Đông Sơn drum in the context of Red River Delta

⭐ Core Definition: Đông Sơn drum

A Đông Sơn drum (Vietnamese: Trống đồng Đông Sơn, lit. 'Bronze drum of Đông Sơn'; also called Heger Type I drum) is a type of ancient bronze drum created by the Đông Sơn culture that existed in the Red River Delta. The drums were produced from about 600 BCE or earlier until the third century CE; they are one of the culture's most astounding examples of ancient metalworking. The drums, cast in bronze using the lost-wax casting method are up to a meter in height and weigh up to 100 kilograms (220 lb). Đông Sơn drums were apparently both musical instruments and objects of worship.

They are decorated with geometric patterns, scenes of daily life, agriculture, war, animals and birds, and boats. The latter alludes to the importance of trade to the culture in which they were made, and the drums themselves became objects of trade and heirlooms. One of the recurring pattern is the Lạc bird found in the second outer ring and also in the symbolism of Mo (religion). More than 200 have been found, across an area from eastern Indonesia to Vietnam and parts of Southern China.

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Đông Sơn drum in the context of Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a percussion mallet, to produce sound. There is usually a resonant head on the underside of the drum. Other techniques have been used to cause drums to make sound, such as the thumb roll. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.

Drums may be played individually, with the player using a single drum, and some drums such as the djembe are almost always played in this way. Others are normally played in a set of two or more, all played by one player, such as bongo drums and timpani. A number of different drums together with cymbals form the basic modern drum kit. Many drums are played together with other instruments.

View the full Wikipedia page for Drum

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