Image: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain / CC0)
TL;DR: Đọi Tam drum village (Đọi Sơn commune, Duy Tiên, Hà Nam) is a craft village over 1000 years old, famous for the saying 'buffalo hide, jackfruit wood, strike little, sound much.' The secret to its distinctive drum sound lies in the perfect combination of old buffalo hide, old jackfruit wood, and the craftsman's tuning skill when stretching the drumhead. The village works year round but is busiest before and after Tet, when spring festivals take place across the country.
What is the story behind Đọi Tam drum village, more than a thousand years old?
Nestled at the foot of Mount Đọi, in Đọi Sơn commune, Duy Tiên district (before July 2025), Ninh Bình province (before July 2025 this was Hà Nam province), Đọi Tam drum village is considered one of the rare craft villages in Vietnam that has preserved both the birth and death years of its patron saint. According to tradition, in the spring of 987, hearing that King Lê Đại Hành was about to visit the Mount Đọi area to perform the Tịch điền ceremony, the two brothers Nguyễn Đức Năng and Nguyễn Đức Bản felled a jackfruit tree in their garden and used buffalo hide to make a very large drum to present to the king. The Tịch điền ceremony is a ritual in which the king himself ploughs the first spring field to encourage farming. According to the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, in 987 King Lê Đại Hành ploughed the tịch điền field at Mount Đọi. The story of the two Nguyễn brothers felling the jackfruit tree and making a drum from buffalo hide to present to the king is a village legend, separate from the year 987 recorded in the historical chronicles. When the king went down to the field to plough, the drum sounded like thunder, which led to the two men being honoured as Trạng Sấm. The ancestor Nguyễn Đức Năng (925-990) is worshipped by the villagers as the Second Thần hoàng at Đọi Tam communal house, a national architectural and artistic relic.
Over more than a thousand years, the Đọi Tam drum has not been merely an ordinary object but has become an indispensable part of the spiritual and cultural life of the Vietnamese people. From the battle drum that urged the troops on, the drum of the official hall where people cried out for justice, to the drum of the village festival and the drums worshipped in communal houses and pagodas, each drum carries within it the breath of history and the sacredness of traditional ritual. Đọi Tam village is also where the two largest Sấm drums in Vietnam were made, along with the festival drum set for the grand ceremony of the 1,000th anniversary of Thăng Long, Hà Nội.
Table summarising the materials, stages and characteristics of the Đọi Tam drum-making craft according to the content of the article.
| Category | Material or stage | Technical requirement | Sound characteristics or role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo hide | Hide of an old buffalo | Thick and tough, dried immediately upon purchase on a sunny day | |
| Processing the buffalo hide | Scraping off the outer layer, stretching, sun-drying, kiln-drying, cutting into circles | Suitable for each type of drum | Helps the hide stay tough, not rot or decay |
| Drum shell | Old jackfruit wood | Curved, with plenty of heartwood, sawn into curved staves fitted tightly together, with no joined staves | |
| Bưng trống (heading the drum) | Stretching the hide over the face of the shell, fastening with bamboo nails | Adjusting the tension, assessing the musical note within a drum set | The most decisive stage, demanding a keen ear |
| Trống trường | Resonant, echoing sound | ||
| Trống chèo | Deeper, more subdued sound | ||
| Trống Sấm | Reserved only for strong men with much experience and consummate skill | ||
| Diverse products | Worship drums, chèo drums, trống trường, mid-autumn drums, decorative drums |
What are the two core materials that form the soul of the Đọi Tam drum?
What sets the Đọi Tam drum apart from other drum villages is the unique combination of two traditional materials: buffalo hide and jackfruit wood. The local saying "Buffalo hide, jackfruit shell, strike little, sound much" perfectly sums up the sound characteristics of this type of drum.
How are buffalo hides selected and processed?
Đọi Tam craftsmen usually go to buy buffalo hides on sunny days, and once bought they must be dried immediately. The hide chosen must come from old buffaloes, thick and tough. The hide-processing procedure requires many meticulous stages. First, the buffalo hide is scraped clean of its outer layer to make it thinner, then it is stretched, sun-dried and kiln-dried. This makes the hide tougher, so that it does not rot or decay over time. Once the hide is dry and meets the requirements, the craftsman cuts it into circles sized to suit each type of drum.
What is special about the art of making drum shells from jackfruit wood?
Unlike many places that use other woods or cowhide, horsehide or goatskin, the Đọi Tam drum keeps to the tradition of using old jackfruit wood for the shell. The jackfruit wood is bought from many places such as Hòa Bình, Thanh Hóa and Nghệ An, and the requirement is old wood that is curved and has plenty of heartwood. The craftsman saws the wood into many different curved staves and fits them tightly together to form a closed circle. One immutable rule is that the drum staves must not be joined, because this would directly affect the sound quality. If the shell is not fitted tightly and is not round, the person heading the drum cannot produce a beautiful drum that sounds up to standard.
What is bưng trống, and why is it considered the pinnacle of refinement?
If the two stages of choosing the wood and preparing the hide are considered equally important, then bưng trống is the most difficult and decisive stage, requiring the craftsman to have a keen ear to sense the sound. Heading a drum is not simply a matter of stretching the piece of hide round over the face of the shell and fastening it with bamboo nails.
A skilled craftsman must know how to adjust the tension of the hide so that when struck, the drum sounds exactly as required for each type of drum. Each type of drum has a different sound requirement: trống trường needs a resonant, echoing sound, while trống chèo requires a deeper, more subdued sound. The person heading the drum must also assess which musical note his drum will occupy within a drum set, so that they blend in harmony. After heading is finished, the craftsman completes the product by smoothing, painting and drawing decorative motifs as required.
How is the craft village faring in modern times?
Today, Đọi Tam drum village has around 500 people making drums, including 5 artisans and 30 skilled craftsmen. Drum-making is not merely a livelihood but has become a source of pride, a "flame" passed from one generation to the next. According to rules from long ago, the drum-making technique was passed down only to the boys of the village; boys of about 12 or 13 began learning to make small drums, and by 16 or 17 they could follow their fathers and older brothers to make large drums. The Sấm drum in particular is reserved for strong men with much experience and consummate skill. Drum-making goes on all year round, but orders tend to pile up before and after Tết, because most spring festivals across the country take place during this period, forcing many workshops to run at full capacity.
Not limited to the domestic market, Đọi Tam drums have reached out internationally, exported to countries such as South Korea, Japan and China. Artisan Phạm Chí Khang, Chairman of the Đọi Tam Drum Production and Trading Association, says the craft village is always exploring and creating in order to diversify its products, from worship drums, chèo drums, trống trường and mid-autumn drums to various kinds of decorative drums in many new designs, meeting the tastes of modern consumers.
Besides production, Đọi Tam drum village also combines with spiritual tourism and craft village tourism. Thanks to its advantage of being near famous relics such as Long Đọi Sơn pagoda and the area where the Tịch điền festival takes place, visitors here can not only admire the ancient beauty but also have the chance to experience firsthand the elaborate drum-making process, from choosing the materials to hearing the first drumbeat ring out. This combination is gradually helping the craft village develop sustainably, preserving a unique cultural beauty of the nation and bringing the image of the Đọi Tam drum closer to international friends.
Which famous drums has Đọi Tam drum village made?
Đọi Tam drum village is known for two Sấm drums presented as the largest in Vietnam and for the festival drum set used at the grand ceremony of the 1,000th anniversary of Thăng Long, Hà Nội (2010). These are products tied to major cultural and historical events of the country, helping to affirm the position and reputation of the craft village.
Overview article on the topic: What traditional Vietnamese crafts are there?
