Keeper of 2,000 music instruments

06:30' 26/06/2007 (GMT+7)

Duc Dau is playing a traditional drum VietNamNet Bridge – Though people call him crazy, Duc Dau, who once borrowed 200 million dong just to buy musical instruments, only knows that he has to satisfy his passion for them. Duc Dau can strike one as a son of the mountains, since his 200 sq.m house on Street 2, Ward 7, Go Vap District, HCM City, is crowded with Central Highlands drums, flutes, and gongs. He also hangs pieces of ethnic minority’s brocade all over the house, not the mention his habit of dressing in Central Highlands clothes. Born in 1957, Dau spent his childhood years in Hanoi, where he was drawn toward the beautiful sounds of the monochord and singers of traditional theatre and music. At 13 years of age, he begged his father to make him a monochord and explored it on his own. And in 1974, for the first time, Duc Dau watched a Central Highlands troupe’s performance. It was then the healthy voice of the gongs, and the sweet sound of the T’rung that captivated Dau. So the following year, he applied for the College of Military Arts and Culture. After college, he worked for the Political Bureau Musical and Dance Troupe, and later the Institute of Musical Research, and then founded Phu Dong Band in 1980. Throughout all these years, Duc Dau has had chances to meet and learn from the best experts of Vietnamese music like professor Tran Van Khe or musician Luu Huu Phuoc. And whenever he “smells” talented artisans or strange instruments, he sets out to search for them at all costs. And Dau has many fond memories to tell about his journeys. Once, a family in the Central Highlands province of Dac Lac owned an ancient oak drum, for which Dau offered to pay them VND13million. The family agreed to sell only to change their mind later, insisting on giving him back the money and taking the drum back. So Dau had to stay there for a whole week to persuade them. “I promised them I would protect their drum very carefully. I would love it as I love myself. And they agreed to sell at last. It was their holy treasure,” Dau recalled. The result of all of his wandering is that now Dau has more than 2,000 ethnic instruments falling into 200 types. “When words are all said, it is music that is our way of expressing ourselves, “Dau said, explaining the beauty of musical instruments and his passion. It is in his small house that Dau has once surprised the Australian band The Beatles F2 with his powerful drums, as well as musical experts from UNESCO, who had to exclaim, “These are truly treasures.” Duc Dau is busy these days with many invitations from abroad inviting him to introduce Vietnamese traditional music and instruments to foreign friends. And whenever he goes, his performances receive roaring applause. Two years ago, when he first performed in the US, his own work written for the traditional music orchestra called Stone’s Breath completely won over Senator John Kerry. And a recent trip is a successful journey to Singapore under the World Bank’s invitation. At present, Duc Dau gives 2 performances at noon and in the evening at Rex Hotel every day to serve tourists. And what is his dream now? He wants very much to work with some individuals or groups to open a society where traditional music performances and classes will be delivered to the public, especially the young. (Source: Viet Nam Net)