Dao Xa is a village renowned for its craft of making traditional Vietnamese musical instruments. In this article, JAVICO will provide detailed insights into this craft village.
Where is the Dao Xa musical instrument-making village?
Dao Xa musical instrument-making village is located in Dong Lo commune, Ung Hoa district, Hanoi, about 50 kilometers from the city center.
History of musical instrument-making in Dao Xa village
The craft of making traditional Vietnamese musical instruments has existed in Dao Xa village for about 200 years. Legend has it that Dao Xuan Lan, a Dao Xa villager, was originally a carpenter crafting household items for French families. However, he had a deep passion for creating and repairing musical instruments. Thus, he traveled far and wide to learn the craft of musical instrument-making.
After years of learning, he returned to Dao Xa village and taught the craft to his younger relatives. Then, the craft generally spread throughout the village. Dao Xa villagers honored him as the founding father of the musical instrument-making craft. Annually, on his memorial day, the villagers come to offer tributes at the temple of his remembrance.
Dao Xa village is famous for its craft of making traditional Vietnamese musical instruments. (Photo from the Internet)
Master artisans from Dao Xa traveled across the country to work at musical instrument workshops. In the 19th century, skilled artisans of Dao Xa moved into Hanoi’s inner city to establish craft cooperatives.
Nowadays, most musical instrument stores around the Vietnam National Academy of Music as well as numerous musical instrument-making workshops in provinces such as Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, etc. are owned by Dao Xa villagers.
Distinctive features of Dao Xa craft village
Dao Xa artisans produce a variety of musical instruments, from Vietnamese moon-shaped lute (đàn nguyệt), long-necked lute (đàn đáy), monochord (đàn bầu), pear-shaped lute with four strings (đàn tì bà) to guitar, etc. The craft requires artisans to master carpentry and possess keen eyes and acute hearing to produce musical instruments with high-quality sound and an elegant appearance.
Dao Xa villagers use saws and chisels as tools, along with wood and strings as materials for crafting musical instruments. The production process involves multiple meticulous stages, from wood preparation (including selection, sawing, and drying) to assembly, polishing, mother-of-pearl inlaying, etc.
Dao Xa artisans meticulously refine every detail in the process of musical instrument-making. (Photo from the Internet)
In the past, musical instruments were crafted using rosewood for the bodies and necks, tung wood for the soundboard, aged bamboo for the frets, and even python skin for certain components, with the pieces bound together using lacquer. Wood often had to be dried for 2 – 3 years to be sufficiently dry to prevent shrinkage, warping, or cracking.
Recently, despite the assistance of machines in some stages, Dao Xa artisans still manually craft essential parts such as the soundbox, and frets and manually carried out essential steps such as neck assembly, string adjustment, painting and decoration.
One of the most crucial stages in musical instrument-making is sound-check, which determines the precision and quality of the instrument’s tone. Interestingly, Dao Xa artisans may not have deep knowledge of music theory, they possess excellent sound-check abilities thanks to experience passed down through generations and their own natural sensitivity. Thus, Dao Xa musical instruments consistently produce high-quality sound.
The sound-check process is carefully performed by Dao Xa artisans to ensure wonderful sound quality. (Photo from the Internet)
Additionally, Dao Xa artisans showcase their skill in adjusting tonal qualities. For example, instruments crafted for Northern performers specializing in chèo and chầu văn singing tend to have deeper bass tones, while instruments made for Southern performers specializing in cải lương singing feature brighter treble tones.
Hopefully, this article has provided you with a deeper understanding of Dao Xa – a famous musical instrument-making village in Vietnam.
