La musique des Hmong: Now available online

Eric Mareschal. La musique des Hmong. Paris: Musée Guimet, 1976.

Mareschal's La Musique des Hmong has long been cited as one of the first and most comprehensive sources on Hmong music Laos. Unfortunately, it also also been almost impossible to get. I try every couple of years to get a copy to no avail. There are only a few copies in international libraries and no one is willing to lend it out. I recently found out that Eric Mareschal has uploaded a .pdf of the work to the website Scribd.

For someone like me who is interested in Hmong music and history, this is a pretty monumental event. I've only skimmed the contents, but the amount of detail the book contains is incredible. Mareschal documents secular and ritual songs (including musical transcriptions), qeej performances, and other types of instrumental music. Both Hmong Daer and Mong Leng music is included. The texts of these performances are highly valuable in their own right, but the musical transcriptions hold the potential for an interesting comparison with contemporary practices.

I don't think the full impact of the availability of this text will be realized for quite some time. It will take a while for people to realize it is available and fact that it is in French adds another barrier. Still, I am excited to spend some time with this text to see what it holds.

Chong Moua Lee - ncas maker

A vetran of the war in Laos, Mr. Lee now resides near Seattle where he continues to practice traditional Hmong music. Mark Poss of Mouth Music Press met him through the Folklife festival there several years ago and now sells Mr. Lee's ncas on his website. The audio example provided doesn't sound like a typical 'talking' performance on the ncas (which utilizes vowels and some consonant sounds). But the melody produced by the upper overtones of the fundamental frequency (the low, buzzy sound) is very clear. According to Mark, it takes Mr. Lee 8 hours to make the ncas and 2 more hours to make the case (made from bamboo imported from Laos). Mark also sells ncas from Hmong in Vietnam. These 'dan moi' come in a variety of sizes and tend to be of more delicate construction. Pictures and sound examples are available and make for an interesting comparison with Mr. Lee's ncas.

It's good to Hmong instruments being sold online with respect and credit given to the skilled makers who keep traditional crafts alive. Chong Moua Lee is also featured on the Washington State Arts Commision website in an article about music at the Hmong New Year festival.

From the article:

People also play other insturments at New year as a form of courthsip; the raj, a single bamboo pipe with a reed and the ncas, a tiny bamboo [brass] jew’s harp. Chong Moua Lee learned to play both instruments when he was young. “Youth in the Hmong people, they’re really shy. When they’re falling in love, they’re not going to tell anybody. So they will blow it to give the missing part of your heart. Boys always go at night to talk to girls, and they will use the ncas to communicate through the wall. And it’s not to say in the real words, but to speak in the ncas, so the girls and the boys, they get to know each other and fall in love.”

Lots more articles about Hmong music and culture from the WSAC.

The raj in Hmong oral history

Most first-generation Hmong Americans who play raj learned it before they emmigrated to the U.S. The raj being primarily a tool for courtship, boys and girls tended to learn how to play as teenagers. Here's a brief firsthand account of Hmong coursthip practices in Laos during the 1960s from the female perspective:

The way young men came to see a girl, so that her parents wouldn't know, they just followed her. If she went to get some water, they talked to her by the stream. If she went to work in the rice field, they just came there and helped her do things. If I was working in the rice field, they would help me to work in the field all day! Sometimes they came and played music outside my house at night, playing softly on their flute. If they liked me enough, they sent me a flute they had bought. So I had a flute, and I learned how to play it, but I never played my flute back to any boy. I only played to myself. I didn't really like any of those boys.

From: Xiong, May and Nancy Donnelly. "My Life in Laos." In The Hmong World, edited by Brenda Johns and David Strecker. Yale Center for International & Area Studies: Council on Southeast Asia Studies (1986): 201-244

The Archive of Traditional Music in Laos Project

From the Lao Language and Culture Learning Resources website (from the Center for Southeas Asian Studies - Northern Illinois University): Information about a recent project to document traditional music in Laos, including Hmong music.

From the website:

Begun in Vientiane in May 1999, the project was funded by DFG (German Research Association) and by GTZ (German Association for Technical Development Cooperation). It was affiliated with the Oldenburg-Ostfriesland-Wilhelmshaven in Emden Fachhochschule in close cooperation with the Museum of Ethnology in Berlin. From May 2001, the Phonogram Archives of project is privately funded by Dr. Gisa Jaehnichen. Tel.: 00856-21-251250

Details of the recordings and current holdings:

Up until May 2002, the project made field recordings in the provinces: Huaphan, Luang Prabang, Xiengkhuang, Vientiane, Bolikhamsay, Khammuan, Savannakhet, Salavan, Attapeu, Sekong, Bokeo, and Champasak. The project includes 1123 audio recordings from 25 different ethnic groups, 1690 minutes video recordings, 764 photographs, 135 transcriptions of music and 70 drawings and descriptions of musical public. instruments, which are accessible for the public.

They have made several tapes of this music available online, albeit with limited documentation. The first tape: Instrumental Music in Laos (Selection 1) features three recordings made of Hmong musicians. Each of the following may be streamed with RealPlayer. (Titles written as they appear on the website [i.e. with some spelling errors])

• Track 3: Hmong Lay Folksong: Tueoti / Pii Hmong (Flute) / Xamtai/1999
  
• Track 5: Hmong Khao Folksong: Khuamhak / Toen / Sam Neua/1999
  
• Track 6: Hmong Lay Folksong: Khithot Phusao / Phi Hmoung (Flute) / Sam Neua/2000
  

[Track 3 is actually a raj nplaim performance. Track 5 is ncas, and track 6 is raj ntsia or a similar flute-type instrument.]

While I enjoyed listening to the recordings (which are of fairly good quality), I am even more fascinated by this tiny glimpse into the music and culture of Laos. Besides a few second-hand reports from Hmong Americans I have spoken with, there is very little information about Hmong music from contemporary Laos. Such a recording at least confirms that as recently as 2000, traditional forms of Hmong music were still practiced by Hmong in Laos. It would be more interesting to know the age of the performers: is the practice being maintained by the younger generation or are these older musicians? It would also be interesting to know more about the holdings of the archives, but I have been unable to find any information on the internet.

The rest of the music is well recorded and it is a treat to hear such a wide variety of performances. Definitely worth a listen. (There are three more tapes available at the website.) It's also worth noting that the SEAsite has lots of language and culture information about other countries in the region. Even the Lao website has much more to offer about Lao literature, arts, and folklore.

Qeej on "Music from Thailand and Laos" CD

One track on the CD "Music from Thailand and Laos," titled "Hmong khaen, features a qeej performance. The recording quality is rather poor, but you can hear the jingling of bells as the player moves. Not sure about the details of where the recording was made, but the ablum is available through Calabash Music. Tracks can be purchased individually. The rest of the album seems interesting, as well, and includes music from a wide variety of locations in Thailand and Loas.