Unique music from ceramics

"GOm Show" is the first music program in Vietnam that takes ceramics as the center of both musical instruments and artistic inspiration.

This is an art project combining indigenous music and a system of creative musical instruments made from pottery, terracotta, bamboo, water... and will be performed on June 28 and 29 at the Hanoi Opera House and on July 19 at the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House.

Sound from ceramic

The project was initiated by the artist group "Dan Do", inspired by Vietnamese ceramic cultural materials to create a musical space with a strong identity and contemporary spirit.

The program uses special musical instruments that the group of authors researched and created themselves, such as: jar drums (using ceramic jars and inner tubes to create super low sounds like a giant bass); lang drums (shaped like rice cakes, with warm, low sounds like echoes from underground); ceramic gongs and ceramic bells (creating sounds from baked clay with unique timbre structures, each one is a separate sound entity); rotating ceramics (resonating by rotating the mouth of the ceramic, creating a soft reverberating effect); clay pot lute (gentle sounds reverberating from clay pots)...

Musician Vo Cong Anh - Head of the Composition Association, Vietnam Musicians Association in Ho Chi Minh City - commented: The name of the group "Dan Do" is a story imbued with the Vietnamese identity of people who are passionate about and cherish traditional values. The music of "Dan Do" is not simply a performing art, but also a journey of perception, where the indigenous culture of Vietnam is honored and reborn in the form of sound.

Artists will appear at “GOm Show”. (Photo provided by the character)

According to artist Dinh Anh Tuan, "GOm Show" will include performances with names such as: "Return", "That Time", "Downstream", "Find Hani"... taking viewers on a journey through indigenous cultural regions such as the Northwest, Central Highlands, South Central Coast with the unique voices of the M'nong, Ede, Ha Nhi, Lo Lo ethnic groups...

Combining creative musical instruments, folk and modern sounds, "GOm Show" brings the audience into a world rich in feelings - where each layer of sound awakens the imagination, evokes cultural memories, in a diverse but unified sound-cultural space of Vietnamese soul. Artist Dinh Anh Tuan believes that the Vietnamese music market has many attractive materials for international audiences, diverse folk music materials are the highlight of Vietnamese indigenous music.

"We use music to tell the historical story of pottery, which is also the story of national memory, using a symbolic method, allowing viewers to expand their perception and imagination. "GOm Show" was formed from the spirit and love for indigenous culture of the artists" - artist Dinh Anh Tuan shared.

Bringing Vietnamese music to the world

The project "GOm Show" marks the intersection between two generations of artists - the older generation and the younger generation, together creating a diverse musical space such as: Duong Men, Le Duy, Nguyen Tra Huong, Nguyen Tra Giang, Dam Van Huy, Quoc Thinh, Quynh Mai...

"GOm Show" is a journey to find 10 members to create a complete program. During the process, the artists researched how to use each new instrument. The 10 artists come from all regions across the country" - artist Dinh Anh Tuan said.

Young artist Duong Men said she was very excited because if before she only had to play according to the pre-composed music and needed to ensure accuracy in all her plays, then at "GOm Show" she needed to listen to her co-performers, everyone had to listen to each other and rely on each other to continuously create, to be creative in both the composing and practicing process.

"As one of the young artists of "GOm Show", I am proud that what I do is contributing to awakening indigenous values, bringing a new approach to the audience" - artist Duong Men confided.

The aspiration of the "Dan Do" group is to bring Vietnamese indigenous music to the world. The artists hope that these simple, profound melodies can touch the hearts of humanity as a sincere and unique voice of Vietnam on the global cultural map.

"We will build a native music ecosystem - creating a space for experiencing sound associated with native culture but with international appeal and stature. Gradually bringing art products and programs to the global market, exporting native culture..." - Mr. Tuan Anh, representative of the "Dan Do" group, informed.

"Dan Do" is an independent artist group founded in Hanoi in 2011, consisting of 4 members: Dinh Anh Tuan, Nguyen Duc Minh, Nguyen Quang Su and Tran Kim Ngoc. The members met each other while participating in the art project "Circus in My Village" - a circus program combining traditional Vietnamese art that toured throughout Europe during the period 2009 - 2012. It was this artistic affinity that became the foundation for the formation of the "Dan Do" group.

One of the group's unique achievements is the creation of the "Dan Do" musical instrument set - a collection of musical instruments crafted from rustic materials such as bamboo, soil, and water. With this unique musical instrument set, "Dan Do" has participated in many typical art projects such as: SEA Sound - Southeast Asian Indigenous Orchestra, performances such as "Chem Gio Concert", "Words of Bamboo", "Xuyen Khong"... which have been widely welcomed by audiences.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/doc-dao-am-nhac-tu-gom-196250623201035056.htm