The Ca Trù Singer: For Bassoon and Piano (with perucussion)

The Ca Trù music tradition of North Vietnam, also known as hát a dào or hát nói, has a long history. The ensemble consists of a female singer who also plays the phách (known, also, as cai sinh), a percussion instrument consisting of a short piece of resonant bamboo supported on a small bamboo platform which doesn't hinder the resonance, and played with two hard wooden sticks. The instrument is not large. Singing style often has a slightly nasal quality. Another ensemble member plays a lute/guitar-like instrument, the dàn dáy, and the 'spectator' strikes the praise drum, the trông châu. The Ca Tru Singer for bassoon and keyboard with percussion draws on several timbral (vocal and instrumental), melodic, tempo, rhythmic and textural aspects of the tradition