Even the monkeys stopped their squabbling to listen. The knah gong recounts dreams of a fulfilling and energetic life, conveying them to the deities who govern human existence.
Watching the elders in their traditional red and black knuk ky robes, sitting solemnly on the kpan chair in the longhouse, playing the gong music "Calling for Reunion" or other sad and joyful gong melodies for all the events happening in the village, the children longed for the day when they too would have the honor of holding a knah gong, proudly joining in with the old artisans under the admiring gaze of the girls in the village.
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| The artisan instructs children on how to play the kram gong. Photo: Nguyen Gia |
The buffalo herders would gather in the pastures or in the open forests, often using pieces of wood they found in the woods to randomly tap out the rhythm of the knah gongs that the old artisans often played beautifully at the festivals. One morning, a man stopped by the group and taught them to cut seven old kram (bamboo) sticks, carve them, and tap them to sound like the knah gongs. He told them to practice playing them. And so the kram gong set was born, intended for young people to practice outside the village (because the knah gongs were only allowed to be played inside the longhouse when there was a joyous or sorrowful occasion in the village or family).
The crisp, clear sound of bamboo striking against bamboo frequently echoes across the grasslands, fulfilling the dreams of children that one day they will join hands with elderly artisans, sitting and playing gongs on the kpan of the longhouse. What is special is that the kram gong is unique to the traditional musical instrument repertoire of the Ede people.
After 1975, for a period, Central Highlands festivals were equated with the movement to eradicate superstition and were therefore not organized. The knah gongs fell silent. The kram gongs were absent because the children were no longer enthusiastic about practicing them. Then, in 1980, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Dak Lak province, Y Ngong Nie Kdam, signed a decision assigning the Department of Culture and Information to organize a campaign to collect folk culture of Dak Lak province (the materials from this large-scale collection later became the source material for compiling the "Dak Lak Gazetteer"). All cultural officials were mobilized to participate in that fieldwork. And the kram gongs were "found," restored, and appeared in the province-wide folk culture festival. In 1982, Meritorious Artist Vu Lan had the initiative to add a bamboo tube to each gong, creating a resonance box, making the sound of the kram gongs fuller and more resonant.
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| Kram gong performance. |
In 2005, when the Central Highlands Gong Culture Space was inscribed by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the sound of Central Highlands gongs in general, and the knah and kram gongs of the Ede people in particular, was truly revived.
With its traditional function of providing training for young people, classes teaching kram gong playing are regularly held in villages throughout the summer. Even defying prejudice, some of these classes have gone on to form all-female gong ensembles that play knah and kram gongs with skill comparable to that of older masters.
Like the all-female gong ensembles of the Kbu and Tuôr villages (Buôn Ma Thuột city) or Krông Pắc district, the kram gong is also regularly present at gong culture festivals, cultural events, and even folk art competitions.
What is commendable is that the kram gong has become an extremely popular and familiar musical instrument in all villages, no longer just for young people, but even elderly artisans are willing to play it at festivals or when welcoming guests in tourist areas.
The improved kram gong, now in its two-tiered design, appears in the folk orchestra performances of professional art troupes, not only in Dak Lak, Phu Yen, Gia Lai, and Kon Tum, where the indigenous ethnic communities of the Central Highlands live, but also in orchestras in major cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi . The kram gong proudly stands alongside, harmonizing the rhythm and sound of bamboo with other instruments such as the t'rưng, ding pah, and even the tranh, bầu, and nguyệt lutes… It's a joyous occasion that an Êđê musical instrument has not only been revived but has also become popular in the villages.
If there's anything to say, it's that crafting a kram gong set isn't something just anyone can do. It requires someone with a very high ear for music and skillful hands to create gongs with the perfect pitch; even finding mature bamboo suitable for making gongs is becoming increasingly difficult. In addition, many traditional Êđê musical instruments are disappearing...
Source: https://baodaklak.vn/van-hoa-du-lich-van-hoc-nghe-thuat/202506/su-hoi-sinh-cua-chieng-kram-a4e0a8c/
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