Iu Mien Double-Headed Drum (Bamboo)

The Iu Mien pang is an unusual two-headed drum crafted from a large bamboo section carved with lengthwise slits, and measuring approximately sixty centimeters. The player holds this light drum in one hand where the middle bamboo joint narrows and rotates it so he can alternately tap each end—one covered in red cloth, the other in black—with the other hand in a slow, elegiac rhythm.

The precursor of the Iu Mien pang two-headed bamboo drum, as well as the dzoe two-headed wooden drum, is the narrow double-headed long drum, wang du, played by some Yao groups in China’s Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi Provinces. Constructed of hardwood, covered with calfskin, and tapering in the middle, the hefty wang du may vary in size from eighty to one hundred and twenty centimeters long and eighteen to twenty-three centimeters in diameter. The Chinese Yao perform on the wang du during the Long Drum Dance, observed on the anniversary of P’an Hung, founding father of the original twelve Yao clans.

The Iu Mien of Southeast Asia observe the fee ong kong ha ceremony, a tradition now all but disappearing, as a family seeks merit to restore health to an infirm relative or to memorialize a parent after death. Three musical instruments—the hao dong ngou flute, diang ga clapper, and pang drum—are expressly crafted and played for this occasion, never to be heard again once the ceremony concludes.

Before these instruments can be sounded, an animal sacrifice and a special ceremony must be conducted. The all-night ritual then ensues. As the shaman enters into trance, a son of the deceased performs ancestral melodies on his flute, while other family members play a percussion accompaniment on the clapper and bamboo drum. The rite ends the next morning by burning the hao dong ngou, diang ga, and pang so ancestors can play them in the spirit world.

Ethnic Group: Iu Mien

Local Name: Pang

Type: Double-headed Waisted Drum

Class: Membranophone

Tuning:

Age: 2008

Materials: Bamboo, cotton

Dimensions: 60 x 5 dia. cm / 23.6″ x 2″ dia.

Location:
Ban Huay Chang Lod
Phayao, Northeast Thailand

Owner / Instrument Maker:
Loong San On, Dzat musician and instrument-maker

Catalog Number: 5953