Dá hai is an art form performed on the folk stage by Nùng people in the eastern districts of the northern border. In the 1960s and 1970s, Dá hai drama had a strong development and many groups performing this kind of drama appeared. Dá hai drama had turned into a Nùng style from a form of puppetry Mộc Thầu Hý, a popular art form at village fairs in Cao Bằng Dá hai drama performs ancient stories, such as Phạm Tải - Ngọc Hoa, Hoa Mộc Lan tòng quân (Hoa Mộc Lan joined the army), Hoa phù dung, Tống Chân - Cúc Hoa, Lương Sơn Bá - Chúc Anh Đài, etc. Dá hai has many tunes, depending on content, themes, and details of characters that performers use—Sai va páo (playful, excited), sli páo, pìn táo (lyrical, romantic), cù táo (sad and mourning). The nhị (two-string fiddle) is always played as accompaniment in Dá hai. On a larger stage, Dá hai drama includes the accompaniment of a small orchestra consisting of nhị bố (two-string fiddle with a bass sound), nhị mẹ (two-string fiddle with delicate sound), cymbal, bamboo flute, and small drum. This track has excerpts of characters who, despite broken love affair, should not to be too sad but hope for a better future.

This solemn piece belongs to the series of seven Nhạc pieces. The complete version consists of thirty-eight four-bar phrases. The lyrics are about parents’ inmost feelings and their reminders to the daughter. This musical piece is played by the cò (two string fiddle) and the kìm (moon-shaped lute). The kìm, a plucked string instrument, has two strings. It is made of wood and has a flat and round resonator. On the surface, the gauges are attached. It has a long neck with nine frets. The rest three frets are on the surface. The two silk or nylon strings are tuned at a perfect fifth interval. The players use the left hand to press the frets and the right hand to pluck the strings. The instrument can be plucked using a fingernail or a bamboo or plastic plectrum. The cò is a bow stringed instrument with two iron strings tuned to a fourth or a perfect fifth interval. The body of the instrument is cylindrical and the top surface is covered with snake skin. The neck is made of wood and does not have frets. The bow is strung with horsetail. The players use the left hand to press onto the neck to create pitch and the right hand to bow.

This song includes two melodies Nam xuân (twenty phrases) and Nam ai (twenty-eight phrases). Nam xuân, Nam ai are two out of three Nam pieces belonging to the twenty principle pieces. The piece takes on melancholic and deliberate characteristics. This musical piece is played by the bầu (monochord), the kìm (moon-shaped lute), and the violin. The bầu, a plucked string instrument made of wood, has a long rectangular resonator. A small arm made of bamboo or plastic is put through a gourd cover and attached to the resonator. At the end of the resonator, a metal or wooden peg is attached. The instrument has a metal string and has no frets. When playing the monochord, the musician creates overtones by lightly pressing the nodal points along the metal string. The violin is a western instrument that has some modifications to its strings when being used in Tài tử orchestra. For information about the kìm, please refer to the description for track 2.

Paglami-lamihan Soundscapes 2: Music by National Living Treasure Uwang Ahadas and the Ahadas Family Ensemble  Traditionally played solo in the rice fields after planting the palay and until the flowering stage. The kwintangan kayu is made of five graduated logs of manakayan tree (Shorea almon Foxw) and one piece of bamboo. These are arranged on top of a tree or set up on the ground and played continuously by different musicians day and night. Recording Credits Producer NCCA-Intangible Cultural Heritage Unit Audio Engineer Froilan Malimban Studio Fastgen Media Productions Year Recorded 2011

This song was sung in twinning ceremonies or festivals. The instrument, accompanying this song, is nung pa bil, a wind instrument with a reed. Nung pa bil is made of a hornless bamboo section with the length of thirty centimeters. One end with a reed with the length of two centimeters is separated from the section. On its body are seven holes drilled two centimeters from each other. Only men play this instrument.

Ng’ngốc is the name of the Mnông ethnic minority, referring to the Jew’s harp. Ng’ngốc is a thin bamboo piece with two crossing lines cut in the middle to create two sides of an isosceles triangle. The bottom side is located at the instrument body. This triangle is the reed of this instrument. T he performer puts this instrument between his two lips without touching his teeth. His left hand keeps this instrument steady, and the right one shakes the instrument very slightly to create sounds inside his mouth. Changing the shape of his mouth will create some overtones, different from the sound created by the reed. The sound from this instrument is soft and slightly cracked.

Ala flute is an aerophonic instrument, free-vibrated reed branch. Ala flute is made of a hornless bamboo section with two open ends, fifty centimeters in length and two centimeters in diameter. A small hole is pierced at one end to attach a rectangular box with reed. Three pressing holes in a straight line but slanted an angle of 90˚ toward the box with reed are pierced at the other end. Ala flute is played in daily activities and usually played as solo or to accompany love-exchange singing. In performance, the players hold the full reed part in his/her mouth. Different from the aerophonic instruments, players inhale to play ala flute. When inhaling, the thumb of the right hand is used to open and cover one end of the sections, the fingers of the left hand are used to press the three pressing holes as playing common flutes. The ambitus of the ala flute is an octave.

O think of the nailed wooden boards\nOr the shaking bamboo bridge that's hard to walk on\nIf it's hard to pass then mother is here to lead\nYou're on the path to school, I'm on the path of life\n\nLullabies (Ru) within the family environment has a hypnotising function, where it's used to ease the child into sleeping. Southern Vietnam (Nam bộ) lullabies was formed and sustained through the many layers of Nam bộ culture. The environmental ecosystem and culture have given it a distinctive form that is expressed through lyrics, melodies, and rhytms.

The goong is a plucked stringed instrumentmade of a bamboo section. Its two ends have nodes. Its length is eighty centimeters and its diameter is five to eight centimeters. In some places, people tie a dry gourd to this instrument to increase resonance. The goong can have from eight to eighteen strings, but nine to twelve strings is the most popular. Each string produces one sound. To play this instrument, the instrumentalist puts the bottom of this instrument against his stomach and puts the head of this instrument in front of him to create a 45˚ angle. Two little fingers support the instrument and the rest pluck it. The goong instrument is only for men. It imitates the sound of the gong set. While gongs are allowed to be played only in some special occasions, the goong instruments can be played in anywhere in the Central Highlands.

B’roh is a plucked cordophonic instrument made of six parts: the resonator, body, frets, strings, tuning pegs, and gauge. The resonator is made of a dry gourd that is cut on its two ends. The big end usually has the diameter of over ten centimeters, and the other has a diameter of five centimeters. Its body is made of a bamboo section with the length of one meter and a diameter of about eifht centimeters. Small wooden pieces are fixed to one end of the body as the gauge and to the other end as tuning pegs. The body has four or fie frets. B’roh includes two strings, which are tuned to the fifth interval. One of them is used to play drone part, and the other is used to play melodic part. The b’roh is for only the male. The instrumentalist puts this instrument in front of him and plays it while sitting. He wears a bamboo nail on his right forefinger to pluck strings while his left fingers press the frets. At the same time, the instrumentalist covers or opens the big end of the resonator with his stomach to enrich sounds. The ambitus of the b’roh is wide, about two octaves at mediant register.

According to the census data of 2009, the Thái ethnic minority in Vietnam had a population of about 1.5 million people, making them the third populous group in Vietnam, mostly residing in Sơn La and Điện Biên provinces. Thái people have a rich treasure of folk culture such as myths, poems, hát khắp folk songs, xòe dance, and bamboo pole dance. The tính tẩu is a typical musical instrument of Thái people. The tính tẩu is used to accompany the ritual singing, especially in the Then ceremony of the ethnic minorities like the Thái, Tày, and Nùng. In addition, the tính tẩu is also used to accompany love-exchange songs and the xòe dance of Thái people. The tính tẩu is a plucked stringed instrument made up of a head, neck, resonator, surface, bridge, and strings. The neck and the head are made of a piece of wood with a total length of about eighty to ninety centimeters. There are two tuning pegs. The round and thick resonator is made from the cover of an old gourd. The instrument surface is covered with bamboo. The bridge is a piece of bamboo with grooves for the strings to fall into. The tính tẩu has between two and three strings depending on each region and on musical functions.

According to statistics data in 2009, the Hmông people in Vietnam had a population of over one million people, making them one of the larger ethnic minorities in northern Vietnam. The Hmông reside mostly in the provinces of Hà Giang and Lào Cai. They have diverse folk music and folksongs. The khèn (or also known as kềnh) is an aerophonic instrument made up of six bamboo tubes of different lengths. These tubes are put through a wooden resonator. The upper part of resonator is small, connecting to another bamboo section that forms a blowing pipe. A small bronze reed is attached at the part put through the wooden resonator on each horizontal bamboo tube. The shortest and the longest bamboo tubes have two parallel reeds, producing unison sound. Pressing holes are outside the resonator. The player covers the pressing hole of the section and then blows air into it to make the reed vibrate and produce sound. Each tube creates a different sound depending on the length and size. The Hmông playing and pressing techniques include clapping, tremolo, and staccato as well as simultaneity, chord, and harmony. Kềnh of the Hmông people is a polyphony instrument with a bit cracked sound. The register of Kềnh is about an octave. The Hmông people blow the Kềnh during entertainment activities, at funerals, or on the way to the market. Traditionally, the instrument is only for men to accompany singing.