The Wanderer with the Guitar (Part 3)

Báo Quốc Tế•05/12/2023

"A true artist doesn't just inherit, accept, and enjoy the achievements of previous generations" – this perspective led artist Viet Anh to choose a different path for himself: creating with the guitar.

A 21-string guitar and the romantic playing of the free-spirited Vietnamese man, Viet Anh. (Photo: MH)

Putting down his teacup, Viet Anh said, "Because she worked so hard to raise six of us, my mother didn't have much time to pay attention to the details of each of us, but she always approved of and supported me."

Stopping his story, he excused himself to go and take care of his elderly mother. He said, "My mother has toiled and worked hard her whole life, running a small business. What I am most grateful for is the blessing I have received from her gentleness, kindness, and absolute honesty in business."

Wandering with New Flamenco

Speaking about the name "Lãng Du" (Wanderer) that he chose for his band, as well as the flamenco style as its main theme, Viet Anh shared: "Actually, the name reflects my personality and my life. I believe that life and career are just a journey through this temporary world. So, let's try to play well, beautifully, honestly, kindly, and joyfully. 'Lãng' means romantic, 'Du' means to play - a romantic game."

Secondly, before forming the band, I wandered around a lot, joined many bands, and played different genres of music… As long as there was a show and I could make a living, I would participate, like a mercenary. So the name "Lãng Du" (Wanderer) already carries the image of a wanderer.

"As for why I chose Flamenco as the main theme, firstly, it's because of the strong feelings and emotions I've had for this genre of music for a long time but haven't had the opportunity to perform. Secondly, I realized that after participating in many programs like 'Mercenary,' I felt that even the most resounding successes didn't leave any lasting impression; nothing truly belonged to me."

"Influenced by the guitar tradition of my uncle Pham Ngu, a king of classical Vietnamese guitar, I want to uphold and develop this tradition. I want to rediscover the deep roots, the soulful voice of the guitar, which is Flamenco music. But even though I want to continue my family's guitar tradition, I have decided to take my own path to development, which is the New Flamenco style that I have chosen," he added.

Viet Anh shared that he was apprehensive when many audience members and colleagues called him the number one in the Flamenco genre. He said that perhaps he was appreciated for his passionate and dedicated playing style. Although he spoke modestly, in reality, it cannot be denied that he and Lang Du have raised the banner and breathed life into a new trend that has attracted a large number of young people and is now widely practiced in the flamenco genre.

He confided, "I don't need anyone's approval for anything. I'm happy that I can reflect on and test my own thinking and choices to see if they are right or wrong... My father always taught me that in any matter, don't try to fit yourself into a big, oversized shirt. Just wander freely to the ends of the earth. Whatever happens, happens. A good scent will naturally spread."

Always be yourself.

It's evident that Lãng Du's enthusiasm and innocence, though not boisterous, were rewarded by fate. Lãng Du had many opportunities to interact and perform at very formal events, but without ostentation, these were places where many things that Việt Anh considered "interesting and pure" converged...

The Hue Festival is a prime example. It's an international cultural and artistic festival, held every two years, with the participation of art troupes from many countries. The various programs of the Hue Festival take place throughout the country and are completely free to attend. However, the event at An Dinh Palace is the only venue where tickets are sold, and it features performances by only international artists and top-tier Vietnamese artists. And, Lãng Du has been honored to perform there many times.

Viet Anh shared: “During performances and interactions with international friends, I didn't have much to say because music is the universal language of humanity; we use music to feel and understand each other. The genre of music we play is nothing unusual to our international friends. They empathize with us and frankly share that, in Vietnam, the fact that we dare to play the kind of music we like, not following the mainstream, is very commendable, but we have to accept the disadvantages.”

Once again interrupting the conversation to go and take care of his mother, Viet Anh brought out a 21-string guitar from inside the house and placed it next to the tea table. Seeing it, I was truly overwhelmed. If I was somewhat overwhelmed by the photo, seeing it in person, I was ten times more mesmerized.

He said: "In my personal opinion, a true artist doesn't just inherit, accept, and enjoy the achievements of previous generations. We must go to the very end to grasp and exploit the good things that already exist, and find out what is lacking or what needs to be done to develop further, leaving behind more complete and relevant knowledge for future generations."

Beyond that sense of responsibility of an artist, according to artist Viet Anh, an ordinary guitar also has certain limitations and cannot fully satisfy his musical desires. He says that his intuition feels he has been entrusted, guided, and given a mission to discover what he truly desires. Therefore, for many years, Viet Anh has been passionately searching, exploring , and learning to create guitars that can fulfill his passion.

Get creative with guitar.

Carefully lifting the 21-string guitar, he said, "Its sound is hard to describe in words." In music, we can call it full musical form and incomplete musical form, or what we often refer to as monophonic and polyphonic music, monotone or harmonic.

In music, there are always three fundamental and solid elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Whether playing a solo, a trio, or an orchestra of dozens or hundreds of people, it must always revolve around these three elements. For music to sound good, it also depends on the sound itself, with three frequency ranges: Bass, Mid, and Treble (low, medium, high).

He explained: "Among the countless styles of guitar playing, there are only two ways: ensemble playing and solo playing. If we only focus on ensemble playing as mentioned above, the traditional guitar is already perfectly adequate for that. But what about solo playing? The traditional guitar, since its inception, has always been used for solo playing because it can create all three elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm. However, the traditional guitar is limited in its range. That's what I want to change."

Before settling on the 21-string guitar, Viet Anh experimented with dozens of guitars, ranging from 24-string to 28-string, in various designs. (Photo: MH)

Before settling on a 21-string guitar, Viet Anh experimented with dozens of guitars, from 24-string to 28-string, in various designs. He learned from and emulated similar guitars made by artists around the world whom I greatly admire for their pioneering spirit and talent.

He said, "Initially, I was also very overwhelmed by these instruments, and after experiencing them, I realized that, besides being wonderful for playing certain genres of music, these instruments didn't satisfy me when playing other forms of music (due to a lack of combativeness)."

“It’s not about having a lot of strings to be rich in sound; what I want is just enough, and importantly, how they’re distributed to always adapt to different musical genres. Furthermore, the instrument isn’t simply about having many strings to expand the range; it needs to be divided into different registers with different, contrasting timbres, like having many musicians with different instruments on this 21-string instrument of mine. That’s why I decided to create it,” he explained.

While explaining the new capabilities of the 21-string guitar, artist Viet Anh played a few musical pieces to demonstrate. Thanks to my limited musical knowledge, I found it truly unique and impressive.

He confided, "I don't know if I'm being too greedy, but I haven't let it stop there. I want to give it the functionality of a keyboard, so it can produce thousands of timbres from almost all the musical instruments in the world."

"It can become an acoustic guitar, not only for solo performances but also capable of simulating a band of about four players, with music and sound always guaranteed in quality and quantity, diverse performance, rich sound, and rich timbre and color. It must meet all those criteria before I stop."

The story went on and on, and I felt drawn into the passion of this talented artist, while Viet Anh was being pulled along by his passion for music on an endless journey. This is understandable, because true artists, those with abundant creativity, often choose the difficult and solitary path.

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