Toan has been passionate about musical instruments since his childhood. He was always fascinated by the performance of street artists with musical instruments made of discarded items.

In 2011, when he blew air into a papaya leaf tube, he discovered that it generated sounds like those from a flute. The sounds were melodious, which stirred his curiosity and led to the decision to create more small holes on the body of the tube.

It emitted strange sounds. Toan believed that all the things people see in their lives, including discarded items, could produce interesting sounds.

Toan began making things from broken things at his home and waste at iron scrap landfills. He re-made a broken stainless steel chair and turned it into a musical instrument.

He used a leg of a chair, which was a hollow stainless steel tube, as a flute. He cut holes in the chair legs, which emitted swishing sounds.

Later, the chair leg broke. Toan tried to turn every piece of waste he could find, from old plastic tubes and, microphones, and bike frames, into original flutes.

Of the musical instruments he has made, he loves the wind instrument created from a motorcycle exhaust pipe.

“I bought an old exhaust pipe from a vehicle repair shop and hollowed it out, and created holes to generate sounds,” he said.

“The most difficult thing I had to do was piercing the exhaust and making holes properly, at reasonable positions. I also had to measure each note, so that the sound comes out correctly and accurately, so that it can harmonize with other musical instruments in the same orchestra,” he recalled. 

“It took me three years to create the perfect wind musical instrument, the only one in Da Nang," he said.

Toan often uses the instrument when performing before relatives and friends who are surprised at the sound. 

Toan has become well known in Da Nang. However, he never thinks of selling the instruments. He just creates things to satisfy his passion for music and serve the community.

Toan once performed at the foot of Rong Bridge in front of locals and foreign travelers.

Ha Nguyen