T'rungis one of the popular musical instruments closely associated with thespiritual life of the Bahnar, TSedan, Giarai, Ede and other ethnicminority groups in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It is made ofshort bamboo tubes differing in size, with a notch at one end and abeveled edge at the other. The long big tubes give off low-pitchedtones while the short small ones produce high-pitched tones. The tubesare arranged lengthwise horizontally and attached together by twostrings.

History

The creation of this special folk-musical instrument is an hymn of labour and spirit of the Vietnamese ethnic groups for living and developing.
When human were living in wild ages, they had both to work for livingand to struggle with nature for existence. At that time, they did nothave lot of entertaining activities after hard working days. Stone drumappeared much later when primitive society developed with divineworship custom. Therefore, it was a great joy when the first T'rung was formed.

Today’s role

Amongfolk-musical instruments made by bamboo in Vietnam , T’rung isappreciated as a favourite and original one. It is a communally symboland typically Vietnamese. The sound is lively beautiful. T’rung isalways served for the merry gauds, especially in the Highland tribesWhile flute and pan-pipe are usually used  for expressing love feelings. That is why the Vietnamese ethnic groups called it happy music as it brings all the joyful sounds.
Basically, a traditional folk-musical T’rung is made by the sharpenedbamboo tubes. They are linked on one shelf in order from low to highsound, offering a beautiful sound wave. When creating it, they were aware of different sounds between the small tubes and the big ones. When placing them in the order, they attained great sounds.Each tube speaks "t’rung" when being knocked on. As a result, thisfolk-musical instrument is called T’RUNG. On the shelf, it would behanged over different sound systems according to each user’s need.

Inthe majestic Central Highlands, T'rung is often played afterback-breaking farm work and during evening get-togethers in thecommunal house around a bonfire with young boys and girls singing anddancing merrily. The sounds of the gong and T'rung also mingle togetherat wedding parties and village festivals.

Astime goes by, T'rung instrument has been greatly improved. More tubeshave been added, and at times as many as 48 tubes are arranged in threearrays capable of performing intricate piece of modern music whilepreserving the traditional sound scale. Some players have invented astick notched at both ends for a single hand to produce two sounds atthe same time, heightening the artistry of the instrument.

Vietnam'snational music bands have never neglected the role of T'rung, aninstrument which is original and made of simple materials, but highlyappreciated at performances in the famous musical halls of many foreigncountries.