The ''đàn đá'' is a

lithophone A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a rock or pieces of rock which are struck to produce musical notes. Notes may be sounded in combination (producing harmony) or in succession (melody). It is an idiophone comparable to instrume ...

played by ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, in the provinces of Lâm Đồng, Đắk Nông, Đắk Lắk, Gia Lai, and

Kon Tum Kon Tum is the capital city of Kon Tum Province in Vietnam. It is located inland in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, near the borders of Laos and Cambodia. Historically, this area has been inhabited by the indigenous Ba Na people, whic ...

. These provinces are also home of the space of Gong culture listed in

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. The word ''đá'' means "stone" in Vietnamese, đàn is instrument. The term đàn đá is of recent origin among Vietnamese musicologists, it had also been referred to as a đàn goong, a Vietnamese

gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...

. Several stones of different sizes are placed in a row. The player then uses a stick to knock the stones, each of which produces a different tone. The stone music sounds like the rhythm of the streams and bird songs, and therefore goes well with the surrounding landscape. One of the oldest stone musical instruments ever discovered was found in this area, dating back more than 2,000 years ago. It is also played by Viet people in '' nhạc dân tộc cải biên'', a form of modern composed classical music, which is often performed for tourists.

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Video

Modern composition played on a ''đàn đá''
Struck idiophones Keyboard percussion instruments Pitched percussion instruments Vietnamese musical instruments Lithophones {{Vietnamese musical instruments