Hai Phuong and Tang Thanh Nam play the zither and porcelain violin.

Many people were quite surprised to see artists perform very emotionally through quite special musical instruments, made from a familiar material: porcelain.

Artist Hai Phuong and artists in the Mai Thanh Son band play the zither, two-stringed fiddle, monochord, flute and drum... made of porcelain - Photo: TTD

Few people expect that from porcelain, artisans can create unique traditional musical instruments, the sound of which is not inferior to instruments made from wood or other materials.

First time making musical instruments from ceramics

After about 20 years from idea to completion, a ceramic company launched six musical instruments.

Among them are five traditional musical instruments such as drums, flutes, erhu, fiddle, zither and an instrument used in Western classical music, the violin.

At first, artisans made easy musical instruments such as flutes and zithers. Then they made very difficult instruments such as violins.

"Making a violin is quite risky and also a challenge for ceramic artisans.

When we started working on it, we found it very difficult, we could not imagine it before. It took 7-8 years to make this instrument, of which 2 years were spent assembling it" - a representative of the ceramic musical instrument artisans shared.

Artist Mai Thanh Son performs with a ceramic drum - Photo: TTD

Artist Hai Phuong (zither) said playing a zither made of porcelain is the same as playing other materials - Photo: TTD

It took hundreds of trials.

To get the perfect musical instruments, artisans spend hundreds of trials using many different methods, especially solving technical problems.

Porcelain is hard, strong and brittle, so it takes artisans a lot of time to research and study to create the right thickness for musical instruments to create vibration and produce harmonious tones.

Ceramic flute for clear sound - Photo: TTD

However, the most difficult part of making musical instruments is adjusting the strings, creating a balance between the thickness and thinness of the instrument to produce the best sound.

The representative of this unit said that they are in the process of manufacturing other musical instruments, including many Western instruments.

Artist Tang Thanh Nam collaborates with foreign artists to play the violin - Photo: TTD

Zither artist Hai Phuong shared with Tuoi Tre Online that a musical instrument that is successfully recognized as a patent often ensures the following principles: creating good sound, beautiful shape and ensuring the properties of the original instrument.

Artist Hai Phuong commented that the porcelain zither has a beautiful shape, almost like an ancient zither. If an ancient zither has 16 strings, this porcelain zither has 17 strings.

"The sound of the instrument is different from that of the wooden instrument. The sound of the porcelain instrument has a very clear sound, can play Vietnamese songs, and shows the technique of the traditional zither.

"Ceramic instruments are not only for performance but can also be valuable home decorations" - artist Hai Phuong said.

Artist Hai Phuong and Mai Thanh Son band perform musical instruments made of ceramic - Video: TTD

Violinist Tang Thanh Nam said he was quite surprised that porcelain could produce sound. Porcelain instruments can weigh twice or more than wooden instruments, and playing them can also be more difficult due to unfamiliarity.

"The good thing about the ceramic guitar is that it can be played without the support of a sound system and still produce good melodies" - artist Tang Thanh Nam confided.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hai-phuong-tang-thanh-nam-choi-dan-tranh-dan-violin-bang-su-20250104160757336.htm