(VOVWORLD) - Ro Cham Khanh, a young man of the Jrai ethnic group in the Central Highlands, has a passion for traditional musical instruments and is helping to revive his homeland’s traditional culture.
 Ro Cham Khanh. (Photo: vov4.vov.gov.vn) |
Born and raised in the mountainous border area of Duc Co district, Ro Cham Khanh can play many musical instruments, including keyboard, guitar, drum, T’rung bamboo xylophone, panpipe, and flute.
Aware that the Jrai do not have many musical instruments, he began to make a lithophone, a xylophone made of rock, to accompany songs of the Jrai.
“Each musical instrument has its own sound. The sound of the lithophone echoes in an open space, calling Mother Nature,” said Khanh.
Ro Cham Khanh travelled from forest to forest to search for materials to make musical instruments. The traditional lithophone of the Central Highlands is made from carefully chosen stones. Khanh says stones of different sizes produce different sounds and the maker must have a good ear for music.
Khanh plays his lithophone for different occasions in his home village and teaches local children to play it. He also encourages young people to play their traditional musical instruments as well.
A Siu Thu of Duc Co district said, “I taught myself music. When I met Khanh, I learned a lot from him and developed a passion for traditional music”.
Khanh, 31, is an active member of the Duc Co district Culture and Sport Center.