High Quality Traditional Vietnamese Electric Dan Bau ++

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High Quality Traditional Vietnamese Electric Dan Bau ++:
$99.99

TEMPORARILY NOT AVAILABLEstill have some with small defects but craftsmen is preparing new ones, so please come back laterThe Vietnamese Traditional Monochord Dan BauDàn Bâù is a very popular instrument in Vietnam. This instrument gives sounds which look like the inflections of the human voice

Presentation:Formerly, it was the instrument of preference of the itinerant blind musicians. Description: compound of a flexible stalk in horn slightly bent back and provided with a wooden resonator.The steel rope is stretched out between sleeve and the wooden ankle.The resonance chamber withdraws in two to facilitate the transport.

To play, of the right hand, the musician it holds a stalk of bamboo about 8 to 12 cm long between the thumb and the other fingers; the sharp edge of the same hand touches the rope the precise, distant places of sleeve of a length equal to half, to third, to quarter or to fifth part of the total length of the rope. With the headland disentangled by this stalk of bamboo, the musician affects the rope and releases it immediately. With the left hand, exercise a pressure on sleeve from left to right or in the inverse direction to make decrease or increase the tension of the rope and so make ornaments.

+++JACK+++Length : +/- 112 cm when extendedPearl shell motifs may differ slightly from the one in photographsComes with a soft case, plucking stick and a second string.IMPORTANTThis Dan Bau has been made by one of the last craftsman master (and we think the last one who produces quality items by using good wood). It is really a nice and professional high quality dan bau. His family is producing traditional instruments from generations, help us to keep this wonderful craftswork alive and encourage him to continue.
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Fairly Traded we ensure that the maker is well paid for his work Price: 99.99 USDA great opportunity -Retail price in a shop is over 350 USD
+ Postage fees from Vietnam :
Safe Packaging with customs declaration and identification numberUSA + Worldwide shipping : 49.99 USD
WE ACCEPT PAYPAL, INTERNATIONAL MONEY TRANSFER BUT NO PERSONAL CHECK !If different objects are bought, we will always do our best to limit postage fees !!!Forour conditions, multiple purchase discounts or to receive moreinformation on our others models (Dan Moi mini, Dan Moi Bass,...) feelfree to contact us.Wikipedia Informations :The đàn bầu (đàn độc huyền or độc huyền cầm) is a Vietnamese monochord. While the earliest written records of the Dan Bau date its origin to 1770, many scholars estimate its age to be up to one thousand years older than that. A popular legend of its beginning tells of a blind woman playing it in the market to earn a living for her family while her husband was at war. Whether this tale is based in fact or not, it remains true that the Dan Bau has historically been played by blind musicians. Until recent times, its soft volume limited the musical contexts in which it could be used. The Dan Bau, played solo, is central to Vietnamese folk music, a genre still popular today in the country. Its other traditional application is as an accompaniment to poetry readings. With the invention of the magnetic pickup, the usage of the Dan Bau spread to ensembles and also to contemporary Asian pop and rock music. Now, electronics designed for the electric guitar are sometimes employed with the Dan Bau to further expand its tonal palate.

Originally, the Dan Bau was made of just 4 parts: a bamboo tube, a wooden rod, a coconut shell half, and a silk string. The string was strung across the bamboo, tied on one end to the rod, which is perpendicularly attached to the bamboo. The coconut shell was attached to the rod, serving as a resonator. Now, the bamboo has been replaced by a wooden soundboard, with hardwood as the sides and softwood as the middle. An electric guitar string has replaced the traditional silk string. While the gourd is still present, it is now generally made of wood, acting only as a decorative feature. Also, most Dan Bau now have modern tuning machines, so the base pitch of the string can be adjusted. Usually the instrument is tuned to one octave below middle C, about 130.813 Hz, but it can be tuned to other notes to make it easier to play in keys distant from C.

Playing the Dan Bau is simple but requires a great deal of precision. The pinky of the right hand gently taps the string at one of seven commonly used nodes while the other fingers pluck the string using a long plectrum. The nodes the pinky taps are the notes of the first seven overtones. So the pinky plays Flageolets, similar to what guitar players do at the string positions above the octave (1/2), the perfect fifth (2/3), the perfect fourth (3/4), the just major third (4/5), the just minor third (5/6) and two tones not appearing in the Western scale: the septimal minor third (6/7) and the septimal whole tone (7/8). With the left hand, the player can push the flexible rod towards the instrument using the index finger to lower the pitch of the note, or the player can pull the rod away from the instrument with the thumb to raise the pitch of the note. This technique is used both to play notes not available at a node as well as to add vibrato to any note.

The duxianqin, found in southern China, is nearly identical to the Dan Bau, differing only sometimes in materials. The reason for the parallel structure of these two instruments is probably because the Dan Bau was brought over when the Jing people, ethnically Vietnamese, fled to China in the sixteenth century.