The Co-Ho people are an ethnic group living in the southern part of the central highlands of Vietnam. They speak a Mon-Khmer language. Co-Ho are animists who make a division between two types of supernatural spirits: the first type, with human characteristics, is called "Yang" - these are gods which are worshipped during ceremonies and important rituals to prevent from bac luck, which is represented by the second type of spirits, called "Cha" = devils. The music of Co-Ho people serves different rituals and thus there are different styles of gong music, played on both flat and knobbed gongs. Usually an ensemble consists of six gongs. On this recording, the number of gongs ranges from 2 to 6. On the occasions where music is performed in duo(such as first track), a small ritual is conducted as a means to show respect to the ancestors. This particular track is quite rare and consists of improvisation and call&response. If one of the gong players is unable to follow the other one, the player who fails to follow needs to drink rice wine from the vase. For this album, two locations for 2 groups in total were visited. One of the groups had forgotten how to play gong music: they had a new member and they had not practiced for a while, being busy with their daily lives (track 6&7). The other group played gong music well: this ensemble was constituted of members of the same family, who often meet and play together (track1-5).
1.Duet gongs – Chiêng đôi (2gongs)
2.Sa phip – mừng lúa trổ bông – Celebrate the rice in bloom (3gongs)
3.Ro gom nac – Welcome song - Chieng prao (6 gongs)
4.Dăn Biap Dăn Goh – Pray for food (5 gongs)
5.Par kring – pray for health (4gongs)
6.Ching k'tinh (6gongs)
7.Ching me (6gongs)
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Leaders of Gong Ensemble: Pier / Kơ Điệp
Field Recording: Yasuhiro Morinaga
Translation: Phuong Cao
Text Edit: Brecht Ameel
Design: Jeroen Wille
Production: Kingdom of Archipelago
Production Support: S.E.A. Sound / Japan Foundation Asia Center
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品番: CON5003
税込: 1500円
形式: CDデジパック
JAN: 4582237839401