The artisan said when he was a child, he often accompanied his parents to village festivals. Fascinated with the melodies of the gong, he imitated and learned from performances of local artisans. At the age of 10, he knew how to play the bronze gong and tried other traditional musical instruments. Aged 15, he became the youngest artisan of Wiao A village.
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Artisan Y Won Nie and his hand-made bamboo gong |
In 1989, worrying about the oblivion of traditional cultural values and the “bleeding” of gongs, he joined hands with 10 other artisans to form Wiao A village gong team. The team now has 20 members. The artisan and the gong team have participated in numerous festivals, competitions and won many high awards, particularly in big festivals of the province. The team's gong performances are always highly appreciated. Admirably, since its inception, the team has always kept intact the ancient gongs and drums of artisan Y Won Nie's family during practice and performances.
Apart from preserving the set of ancient gongs, drums, and jars left by his ancestors, eder Y Won Nie has actively taught young people inside and outside the village how to play the gong and made more traditional musical instruments such as bamboo gongs, and flutes.
The artisan recalled that during his lectures, he realized that to play the bamboo gong, children must hold the bamboo tubes with two legs, while one hand holds the bamboo bars on the thigh, creating the rhythm, and the other hand taps on the bamboo tubes. That requires practitioners to sit in one place, not move, and they could not create the rhythm as a bronze gong does. To overcome this drawback and create excitement for practitioners, he researched and crafted a new set of bamboo gongs. On the bamboo tube, he made a small square in the middle to help sound escape when tapped. Then, he tied a bamboo bar along the bamboo tube, ensuring it is some 1cm from the bamboo tube, helping the practitioner hold and tap the bamboo tube. With the new bamboo gong, performers can play and move like playing the bronze gong.
Elder Y Won Nie is trying to complete a full set of bamboo gongs for young villagers to practice the gong lessons of their ancestors. “Many villages know that I can make new bamboo gongs and have ordered them for their children and grandchildren to practice,” he said.
According to Head of the Department of Culture, Information and Sports of Krong Nang district Nguyen Van Vy besides teaching the gong playing and making musical instruments, old Y Won Nie has contributed to the audio and video recording of gong performances and ancient dances of the Ede ethnic minority people for archival purposes.
For his contribution, in 2022, old Y Won Nie was recognized as a Meritorious Artisan.
Translated by Mai Huong