The story of an old man making a guitar at the foot of De Pass

At the foot of De Pass (Phu Dinh Commune, Dinh Hoa) there is an old man who works hard every day making Tinh lutes. He makes two types of lutes: one to sell and give to Tinh lute artisans; one to sell to tourists to buy as souvenirs. That is Mr. Ma Dinh Duoc, 82 years old, Tay ethnic, in Hoang Ha hamlet.

Mr. Ma Dinh introduces tourists to the Tinh zither.

For the Tay ethnic group, the Tinh lute is considered a treasure in their spiritual and cultural life. Because most of their daily activities are associated with the Tinh lute. However, not all Tay ethnic groups know how to play and make Tinh lutes, so making a lute like Mr. Duoc is a respectable thing.

When we asked about his connection with the đàn tính, Mr. Duoc calmly said: At first, I made it for children to play, then for young people to practice performing arts. Then, when I got used to it and became proficient, I made đàn tính for some Then singing clubs in the area. Starting with making a rough instrument with a sound like hitting a cotton bag, until I was able to make a sophisticated instrument with a duration and a range of up to 3 octaves, which is the type of instrument that produces the most standard sound, it was a lifetime of hard work. Because many people wanted to own a đàn tính and came to my house to order, I invested in buying tools to produce instruments in larger quantities to meet the needs of the people and tourists.

Through the story, we learned more: When he was young, he served in the Army, then transferred to the Police force. During his military career, he finished suppressing bandits at the border of Ha Giang province and then went to protect the border of Cao Bang province. After completing his mission, he continued to participate in many different jobs in the locality such as: Party cell secretary, village chief, Vice President of the Veterans Association, Vice President of the Oriental Medicine Association; President of the Commune Elderly Association. Although he was busy with work, he still felt pain because the village was gradually losing the sound of the Tinh lute and the Then verses.

He shared: If singing Then without the Tinh lute, it is like going into the forest without a knife, like eating rice without salt, and like living without love.

To have a satisfactory instrument, he went to the forest to find a piece of ink rope wood, brought it back and sawed the core to make the instrument's neck. As for the gourd, he selected one from hundreds of gourds on the trellis. The surface of the instrument was made of mulberry wood, thinly and evenly sliced ​​like a drum skin, with a thickness of 1.5 to 1.7 mm. The bridge (the part that supports the strings) was made of chan wood or buffalo horn. All the materials used to make the instrument were dried in the kitchen to avoid shrinkage.

In recent years, the work of making đàn tính has become more professional, he ordered the neck of the đàn tính from wood processing factories. He ordered the đàn tính body from Cao Bang province. Of course, that is only the rough part, because the neck, the body and other parts still have to go through some manual steps to be completed.

Because of mass production, all the guitars are the same length, as if they were cast from a single mold. It looks simple, but it takes him 5 consecutive days to complete a guitar. Each stage of making a guitar requires meticulousness and dexterity; if you are a little heavy-handed, you have to throw it away and start over. For example, the guitar bridge requires a sharp knife to scrape and create 2 bases. The base must be flared and round like a leech's trunk, placed on the guitar face. Between the guitar face and the gourd shell, it is attached with brown resin, after being improved with elephant glue, now using XIMO S3000 multi-purpose glue. This type of glue is stronger and more durable than brown resin and does not crack like elephant glue. The strings were previously stripped of banana fibers, dried, and braided.

Making a guitar requires skill and attention to detail.

Because it took a lot of work, the strings were improved to use Japanese nylon strings. Interestingly, this type of nylon string, when put into the instrument, tuned, and used, gives a perfect sound like the old strings braided with wild banana silk. He told us more: The Dan Tinh has been improved many times, in the past it had 12 strings, then it was reduced to 9 strings, then 3 strings, 2 strings, and now it is 3 strings. The 3-string Dan Tinh has more polysyllables.

He humorously said: I made dumb instruments, then "speechless" instruments. Dumb instruments and speechless instruments are also valuable because they give children a chance to practice performing arts. That is also the motivation that urges me to make better instruments. I myself am aware that the work I am doing is to contribute to preserving, conserving and promoting the traditional quintessence, a cultural beauty of my people. Therefore, I research and learn to make more perfect instruments.

For over 30 years, he has made over 1,000 đàn tính. Many good đàn tính have been given to Then and đàn tính artists. The majority are sold to schools and clubs. Many tourists come to the village to experience and find it strange to look at and hear, so they buy them as souvenirs.

To sell more, he brought his instruments to souvenir stalls at some tourist attractions in the province, mainly at the ATK Dinh Hoa National Historical Site. Many tourists were interested in paying him 1 million VND/instrument, but he only accepted 500,000 to 600,000 VND/instrument.

He shared: Tourists come from many parts of the country, including foreigners. They buy musical instruments, practice playing their own instruments, practice singing in their own language. Even if it is just one sentence, they are promoting the spiritual and cultural beauty of the land, homeland, and people of Thai Nguyen to domestic and international friends.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/xa-hoi/net-dep-doi-thuong/202407/chuyen-cu-gia-lam-dan-tinh-ben-chan-deo-de-937080f/