Music in Vietnam

 Our first exposure to Vietnamese music was in the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, where a group of musicians performs and demonstrates the instruments as tourists wander through.  This woman is playing a T'ru'ng, a xylophone made of bamboo and suspended on strings.  It is tuned to a Western chromatic scale and the musician played it with great brio.
We enjoyed the music that we heard.  It was pleasantly melodic and often highly rhythmical.

 At the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, we attended a short concert.  This drummer was excellent.

He also played a kind of xylophone made out of bars of volcanic rock.

 This musician, the leadere of the group, Dinh Linh, is famous, a true master.  He has a website, mainly in Vietnamese, Truc Mai Music.  As it happens, we were just about the only people in the audience, so we had a chance to speak to Dinh Linh after he played.  His English is excellent, he is friendly, extremely knowledgeable (not just a fantastic and versatile instrumentalist), and he explained a lot to us.  He also let us try some of the instruments.
Just by watching him I learned how to produce a sound on the flute that I bought.

 This instrument, which we saw back in the Temple of Literature, is a hammer dulcimer very similar to the Persian santur.

 We found a musical instrument store in Hanoi, and I bought a Chinese flute there.  Here a violin, a ukulele, a mandolin, and a guitar are displayed along with traditional Asian instruments.

 Here are a few more of the instruments they had on sale there.  A web site about the instrumental music of Southeast Asia is a good place to begin finding more detailed information about them.

 Here are two more traditional fretted string instruments, showing the influence of a thousand years of Chinese domination.

 I love musical instruments, and it's clear from the way these instruments are displayed that the owners of this store also love what they sell.

 I guess this temple bell at the Perfume Pagoda qualifies as a musical instrument.

 These drums, hanging in a temple, are apparently taken out and used for various ceremonies.

Here is Judith standing in front of the biggest drum we have ever seen, at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi.  According to our guide, the drum heads are made of elephant hides.