Hue is famous for the ancient capital of Vietnam under Nguyen dynasty. Traveling to Hue, you can have chances to discover a colorful culture of Vietnam, especially visiting drum making – a unique handicraft – Let’s join a day trip from Hue with Slow Travel to explore how to make a traditional drum.
Drum craft – from a royal musical instrument to traditional handicraft.
The drum is a musical instrument in the Nguyen court musical band. Traditionally, Hue court music developed successfully under Nguyen dynasty and recognized as an Intangible Heritage by UNESCO in 2003. This royal entertainment enhanced artists studied the music and tried to create high-quality drums. Gradually, drum making becomes a traditional handicraft. If you are seeking a handmade drum, just make a day trip from Hue to the workshop of Mrs. Thương in the imperial area. People usually call her with the friendly name “Trống O Thương” (Drum of Madame Thương). O Thương is a daughter of the artist Hồ Khách – a drum player from the court band of Nguyen dynasty. He was a drum making artisan as well. With passion, Mr. Hồ Khách tried to preserve the drum making by teaching for his children. Luckily, Mrs. Thương became the heir although this is not a simple career.
Full Moon Festival – a season for the childhood
Full Moon Festival and drum became the wonderful memory of our Vietnamese childhood. All children are excited to practice drums and lion dancing from the very early days of August. We could wait to see the lion dancing group when hearing the sound of the drum far away. I remember that we saved our money to buy a small lion and drum to practice and play all the season. If you want to discover our cultural festival, joining a day trip from Hue to visit Mrs. Thương workshop, it is an interesting place for your experience in Hue. O Thương’s drum is famous because it has the special sound that others do not. She says that there are many types of drums such as ceremony drums, school drum, and lion dance drums, etc. In this autumn, she is busy finishing drums for the Lion dances festival.
A day trip from Hue to discover the drum craft
It easy to find the branch “Trống O Thương”, it locates at the heart of Hue with ten minutes walking from Imperial City. As a destiny, she learned this craft from his father although this is a hard job. To make a good drum requires great care and expertise in choosing assembling materials. There are three stages to create a drum: leather tanning, drum-barrel making, and drumhead stretching. Artisan Thương uses buff leather to make drum-head. She shaves leather until it becomes very thin then dries it under the sunshine. The drum-barrel is made of jackfruit wood. Stretching a drumhead is the most difficult task that requires artisans’ skill to assess the sound. During a hard job, O Thương still maintain with the handmade craft and hope the young generation can inherit this unique traditional craft.
From a royal court musical instrument, the drum becomes popular in every ritual of Vietnamese culture. We feel grateful for the artisan to preserve this outstanding craft. Join our Kim Long green treasures on a day trip from Hue to explore Hue culture and take time to learn drum craft at a local experience. Let’s make your journey diverse!
