AO, Parkinson-affected Vietnamese man crafts drums from bomb shells

A former software engineer who worked overseas, Khoa is now an AO victim and ailing Parkinson’s patient, turning bomb shells into unique music gifts for locals and tourists in the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town.

Pham Nhu Khoa, 56, who lives in Hoi An Ancient Town, a popular tourist attraction in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam, has so far crafted nearly 400 ‘trong troi’ (aerial drums) from bomb and bullet shells.

Born in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City now), Khoa moved with his family to France at the age of nine.

Wartime scars never cease to haunt the young boy, who suffers birth defects resulting from the toxic defoliant Agent Orange sprayed by the U.S. military over vast swathes of Vietnam.

Following his university graduation in France, he worked as a software engineer with several companies in France and later Israel.

At 40, Khoa came down with the debilitating Parkinson’s disease, which rendered him too weak to work.

He later quit his job and left France for Hoi An Ancient Town, which he has been head over heels in love with for its landscapes and tranquility.

Drums from the sky

Back in Vietnam, Khoa hangs around markets and scrap stores buying bomb and bullet shells before having them melted and shaped into drum moulds at the Phuoc Kieu bronze casting village, located in Dien Ban District.

The artisan revealed that it takes painstaking work to build a ‘trong troi.’

The most important thing is a refined appreciation of sound to create notes on the drum surface.

Each drum has its own note set, which ranges from Indian, Chinese, and Japanese to Vietnamese Central Highlands.

“If the notes do not sound properly, the drum will go to waste,” he said.

After repeated failures, his efforts finally paid off when his first ‘trong troi’ came into being in early 2013.

The percussion instrument, which measures around 20 centimeters in diameter and adopts an Indian note set, was crafted from B52 bomb casings.

The drum produces refined, bell-like sounds just as he wanted.

The hard-earned success has inspired him to build more drums which come in a wide range of shapes, sizes and note sets.

All of his drums, which he names ‘trong troi Hoi An’ (Hoi An aerial drums), boast eight to 32 notes, Khoa revealed.

The middle-aged man limping with shaking hands has been a common sight in streets and cafés around Hoi An Ancient Town, where he also plays music on his prized items.

Amazingly, his hands, which tremble uncontrollably due to Parkinson’s disease, move deftly on the drums to produce haunting melodies.

“[Khoa’s] ‘trong troi Hoi An’ emit eerily compelling sounds and tunes, which vary in pitch and tone and deeply move audiences,” Ivanov Shapova, a Russian tourist, remarked.

Intrigued tourists have insisted he build some for them to take to their country.

He has crafted and sold to tourists from around the world a total of nearly 400 drums, which fetch US$400-1,500 each.

Khoa has also been invited to perform on his hand-made instruments at different venues in France, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Vo Phung, director of the Hoi An Center of Culture and Sports, said that Khoa and his drums have added to the allure of Hoi An Ancient Town.

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