MAKING MUSIC

Meeting Challenges

Trong chau Vietnam Canadian Museum of Civilization

     

The trong chau is a small drum with two skins that is beaten with a stick. The one shown here is made of jackfruit wood and is covered with buffalo hide. In the past, the audience played the trong chau to accompany a female singer participating in a public competition. This vocal art, which was widespread in the rural areas, where the female singers were recruited and the villagers were the competition judges, has evolved and become more sophisticated. This has distanced it from its original environment.