V id e o e x tr a c t 1 (Thinh B6ng - Doc - Lifu Thuy - Sai - Trong Chien - Phu Van Dan)
The sp irit is 'in v ited ' to possess the m edium w ith the Thinh Bong ('Inviting The Spirits') m elody. Once the m edium , possessed by the T h ird M andarin, throw s off th e scarf over h e r head, th e assistants dress h e r as th e sp irit a n d the m usicians change to th e Doc m elody. Conventionally, Doc is u sed w hen th e m ed iu m is being d re sse d in th e clothes o f a n o n -m o u n tain sp irit. In the case o f some m a n d a rin spirits, such as th e T hird M andarin, PhO Binh m ay be p erfo rm ed in ste ad o f Doc, b u t this is the exception ra th e r th a n th e rule.
The Luu Thuy an d Sai m elodies are always perform ed w hen th e m edium p resen ts incense to th e a lta r a n d waves incense respectively. The m ed iu m th e n takes two swords a n d 'dances' w ith them . For the sw ord d an ce th e b a n d plays Trong Chien ('W ar D rum s'), w hich does n o t have a melody; on occasions Lifu Thuy is played (see Ritual 1, video extract 9), b u t the inclusion o f the large d ru m (trong I6n) in this p a rtic u la r b a n d enables Trong Chi§'n to be played. W hen th e m edium finishes th e sw ord dance an d sits down, th e b a n d perform s Phu Van Dan. O ther Phu melodies, such as Phu Noi, m ay be sung a t this p oint, b u t Phu Van Dan is the one m ost com m only u sed (see video ex tract 9).
Video extract 2 (PhO Van Dan - Cao Mon's Melody)
The change fro m Phu Van Dan to a new m elody w ritten by th e b a n d 's singer a n d p ercu ssio n ist Cao Mon involves a ra re exam ple o f in te rv e n tio n by the m edium . Unlike the tra n sitio n in Ritual 1 from PhO Van Dan to Phu Noi, w hich was in itiated by th e m usician Pham Van Ty (see video extract 10), in Ritual 2 th e m edium req u ests th a t th e b an d change the melody. The m ed ium tells h e r assistants, who pass the message on to the band. One o f th e assistants can be h e a rd saying "thay do" - "change". According to th e m oon-lute p lay er an d singer Dang Cong Hhng, the m edium asked the b an d to m ake th e 'singing m ore h a p p y ' (hat vui len). In response to the m edium 's re q u e st to sing
happily, th e b a n d p erfo rm a song know n as Ldi Cao Mon, Cao Mon's 'Way' or 'M elody'. The m edium shows h er ap p reciatio n for Cao Mon’s M elody by strik in g a cu sh io n w ith h e r h a n d a n d giving the b a n d m oney.
V id eo extra ct 3 (Cao Mon's M elody - Phti Noi/Phu Gian)
A fter singing Cao Mon's M elody for n early five m inutes, th e sin g er a n d p ercu ssio n ist Cao Mon slows dow n th e tem po, w hich in effect signals Dang C6ng Hung to begin playing the m oon-lute p a rt for Phu Noi. In this case it is the b and, ra th e r th a n th e m edium , th a t initiates the change in m elody in o rd e r to en su re th a t the songscape is a b u n d a n t (phong phu) a n d in terestin g (hay). In the ex tract Cao Mon sings PhO Gian. Phu noi has also b een listed w ith Phu Gian because, alth o u g h it is n o t included in the video extract, Hung sings Phu Noi in-betw een Cao Mon's verses of Phu Gian. As Phu Noi a n d Phu Gian are closely related , th e a lte rn ate verses of the two m elodies do n o t re q u ire m ajo r a d ju stm en ts in th e m oon-lute o r p ercussion accom panim ent.
Video ex tract 4 (Phu Noi/Phu Gian - Don)
Dang Cong Hung changes th e m elody from Phu Noi/Phu Gian to Dbn. T here is no change in th e rh y th m o r tem po w hen the song tra n sitio n is m ade
(alth o u g h th e tem po of Dbn gradually increases), so th e change in m elody does n o t n eed to be co -o rd in ated w ith th e m ain percussionist, Cao Mon. Dbn is usually p erfo rm ed a t th e e n d o f a possession in response to a n assistan t picking up th e re d scarf to be throw n over the m edium 's h ead (see video ex tract 1 1 ). Hung does n o t change to the Dbn m elody because h e notices p re p a ratio n s for th e sp irit's 're tu rn ', b u t he does an ticip ate th a t th e in c arn atio n o f th e T h ird M andarin will sh o rtly come to a close. In fact, Hung tu rn s o u t to be m istaken because the possession continues fo r som e tim e (see video ex tract 5). However, Hung's change to Dbn is n o t a n 'e rro r' because th e use of Dbn is n o t rigidly restricted to the closing m om ents o f a possession.
Video ex tract 5 (Dbn - Cao Mon's Melody)
Having realised th a t the possession is n o t ab o u t to finish b u t is in fact going to co n tin u e for som e tim e, the b a n d changes from Dbn back to Cao Mon's Melody. Unlike m o st tran sitio n s betw een songs, w hich do n o t re q u ire verb al com m unication, Dang Cong Hung tells Cao Mon to m ake th e song change p rio r to it taking place. Hung suggests the change because Dbn has co n tin u ed for n early five m inutes a n d th e sp irit has n o t y e t ’re tu rn e d 1.
Video ex tract 6 (Cao Mon's Melody - Kieu Duong) and video ex tract 7 (Kieu Duong - Cao Mon's Melody)
The tran sitio n s betw een Cao Mon's Melody a n d Kieu Duong th a t o ccu r d u rin g video extracts 6 a n d 7 are carried o u t by Cao M6n. He initiates these changes to pro v id e v ariety a n d in te re st (see video extract 3): the tran sitio n s are n o t m ade in resp o n se to th e m edium 's m ovem ents. A lthough Kieu Duong m ay be sung fo r any m a n d a rin spirit, it is usually only used for th e Fifth
M andarin. Cao Mon said he sang Kieu Duong in-betw een two re n d itio n s o f his own m elody (w hich is d ed icated to the T h ird M andarin) because th e two songs have sim ilarities w hich m ake them 'well suited' (hop).
As Cao Mon's M elody is quite closely related to Kieu Duong, th e ad ju stm en ts to Dang Cong H ung's m oon-lute accom panim ent do no t re q u ire p re p a ratio n . In fact, Hung said th a t before he h a d le arn t th e m elody p ro p erly , h e h a d m istakenly th o u g h t Cao Mon h a d used Kieu Duong as th e basis fo r th e new m elody. Cao Mon's Melody an d Kieu Duong b o th use the th re e -b e at rh y th m (nhip ba) a n d are in approxim ately the sam e tem po, so th ere are no su d d en rh y th m ic ch an g es.
Video extract 8 (Cao Mon's Melody - xe gfa hoi cung)
As in Ritual 1 (video ex tract 12), th ere is an increase in tem po sh o rtly before th e sp irit leaves the m edium 's body to increase the excitem ent. The b a n d can tell w hen th e sp irit is ab o u t to 're tu rn ' because one o f th e
assistan ts picks u p th e re d scarf, w hich will be throw n over th e m e d iu m ’s h e ad w hen the sp irit 're tu rn s ' to its 'palace'.
Once th e re d clo th is throw n over the m edium 's h ead m arking the sp irit's 're tu rn ', th e m usicians sing the p h rase xe gfa hoi cung ('th e sp irit's carriag e re tu rn s to th e palace').
Ritual 1: Third Mandarin
Video ex tract 9 (Luu Thuy - Phu Van Dan)
The m edium 's sw ord dance is accom panied by the Luu Thuy m elody. At some ritu als Trong Chien is played in stead of Luu Thuy (see Ritual 2, video ex tract 1). Once th e m ed iu m sits dow n a n d starts drinking rice wine, th e b a n d changes
to Phu Van Dan, w hich is th e usual m elody th a t is p erform ed a t this p o in t in the ritu al (see also video ex tract 1).
Video extract 10 (Phu Van Dan - Phu Noi)
The change from Phu Van Dan to the closely related Phu Noi is m ade by Pham Van Ty, th e m oon-lute p lay er a n d singer. The decision to change songs was Ty's: th e change does n o t coincide w ith a p articu lar action of th e m edium .
PhD Van Dan a n d Phij Noi b o th use th e sam e th ree-b eat rh y th m (nhip ba), so the p ercussio n ist does n o t have to resp o n d to the change in song. The bam boo flute p lay er is im m ediately aw are o f th e tra n sitio n betw een songs, b u t it so u n d s like h e is initially 'fum bling’ to fin d th e rig h t pitch es to accom pany th e vocal line. The o th e r in stru m e n t in the ensem ble, the six teen -strin ged zith er, is only play ed in te rm itten tly a n d joins in a fte r th e Phu Noi m elody has already been established.
Video extract 11 (Phu Noi - Dbn)
The change from Phu Noi to Dbn is in itiated by Pham Van Ty w hen he is aw are th a t th e sp irit is a b o u t to leave th e body of th e m edium . Dbn, w hich literally m eans 'fast', has a faster tem po th a n Phu Noi an d is used to increase the m om en tu m at th e close of the possession. The b a n d can tell w hen the sp irit is ab o u t to 're tu rn ' because one of the assistants picks u p the re d scarf, w hich will be th ro w n over th e m edium 's h ead w hen th e sp irit ’re tu rn s ' to its 'palace'.
Video extract 12 (Dbn - xe gfa hoi cung)
To increase th e excitem ent ju st before th e sp irit leaves the body o f the m edium , th e b a n d gradually speed up the tem po of Dbn. Before th e sp irit 're tu rn s ', th e m ed iu m 'tra n sm its' (truyen) th e following phrases: "I observe th e h e a rt o f the m aster o f th e tem ple, I observe the h e a rt o f th e ritu a l specialist, I observe th e h earts of all th e disciples in the cosmos, I observe ev ery o n e’s h earts" (Quan chilng tcim cho thu nhang, chilng tam cho phap sur, chttng tarn cho cac ghe vu tru, chifng tam cho bach gia tram ho). W hen the scarf is throw n over th e m ed iu m 's h ead the sp irit leaves the h er body a n d th e m usicians sing th e p h ra se xe gfa hoi cung ('th e sp irit's carriage re tu rn s to th e palace').