The man who breathes life into musical instruments made from coconut trees

Artisan Vo Van Ba with his collection of musical instruments.

Preserving national identity

Along the village road along the Ben Tre River, it is not difficult to find the house of Artisan Ba Ba. At this time, Mr. Ba is preparing to transfer more than 110 musical instruments made from coconut to the Ben Tre Provincial Museum, to display for people and tourists to visit and learn.

Sharing about the opportunity to make many musical instruments from coconut trees, Artisan Vo Van Ba said that, closely associated with the life of Ben Tre people, coconut trees are considered the "soul" of the people here. During the war, coconut trees sheltered revolutionary soldiers, and in peacetime, they became the economic pillars of many households. Therefore, making many types of traditional musical instruments from coconut trees will contribute to preserving national identity, while promoting the value of coconut trees in the spiritual life of the people.

From the age of 12, Ba followed his father and uncle to learn Don ca tai tu, and was exposed to many musical instruments. Near his house, there was a craftsman who made musical instruments, so he studied with him, and at the age of 15, he started making simple instruments himself from jackfruit and quao wood. Growing up, he studied electronics and participated in the resistance for 20 years. After the liberation day, Mr. Ba Ba continued to follow the profession of Don ca tai tu and making musical instruments.

Artisan Vo Van Ba uses a guitar that combines 5 musical instruments.

In 2011, realizing that the local coconut resources were abundant, there were many types of handicrafts from coconut trees, but no one had made coconut instruments, so Mr. Ba researched and tried to make them. He chose coconut trunks about 60 - 70 years old, which were hard, not susceptible to termites, and had an eye-catching honey red color instead of white due to being young or black due to being too old. In addition, he used the coconut shell, shell, and spathe to make instruments. Coconut wood can be used to make almost all types of instruments, such as: zither, zither, zither, guitar, mandolin, violin, etc.

The first coconut guitar that Mr. Ba Ba made was a zither, however, the sound was not as good as other types of wood, so he had to research and combine coconut wood for the frame and quao wood for the surface of the guitar to produce good sound. On the other hand, applying the electronics he learned, he integrated devices to make the guitar have better sound as desired. As for guitars made from coconut shells, coconut shells, and bamboo shoots, the preparation of materials is more difficult than guitars made from coconut wood. To use coconut shells as guitar bodies, you must choose very dry coconuts, saw off the top, then chisel off the shell, then hollow out all the fibers inside, leaving only a thin layer of about 0.5 - 1 cm close to the coconut shell. This shell is then treated and painted with paints and anti-mold glue before being assembled into other parts to make a complete guitar.

According to Mr. Ba Ba, the time to make a guitar depends on the type, such as the dipper or the co, it takes about 3-4 days, and difficult types such as the zither or the concave-key guitar take more than a week to a month. As he spoke, he brought out a 5-in-1 instrument, including the sen, guitar, gourd, co and a microphone for singing. This is a guitar that took him more than a month to complete, made from coconut wood, quao, buffalo horn and python skin.

Artisan Vo Van Ba uses the largest coconut tree instrument in Vietnam.

In addition to the small, easy-to-use instruments, Mr. Ba Ba made two large instruments, which were his favorite instruments during the manufacturing process. Mr. Ba Ba said that by chance, he went to a neighbor's house and saw a large coconut tree whose trunk had been sawed off, so he asked to buy it. Because the tree was so large and heavy, he had to hire someone to hollow out the core and it took him several days to bring it home. The carving and planing took two months to complete. The instrument is 2.5 m high, the body is 1.1 m long, and 60 cm in diameter. A person in Binh Duong offered to buy this instrument for 150 million VND, but Mr. Ba refused to sell it. Mr. Ba also made a monochord with a surface shaped like a map of Vietnam, more than 2 meters long, to affirm to the world : Monochord is a musical instrument originating from Vietnam.

Contribute to making Ben Tre tourism products more sophisticated

In the 2012 Ben Tre Coconut Festival, the set of traditional musical instruments by artisan Vo Van Ba, consisting of 10 types, has 27 musical instruments that meet the standards of aesthetic form and sound to receive a Vietnamese record. Among them, there is a set of bowed musical instruments including the zither (co li, co trung, co trung bass, co bass), and the dipper (gao small, gao medium, gao medium, gao large). In addition, there is a set of plucked musical instruments including the zither (nguyet), the zither, the zither, the monochord, the electric guitar (concave-key guitar, bass guitar); a set of percussion instruments including a drum set (tieu la, troi la), a wooden fish; a set of wind instruments including two trumpets... The set of musical instruments was recognized by the Vietnam Record Book Center as the "First set of traditional musical instruments crafted from coconut material in Vietnam". The set of musical instruments made from coconut by artisan Vo Van Ba has been introduced at many exhibitions across the country.

Artisan Vo Van Ba with his collection of musical instruments.

Artisan Vo Van Ba shared that there have been tourists from 11 countries: the United States, England, France, Australia, Germany, Korea, China, Japan, India, Laos... who have come to learn and have a need to exchange about the coconut musical instrument set and especially 2 Swiss singers came to ask him to accompany them with the coconut musical instrument set so they could sing... Mr. Ba's musical instruments are sought after and collected by many people around the world. Despite his old age, Mr. Ba always wants to pass on his craft to the next generation, willing to give free instructions to those who want to learn to play and make musical instruments to continue preserving the traditional culture of the nation.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Ban, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ben Tre province, the coconut instrument collection of artisan Ba Ba is "unique" in Vietnam. The most valuable thing about the instrument is that it is made of coconut wood, a typical tree of Ben Tre. In addition, the product is highly appreciated by many professional researchers for its art and aesthetics. The musical instrument contributes to honoring the great value of the coconut tree, partly expressing the extremely unique creativity. This is one of the unique regional cultural tourism products of Ben Tre, which no other locality has.

Tourists visit musical instruments made from coconut.

In addition, the coconut musical instrument set contributes to the refinement of existing Ben Tre tourism products. The coconut musical instrument set completely meets the requirements for tourists to discover new things, experience practical activities, enrich knowledge, and connect emotions; thereby contributing to positioning and elevating the brand of "Coconut" tourism products of Ben Tre province.

In the coming time, Ben Tre will continue to promote, advertise and introduce this musical instrument set so that the public near and far can understand more about its extremely unique values and meanings; organize performances, practice and teaching to serve domestic and foreign tourists when they come to visit and learn about Ben Tre. At the same time, the province will continue to pay attention to creating conditions and supporting artisans in creating art, creating diverse musical instruments from coconut; develop a plan to protect, preserve and promote the values of this musical instrument set now and in the future.

According to VNA

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