My own version of the vietnamese dan bau
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- The dan bau is a one string zither from Vietnam played with harmonics and bends with a unique technique and sound, I explore this idea to create new instruments. There will be other episodes!
More details about the building process on my Patreon page, you can support the channel and get access to my ebook and exclusive content here:
/ nicolasbras
I'm Nicolas Bras, musician and homemade instruments builder, on this channel you will find tutorials, compositions, building projects, improvisations, live concerts
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Find my music on nicolasbras.ban...
Music :
Nicolas Bras - Guyane, Homemade (album)
Nicolas Bras - Multisoufflant, Homemade (album)
Nicolas Bras - Tama (unedited)
Nicolas Bras - Multi Dan Bau (unedited)
Sandrine Morais, Nicolas Bras : Video edition 
Видеоклипы
of the 972 instruments you've built, this is one of the 11 coolest-sounding ones!
than, it's in my top 34 too!
Which is the top one???😊
@@MatteoBosi76 Your mom in bed
@@NicolasBras ⚠ God has said in the Quran:
🔵 { O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous - ( 2:21 )
🔴 [He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. ( 2:22 )
🔵 And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. ( 2:23 )
🔴 But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.( 2:24 )
🔵 And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally. ( 2:25 )
⚠ Quran
@@NicolasBras please make video about it
That's so awesome. Hope you make even more traditional instruments from other cultures in the future.
oh yes a lot more coming, that's my biggest source of inspiration, and I'll be able to start featurings with traditional buiders, can't wait to show you that!
Something from the same region I reckon might work is a khaen
I would love if you made a valiha 😉@@NicolasBras such an interesting instrument!
Since you have three strings in your design, you could make use of that with some music theory and the harmonic overtone series.
Tuning the strings to A, C# and E you could get an A major scale, but with all those sweet added extensions and non-diatonic notes that the overtone series give you.
Or perhaps C, E and F# would be cool too. I get that tuning all the strings to the same note is the best thing for your music, since it's very melodic (which I love by the way!), but it would be cool to see this instrument used in a more modal ambient context too!
Really cool instrument! The electric version sounds like doing dive bombs with a floyd rose bridge on a guitar! Which seems pretty logical!
Right? Of course I had to rip off Hendrix for this solo
Guitar but it's all pinch harmonics
j'aimerai que tu amméliore ton accent anglais, la french touch est toujours audible.
en tout cas tes vidés sont toujours au top, continue comme ça bonhomme !
This is a traditional musical instrument of Vietnam, my homeland. Thank you for your interest in it
Holy shit. Some one actually renovate our traditional instrument, with respect! Now why I haven't seen this kind of innovation in our country itself is just beyond me.
Thanks to the algorhythm gods and Nicolas for sending this my way. Great sound!
I had the good fortune to travel in Viet Nam about 25 years ago. I encountered a blind busker on a street in Ho Chi Minh City. He had a funky dan bau, with a tin can resonator and a cheap pickup powered by a motorcycle battery into a tiny amplifier of maybe 2 watts. He sang a traditional song while playing. It was so like a Mississippi blues song the hair stood up on my neck. Bottleneck Mekong delta blues!
Subscribed to your site Nicolas. Cheers!
Another sublime build, with such wonderfully expressive sounds. Overtones. Not just for air any more!
thanks a lot!
I was flipping out when the distortion came in at the ending song. Well done. It is obvious the maddening fun you were having.
5:45 damn, this could be intro for a western movie. This instrument sounds so unique...love it :)
The song at the end is quite impressive. Great distortion.
I love the new instrument, but just need to say how awesome that tin-can air bongo is amazing. Such a clear tone from it.
Love this thing too, really useful in studio!
@@NicolasBras As a guitar player I spotted why the pickup didnt sound that great - it should have been at the other end - up by the tin can.
We have a similar technique on guitar - a harmonic is touched with one finger and the string is picked with another on the same hand - the pickup is on the side of the plucking finger, not the harmonic finger
I hereby publicly nominate
Nicholas Bras for a Nobel Prize.
Not sure which category, because this achievement fits several.
MacArthur genius is the kind of award he'd be up for but the competition is incredible, as are the musical instruments and compositions.
that distortion is something else, sounds awesome!
The microtones are amazing on that thing!
Nicolas, you are a massive inspiration to me as a soon to be new instrument inventor. The ease at which you create new instruments truly amazes me. The infinite possibilities of ways to change a sound are just so much fun
Nice! I do recommend going to Vietnam. It's a fantastic country to travel in. There's lots of excellent musicians there, also lots of less excellent ones, but the two times I went to concerts where they used traditional instruments was awesome. As a guitar builder who's been months in Vietnam this video was exactly what I needed. I recommend going through some of the local guitar shops, I found a great acoustic guitar made in HCMC that's better than any mass produced ones I've ever tried. Only issue was cheap frets, but after refretting it's great. This video got you a new subscriber.
that was fun... I was playing harmonica along with you. ;)
Не знаю английский язык, но понял, что речь идëт о музыкальном инструменте, родом из Вьетнама.. этого достаточно - остальное я просто слушал.. короче, я в восторге! 👏🤓
Nicolas, I want you to know that I think what you're doing is really cool! I support you on patreon, simply because I truly wish you to continue creating these obscure diy instruments and showing everyone else how to do the same.
Properly cool stuff
thanks a lot for your support, it means a lot! For sure I'll continue, I got more ideas than ever
I think this is the best instrument you have made so far! Love it, thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks, more dan baus are coming, I really enjoy playing this!
I wonder, does the string on the dan bau really need to be so high in the air at the resonator end? I've thought of building one using a section of pvc pipe, sliced lengthwise to form an arch topped sound box and using a pvc pipe cap for the resonator. Stil have to work out the material for the vertical shaft.@@NicolasBras
Love that !!
Great bit of music at the end too 😊
Ever since I was a little kid, I loved making my own instruments DIY.
So I love your content, it feeds my inner child with joy, and inspiration 🎶🌎☮❤
Thank you for highlighting and enjoying my native country's One and only , most unique instrument, and my favorite instrument ! and your pronunciation of Việt Nam and Đàn Bầu is perfect !
Don't know how I missed this! Well done, sounds great!
Tu m'as hook avec cet instrument... Whaa le son de ouf quand tu claques la disto, et comment tu le fais crier !
ça me donne trop envie de build un truc du genre, merci beaucoup pour l'inspiration !
keep it up !
human proof that we can make this world a better place
I just fell in love. There should be a Decent Sampler for this beauty!
I'll make a really cool virtual instrument for my soundpaint.com instrument series, at the end of my explorations!
That's fantastic! Keep up the great work, highly inspiring and intriguing!
Glad to see a new instrument build! Thank you.
That See you soon, Bye after a few minutes had me. Well played!
sorry!
Have you heard of the undertone series(as opposed to the overtone series)?
It's a really underrated concept, and I feel like it is underutilized in the world of acoustic instruments
Never tried to exploit it, but that could be interesting!
The undertone series is theoretical and doesn’t exist in nature like the overtone series does. That’s why it’s not utilized because it literally can’t be
Hit a tuning fork and put it against a piece of paper. If you do it right, the tuning fork will hit the paper every xth vibration making a tone lower than the fundamental
I love your video so much, very fascinating how you expand the octaves-if you can try experimenting with chords, that will be great as well :DD ! I'm Vietnamese myself, and it is indeed the chief use of artificial harmonics and the whammy-bar-ish rod that made me picked up this instrument :,3 As an instrument that borders the realms of traditional and modern instruments, it produces some cool effects and suitable for various old and new music genres :D A long way coming from its original background as an instrument for Northern Vietnamese minstrelsy (hat xam) and Central Vietnamese poetry recitation (ngam tho Hue)
Thanks! this is my first exploration of this lovely instrument, more prototypes in my head!
Damn, that was awesome! I've always loved the dan bau. It always sounded like the hot, humid vietnamese midday was melting the musical notes! 😂
Bro at 7:35 you perfectly nailed the "lament" vibe of the Dan Bau that all of us Vietnamese adore. Great job 👍
Have you tried it through a wah pedal (or some graphic EQ or compressor)? I found the most challenging part is to calibrate the loudness of each harmonic position, since higher harmonics principally have smaller string amplitude.
You are an absolute inspiration! I first saw the dan bau at a performance of 'water puppetry' in Hanoi. I LOVE what you've done with it!. Rocks with the distortion!! I think this is your best build yet!
Don‘t stop exploring. If a travel to vietnam is needed for that, I support it. Cool idea to have one end of the string be bendable for microtonalities👍 with an calabash instead of the cans I guess the distortion would be softer, as in the brasilian berimbau, and you gain a third articulation (the calabash opening). Nicolas, you need more arms, like an octopus, to play even more articulations 😂. Amazed, every time I return! A master of resonances!
Thanks a lot! I open a shoe box with your collaboration, when it's full I go to Vietnam!
When the bassline kicks in! Super cool idea!
thanks !
Your videos always make me so happy! I showed some friends how to make PVC whistles recently, and since then my DIY instrument collection has slowly been growing. Now it seems I need to get some guitar parts and follow in your footsteps once again :)
I'm glad you are branching out to Vietnamese instruments! You can also just use a marker on the string for the harmonics. Also: use 3 strings tuned a fifth apart from each other (G-D-A), and you can play a diatonic scale on the harmonics.
Good to see you back! Sounds awesome. Another traditional instrument from the same region (thailand/laos) which i think would be cool to see is a khaen, fitting with the pvc instruments.
My mind has been blown. Not only did I learn about a cool Vietnamese instrument, but also, this build and music is awesome!
This first video I've seen of yours earned you a subscription!
welcome!
You are super inspiring 😊 I love the sound of that dan bau.
Thanks!
Nicolas is waaay undersubscribed. Absolutely love this channel
1:04 literally just you showing us how to play it sounded extremely cool
For my 2 cents- best of many cool things you've created. THANKS for sharing it here!
thanks!
I think it's one of my favorite video of the Chanel !!! You really got me on the trip to Vietnam!!!
Hello! I love your creativity, and I’m happy to see you back on RUclips!
Longue vie, M. Bras! Le génie mérite tout le temps que la nature peut lui garantir.
I was just looking at your channel hoping I didnt miss a new video. Glad to see you back!
I'm back for real!
Wow ! You are Some kind of genius!! Love what you are doing. The fact that you make such a cool,expressive instrument out of stuff laying around your house is mind-melting. Do you have any recordings of yourself playing these fantastic instruments? Love to hear that. Meanwhile, please never stop letting your imagination run wild ! And thank you for having the vision to create like you do- it's a truly wonderful thing.
The instrument is very cool and sounds great, but to me the best part is how you put all the sounds together to make a song - love it!
This was transcendental
Great video Nicolas. You were really jamming there at the end. I loved it man. Anybody ever told you that you have a very unique but satisfying personality? Can't wait to see more videos of yours.
Brilliant, as always. Thanks Nic, I really enjoyed this one.
Outstanding! Please make this a series!
Yay a new video! 🎉 I am very hapy to see a new instrument!
Wow! The amount of talent both building and playing the instrument 👏👏👏
Also have you considered somehow adding frets to it? Or using the metal thing they use on resonator guitar to change the pitch
You can use a slide(the metal thing you are talking about )on almost all string instruments
I've recently begun my own sound therapy practice. I've been looking through monochord instruments and found the Dan Bau. That lead me to your video. This "sound" has some incredible potential in the healing arts! Thank you for this. Amazing!
Very cool. Stringed instruments with Note benders are so much fun.
Thank you for all these videos. You showed me you can make amazing instruments from junk essentially. Without spending a fortune, having to go to great lengths to make a “professional” looking instrument or make every little thing 100% perfect. It inspired me to finally actually attempt to build a bass. I lost my job/workshop unfortunately, so it’s at a stand still currently but I made a mini fretless bass. Needs a little tweaking on intonation and string spacing. Some Routing and electronics. Then some sort of finish to go on the whole thing. I surprised myself with the results. I couldn’t believe I made something that actually felt good to play and sounded quite good. Hope I can get my own workshop again soon so I can finish and build more.
Keep being awesome!
thanks, have some fun buildings!
Is there an extended version of this ending sound ? Probbly top 10 into my best sound ever eard O_o
Everytime you post a new vid, it always makes my day! That one was really nice, especially with the distortion~
thanks a lot!
Great to see you back here!
back for good!
@@NicolasBras excellent!
absolutely killed it on this one
Delighted to see a new video!
Excellent! Your way to borrow and transpose different techniques to create an actual instrument, not a big toy for crafty big boy puts this concept (often seen in electronic music) on a whole new plane! You have my biggest thumb up! (and I'm insomniac, so there are many thumb ups at night time^^).
man i hope your channel goes through the roof! very inspiring
It's got do much of a steel guiter vibe that I can almost see the tumbleweed and hear the jangle of spurs😄
Great stuff👍
Thanks! You are such a joyful bad ass
thanks a lot!
I love the distorted dan bau.
It’s so cool.
i love how he makes all the background music
I'm always making things like lap guitars and cigar box guitars and now I have to try and make one of these... Very COOL...
SPECTACULAR!!!!!!! NICOLAS, YOU'RE A GENIUS!!!!!!!!!
What a versatile instrument! Amazing sounds and song❤️
Interesting and fun, thank you!
It seems that the more you improve this instrument, the closer you get to an electric guitar.
Amazing and inspiring! I'm sure that you could have a lot of fun with a bow on this instrument.
Je suis toujours aussi impressionné par la qualité du rendu musical par rapport à la "simplicité " de la mise en oeuvre d'une part et par l'apparente (?) Facilité de prise en main de l'instrument.
Cette vidéo est vraiment très coool. Merci
The is your best video yet, can see and hear you enjoyed making it.
Wonderful playing with your new version of Đàn Bầu. I love your idea and the sound of this instrument as well. I am a Đàn Bầu player in Vietnam, would love to play your Đàn Bầu and play with you one day. ❤
Punaise j'avais plus de notif de ta chaine depuis longtemps, ça fait plaisir de te revoir et entendre !
oui, de retour, beaucoup de chouettes projets pour cette annee
I have not seen the clip yet, but allready gave a thumb up because i am happy to see another video of you :D very nice :)
I saw one of these being played at a street festival in Hanoi last year, and I've been wondering what it was ever since. In the hands of an experience player it sounded kind of like a pedal steel. Such a beautiful and unique instrument, and a awesome video!
Wow! Absolutely superb. I would love to hear more of this composition, what a beautiful sound.
I love watching you make instruments
Glorious.
As ever a true master can craft their own tools.
This is def one of my favorites! So cool sounding.
Your instruments are so cool! I love it. So bizarre and inventively creative. I like.
That's a crazy sounding instrument you've made. I can't say I've heard anything else like it
SOUNDS & FEELS GREAT!
That groove was mesmerizing!
what unique and juicy tone... love the play style man!!
Love the build and the music 😊
This is an incredible instrument. Looking forward to building mine.
ahhh ça me procure toujours autant de plaisir de voir ton travail ! :)
Dam... How?! It was so good already!!! ...and your video had such huge upgrade?! Amazing to see other parts of your process!!! What a beauty!!! And of course! Amazing Art... thank you so much, such an inspiration!!!!
Ahahahahahah!!!! That's what hapens when you express before the end of the video.... This music... ohhhhhh... speachless it's so goood!... You.... Ummm!
That was absolutely incredible. Best thing I’ve e seen on RUclips!!
How very interesting. A great winter project ahead. Thank you.
Love it. Sounds awesome with the distortion. 🤩👍
Danke!