Đàn bầu

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The đàn bầu is a Vietnamese one-stringed zither. Its origin goes back to the 7th century. This instrument is played by plucking the string while touching it lightly with the side of the hand at specific points, producing harmonics. At the same time, the left hand manipulates a thin, flexible rod made of water buffalo horn, which varies the string's tension. This allows for the production of tones between the harmonics, as well as a wide variety of vibrato and ornamentation.

The instrument was originally amplified with a dried gourd (bầu meaning "gourd" and đàn meaning "string instrument"), though today only a small piece of wood in the shape of a gourd placed over the flexible rod remains. Although it was said that "the music of the Dan Bau should be solely for the pleasure of its player", in recent years the dan bau has also been played in orchestra concerts. Originally, the instrument had a very quiet sound, but since the late 20th century nearly all players use electric pickups and amplifiers to make its sound audible to wider audiences.

A nearly identical instrument called duxianqin (likely derived from the đàn bầu) is used in China.