The treasure of the Ê Đê village in Buôn Mê Thuột

In the heart of the Ê Đê village of Akŏ Dhông, nestled in Vietnam's Đắk Lắk province, 88-year-old artisan Ama H'Loan stands as a living repository of his people's musical traditions. While modern life increasingly encroaches upon the village, Ama H'Loan continues his quiet dedication, meticulously crafting and preserving the instruments and sounds that form the soul of Ê Đê music. His efforts are driven by a profound concern that the "sound of the great forest" might one day exist only in memory.

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If it weren't for people like Ama H'Loan, the younger generation might only see traditional musical instruments in museums.

Accompanied by local villagers, the journey to Ama H'Loan's home reveals a space filled with traditional instruments – đing năm, đing tăk ta, tù và, and čing kram – which he refers to as a "memory bank" of the Ê Đê people amidst rapid change. Despite his advanced age, Ama H'Loan's hands, though wrinkled, move with practiced ease as he demonstrates his craft. He speaks with a mix of pride and sorrow about the dwindling interest among the youth, who are more drawn to modern instruments like the guitar and organ.

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It's very sad. Nowadays, young people know guitar and organ well, but they are gradually abandoning the music of their ancestors. Sometimes I cry because I am old and don't know who will carry it on.

"Sometimes I cry," Ama H'Loan admits, "because I am old and don't know who will carry it on." He recalls a time when the village nights were filled with music, with instruments used for everything from calling people to work in the fields to serenading loved ones. Now, he laments, such sounds are rare. His personal history is intertwined with this cultural preservation; he learned to play instruments at 13, mastered most by 17, and began crafting them at 20.

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Many homes don't have a single musical instrument. Few people still know how to tune gongs. I fear it will all be lost one day.

Ama H'Loan's commitment extends beyond his village. Having worked in youth organizations and provincial cultural departments, he has traveled extensively across the Tây Nguyên region. These journeys have only amplified his anxieties as he witnesses the gradual disappearance of traditional instruments from daily life. He worries that "many homes don't have a single musical instrument" and that skills like tuning gongs are being lost. Even the materials for instruments, like the buffalo horn traditionally used for the tù và (a type of horn), are becoming scarce, forcing him to adapt by using wood, a more challenging but potentially sonically superior medium.

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I tried many types of wood to choose the right one. Making them from wood is harder, but sometimes the sound is even better than buffalo horn.