoa province such as gong kok and gong gong have been restored and performed again.

“When I was young, I also learned to play gongs and blow the zither. But later, due to living conditions, I neglected it for a long time. Recently, I was encouraged by artisan Y Hy and invited to join the gong team, both to revive my old hobby and to contribute to preserving my ethnic musical instruments,” said Mr. Y Ty (Buon Dung village). As for Mr. Y Suk (Buon Lac village), since learning how to use the kok gong from artisan Y Hy, he has become fond of this musical instrument. “I was encouraged by artisan Y Hy to join the commune’s gong team, to practice and perform for everyone. Later, I learned how to use the kok gong and immediately fell in love with it. The sound of the kok gong is not as melodious and resonant as the bronze gong, but it is familiar and simple,” Mr. Y Suk shared.

A valuable gong set by artisan Y Hy.

With his efforts, artisan Y Hy has made an important contribution to preserving and promoting gong melodies in today's life. Through the organization of the gong team, up to now, artisan Y Hy has mobilized the establishment of art troupes in a number of villages. The members of the art troupe not only perform gong ensembles but also perform the five-stringed trumpet, the ten-stringed trumpet, folk songs, and traditional dances of the Ede people... Each sound of the gong and other musical instruments combined with the singing and dancing is like a string that connects the people's feelings together. From there, the unique cultural and artistic values ​​of the Ede people continue to be passed on and preserved. As for artisan Y Hy, he was unanimously proposed by the Council for the title of Meritorious Artisan and People's Artisan of the province to the ministerial-level Council for the title of Meritorious Artisan.

FAMILY

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/202504/nguoi-giu-tieng-chieng-cho-buon-lang-b5a32fc/