Mr. Ho Bang was born in 1952 in Hue and moved to Da Nang when he was young. In his 70 years of life, he has more than 40 years of experience making bamboo flutes.

Bamboo flute maker Ho Bang

“In addition to talent, bamboo flute makers are required to have a great passion and hard work because making the music instrument goes through many difficult stages, requiring elaboration and meticulousness" Mr. Bang confided.

Recalling the early days of making bamboo flutes, Mr. Bang said in the past, when there was no modern machinery, he listened to the sound of ‘LA’ of a boy scout trumpet with his ears to find out the other notes.

Then, he was presented with a Japanese sound meter by his overseas Vietnamese friend, helping him get the flute's pitch with international sounds. But now he can download software to his phone to adjust the sounds.

In 2011, Mr. Ho Bang transferred the technology to Mr. Tho Phong - a younger brother of Mr. Le Thai Son's student in Ha Noi who is famous for making bamboo flute.

Not only bamboo flutes, Mr. Ho Bang has learned about and made many different types of flutes, including such as horizontal flute (wooden flute), Meo flute, gourd flute, vertical dongxiao flute and Shakuhachi flute.

According to Mr. Bang, each type of flutes has its own strengths. Compared with other types of flutes, the Japanese Shakuhachi flute has a higher and brighter sound, which is mainly used to play Zen music.

A completed bamboo flute takes a lot of effort and time by going through many different stages such as flute billet processing, straightening a flute body, drilling holes, and painting.

In which, the stage of flute billet processing is the most difficult because it determines the quality of the flute, which is free from termites and molds.

“Making a flute is like to have to please everyone. Therefore, flute makers must have such perseverance!" Mr. Bang emphasised.

In the past, there were few bamboo flute players. Over the past 2 decades, the flute-playing movement has started to grow stronger through bamboo flute clubs.

The advantage of the bamboo flute is that it is easy to use and less expensive than other musical instruments. However, learning is not easy because other musical instruments just need to be struck to make a sound, but with bamboo flute it is not so.

“Recently, many young people, especially students, have visited me to learn to play the flute. Most of them have already had basic knowledge, so I just teach more techniques for the best blowing. Each teacher has own method. I always think how to let new students learn how to play the flute quickly so that they don't feel discouraged. The flute player must have a strong breath. If you want to have a healthy breath, you must have good lips, and music theory must play according to the sound" said Mr. Bang.

In recent years, due to his old age, Mr. Bang's flute-making work somewhat slow down. Fortunately, in the family, his youngest son Ho Canh Lan is still working hard to follow his father's profession.

Mr. Bang said his youngest son has been making flutes for more than 10 years. With the help of his son, Mr. Bang still sometimes makes flutes for those who love him. Before COVID-19 broke out, Mr. Bang received a lot of orders from foreign customers. Mostly, foreign guests prefer Shakuhachi flute.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG - Translating by M.DUNG