VietNamNet Bridge – A Vietnamese traditional music programme entitled ‘Tieng Truc, Tieng To’ (Sound of Bamboo and Silk) was recently held at L’Espace French Cultural Institute in Hanoi, following its huge success in the famous Guimet museum, France, as part of the Vietnam Year in France.

People’s artist Xuan Hoach (right) at ‘Tieng Truc, Tieng To’ show -- Photo: ND

The concert, featuring ca tru (ceremonial singing), cheo (traditional opera), chau van (spiritual singing) and xam (ancient folk songs performed by blind beggars), took the audience back in time across 10 centuries of Vietnamese culture and music.

On the occasion, Nhan Dan newspaper had a talk with People’s Artist Xuan Hoach, one of the participating artists at the event. He is also an established veteran instrumentalist who has devoted himself to traditional string instruments.

Can you tell us how you fell into folk music and traditional string instruments?

I am a son of Dong Quan village, Thai Binh province, which has a long tradition of Cheo singing. Therefore, I was raised in the cradle of Vietnamese folk music. Every evening, Cheo melodies were taken up across the village, immersing me in this traditional art form. At the age of 16, I became an official and indispensable member of our village’s art troupe.

Many people can play only one instrument; however, you can play more than one. How many instruments can you play?

I leaned to play dan nhi (two-chord fiddle) and dan tam (three-chord fiddle) when I was a boy. I can also play dan nguyet (two-chord guitar), dan bau (monochord), dan tu (four-chord fiddle) and percussion instruments.

Playing every instrument requires hard practice. You can see how hard an instrumentalist practices for their profession by looking at their hands. The little finger of a dan day (three-string lute) player is unusually big, mine is even bigger than the index finger.

I am blessed to have good co-ordination, which allows me to sing while playing more than one instrument at once, while my feet beat percussion. It happens like playing many roles in a play.

You have dedicated most of your life to string instruments, how did you nurture this passion?

Most instruments I learnt to play by myself. The more I get acquainted with the instruments, the more interested I am in them.

Being an instrumentalist for me is not only an occupation but also my fate. Even in the toughest time in my life when my colleagues quit the job and turned to other means to earn their livings, I still stayed with folk music.

You cannot earn much money from this job, but I still passionately fall into it as it is a quintessential part of the country’s culture. Moreover, I don’t think I can do anything better than play music, so if I quit, I would feel like I am dead.

You have established yourself as not only an acclaimed instrumentalist but also a talented maker of string instruments. Can you tell us about the process for making instruments?

In ancient verses, the sound of the instruments was likened to the sound of silk string. I did some searching and I found that in the old days, the strings were actually made of silk. But the material has been replaced by nylon nowadays.

That discovery inspired my friends and I to try making instruments with strings made of silk. We do not use processed silk but the original brought from silkworms. We then spin and twist thousands of strands of silk to make a string.

It is easy to describe the process in words, but we had to do a lot of experimenting to make it work.

Can you tell us how different it is to play instruments with strings made of nylon versus silk?

In the past, the sound of bamboo and silk represented the sound of percussion and strong instruments. The silk-made strings have a profound and ear-pleasing timbre.

However, it is not easy to play the silk-made strings as you have to press your fingers harder to create this magical sound.

Ancient art forms have been performed in outdoor spaces and public places, such as markets and temples. Have you ever joined an event like this?

I have not been on this kind of stage. I am afraid that the music cannot reach its full effect in such a big place. The sound is amplified much louder than it should be. And I am sad to hear that some singers lip-sync at these shows.

Sometimes I gather with other artists in a small and cosy place to sing for audiences, and for each other. I think that true ancient music lovers would like to enjoy their favourite music with real voices and plain music.

Have you found any successor to follow your career?

Not yet. I want to pass down this profession to someone but it seems that youngsters are less patient and passionate for ancient music than our generation. This makes me sad. If I find someone with a deep and true passion for folk music like me, I will teach them for free.

Thank you very much for the interview.

Nhan Dan