At noon in mid-May, the small house in the garden of artisan Ba ​​Ba in Nhon Thanh commune, Ben Tre city, is filled with the sound of a musical instrument. Holding in his hands a musical instrument made from coconut wood, quao nuoc tree, buffalo horn and python skin, he said it took him more than a month to complete this "unique" musical instrument.

"This is a 'five-in-one' instrument including a cymbal, guitar, gourd, flute and a microphone for singing," said Mr. Ba, adding that he only kept about 30 instruments to play to relieve boredom, the remaining nearly 200 other instruments were donated and sold.

His family had a musical tradition, his father was a musician in the local opera troupe. When he was young, after school hours, Mr. Ba followed his father and uncles to perform around the area. Because there was a traditional musical instrument maker near his house, he was so interested that when he went home he tried to make musical instruments out of bamboo and jackfruit. When he grew up, he studied electronics and radio but then dropped out and joined the resistance for 20 years. In the army, he was a musician playing the zither and the zither of the Provincial Liberation Art Troupe.

In 2011, a friend suggested that he make a traditional orchestra out of coconut wood to promote the festival. Mr. Ba immediately accepted the offer because he could relive his childhood passion. However, when he started working, he encountered many difficulties because coconut wood is hard and brittle, and nails can easily bend and crack. Some difficult details such as the guitar's concave keys cannot be chiseled but must be filed to wear them down slowly. After many failures, he decided to choose 60-70 year old coconut trunks that are not eaten by termites and have an eye-catching honey red color instead of white due to being young or black due to being too old.

It took Mr. Ba nearly a month to make the first zither, but when he tried playing it, he found that the sound was too bad, without vibration or resonance. The artisan then came up with a way to use locally available quao nuoc wood to make the instrument's surface, keeping only the coconut wood frame. To enrich the orchestra, he also made use of other materials such as coconut shells, shells, and spathes.

He cut off the tops of the beautiful dried coconuts, chiseled the shells, removed all the fibers, kept only a thin layer close to the shell, and painted them with anti-mold paint. The coconut shells were also thinned and polished to make the soundboards of the Dan Bau. The coconut spathes were shaped into boats to make the bodies of the Dan Bau. On the neck of the instrument, the small dried coconuts were shaped into funny puffer fish.

After a year of experimentation, the set of traditional musical instruments consisting of 10 types of instruments with 27 products made from coconut wood was first performed by Mr. Ba and other artisans at the Ben Tre Coconut Festival in 2012, delighting the audience. This set of musical instruments was also performed by him at the Southern Traditional Music Festival in Bac Lieu and Binh Duong. The Vietnam Record Book Center later recognized this as the first set of traditional musical instruments made from coconut in Vietnam.

The good news spread far and wide, and the small wood workshop on Mr. Ba’s porch was always bustling with the sounds of sawing, planing, and chiseling because of many orders. Each instrument cost from several million to several tens of millions of dong. The time to complete it depends on the type, simple instruments like the goo or co instrument take about 3-4 days, while difficult instruments like the zither or the concave-key guitar take from a week to months.

"Coconut wood can be used to make almost all types of musical instruments such as tranh, kim, co, gao, bau, guitar, mandolin, violin," said Mr. Ba, adding that among the products he has crafted is a special co instrument that is 2.5 meters high, with a 1.1 meter long sound box and 0.6 meter in diameter. Because it is so heavy, the instrument must be equipped with wheels for easy movement.

Making musical instruments from coconut shells, shells, and spathes

According to artisan Vo Van Ba, in addition to satisfying his passion and having some extra income when he is old, his crafting work is a way to show gratitude to coconut trees, a specialty of Ben Tre. At the age of 81, with three children and grandchildren not following in his footsteps, he said he is willing to teach his craft for free to anyone who is passionate.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ban, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ben Tre, said that the coconut musical instruments of artisan Ba ​​Ba are highly appreciated by many professional researchers for their art and aesthetics. More than 100 musical instruments made from coconut trees by artisan Ba ​​Ba will be displayed at the Ben Tre Museum on May 18.

In addition to the traditional educational significance for the younger generation, according to Mr. Ban, Mr. Ba’s collection of instruments displayed at the museum is also one of the tourist attractions of Ben Tre, attracting many international visitors. Some foreign singers have asked artisans to accompany their singing with a coconut instrument.

Hoang Nam