We love the sound of Chinese New Year. Be it the joyous crash of a gong ringing in the new year or the cheerful babble of a chorus of cheongsam-ed songstresses, there is nothing quite like the music of prosperity and good will.
Yet every year brings something new and every year a surprise. I thought I’ve heard every tune of the festive season already, recycled and repeated and remixed, from half-ancient Chinese chanteuses to freshly-minted boy bands and girl groups, whatever the flavour of the month.
That is, until I stumbled upon twenty-four little drummer boys.
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Imagine you this: twenty-four large Chinese drums laid out on a platform. Twenty-four drummers clad in dragon yellow and auspicious red. And then twenty-four pairs of hands pick up their twenty-four pairs of heavy drumsticks. And silence. A prayer and a single breath.
Then it begins.
An orchestra, a percussive storm. A thousand songs booming and blossoming over the tapping of taut skin, and a single legend running all along like a dragon, like an emperor roaring. It’s a symphony, it’s a story. It’s the best damn music I’ve heard for the Lunar New Year; so rousing, so strong.
These are the 24 Seasons of Drums.
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Devil proudly tells me that this 24-Season Drums (二十四節令鼓; Èr Shí Sì Jiélìng Gǔ) was created by Mr. Chen Wei Chong from Foon Yew High School, i.e. Devil’s high school in Johor Bahru. A Malaysian invention that has seen accolades and followers from all round the world, from Japan to China.
The number twenty-four represents the agricultural seasons in the Chinese Farmer’s calendar. Each drum carries the name of a specific season painted in calligraphy – from The First of Spring (立春; Lìchūn) to The Great Chill (大寒; Dàhán).
Naturally, this meant we tried to re-enact some of the prodigious energy by beating on some drums ourselves. Not the 24-season drums but the more manageable Drums of Wealth, Prosperity, Health and Peace.
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So we weren’t professional drummer boys. Still, we sure had fun banging on them drums. Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!
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Copyright © 2011 Kenny Mah Ying Fye. Pictures by Devil CK & Kenny Mah.
Kenny Mah believes in the good in people. He has been blogging for over ten years. No, his hands aren't tired. Yet.
Indeed, 24 seasons drum is one of the great ‘invention’ and icon of Malaysia. There is a team in my previous workplace also, but when they went for inter-school competition they got ‘defeated’ bu Foon Yew team :’-(
@alby: That is great that your previous company had a team too, and there’s no shame in losing to the original Foon Yew team – after all their late master/teacher was the one who invented the 24-season drums.
Such bright brilliant colors – i luv! Wld hv loved this drum performance, I would! Any more performances?
@Pureglutton: Oh, I certainly hope so that they have more performances – this was at Pavilion KL. My guess is that there will be a few more leading up to the actual days of Chinese New Year.
By the way, I just noticed that you ‘act-cute’ in the last photo! XD
@alby: Where got “act” cute? Is cute ma, no meh? Hehe.
The sound of the drums
Beats in my soul
As the sound of my heart
Beats in my chest.
Two sounds, one beat
The heart beat of my life
The drum beat of my soul.
Two sounds, one beat
Makes me whole
Guides the path
That is my life.
Poem Courtesy of Jake George.
hiya… didn’t go out much for CNY shopping this year :( most of the time at home looking after the baby!! So didn’t get to experience the holiday rush! maybe next year?
Ohh lovely colours from the drums and the dragons. It would be great if you had a video of the drummers in action! Focusing on their muscular arms and the sweaty body, that is.. haha
@jemima: Drum, drum, drum… that’s the beat of my soul indeed. Two hearts, one beat? The sound of love, indeed.
@Leo (thule): Maybe missing the holiday rush is a good thing. I can imagine spending quality with a newborn to be far more meaningful. And after all, if the festive season isn’t about family, then what is?
@iamthewitch: A video of the drummers? That’s actually an excellent idea. Maybe I should film it the next time I get to catch this fantastic 24-season drums troupe in action.
Till then, I’ve googled and found a video of another performance, this one by the Foon Yew School 24-season drum troupe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxhWQ4WiF7E
May the lunar new year come with a big bang filled with all good tidings :p
@babe_kl: And may the new year bring you and your family plenty of good tidings too… in abundance! Hooray!
yerrrr, the opposite of my sentiments. if i had been shopping at pavilion at that day, i’d have run as far away as possible from the cacophony. i know drums are supposed to have this primal attraction, but gimme the sound of a saxophone instead anytime :D
great pics though. very pretty colors. and a few pretty drummers too :P
p.s. speaking of pretty people … so sad, no oscar nom for andrew garfield after all…
@Sean: Oh, hush! You just haven’t met the right drum yet, you.
Once you meet the right drum (and the right strapping young drummer to go with it), I bet you will change your tune, so to speak.
A few pretty drummers? You mean Devil & me, right? Hehe.
P.S. Noooooo!!!! Been so busy today haven’t even checked the nominations announcements…
What are you talking about?? You and Devil look like naturals!! Now, we just need a live performance to confirm that you guys sound like naturals too!
@minchow: Natural? Aye, we probably sound like natural disasters, we do!
You, on the other hand, my dear, are quite a gifted musician, yes? Would love to see you perform live!
Hardly little, those drummer boys! While waiting for the pictures to load, I envisioned cute little primary schoolchildren in colorful Chinese samfoos! :D
And that huge rabbit reminds me of Dr Hamsterville.
@gfad: Well, Devil and I used to be cute little primary schoolchildren once, though not in colourful Chinese samfoos (at least, not me, ahem).
combine the 24 drummer boys with the 12 girls band from china, i’m sure it;s going to be a magnificent , thunderous performance!
@lena: Wow, 24 drummer boys and 12 girls from a Chinese band and it’s be 36° of hot, hot, hotness! (I love how I do my math, haha.)
were those just photos taken elsewhere or really a performance there? i wld like to watch them in real..hey, the fortune rabbit is so cute.. err and you too, though there’s no show of your rabbit teeth!
@lena: Those were photographs were taken on-site while the performance was going on. Live!
And my rabbit teeth? More like horse teeth since I’m born in the Year of the Horse. Hehe.
wow, live! from dong dong chiang to dong, dongdong, dongdong, dong, dong!! hey, very appropriate, you’re mr “mah’ too!
Well, in all honesty, there are several prettier drummers in that troupe :D
I wouldn’t mind meeting a strapping guitarist. That’s my favorite (musical) instrument :P
P.S. And no nominations at all for Never Let Me Go!
@lena: Haha, yes. In fact Mr. Mah, Sr. and Mr. Mah, Sr. Sr. are all born in the Year of the Horse too. So that’s three generations of Mah’s sharing the same Chinese zodiac sign as their surname.
And we sure had a lot of dongdong-dong’s that day. Devil kept beating on the Drum of Wealth and I took two turns on the Drum of Health at least. Greedy little drummer guys, we were.
@Sean: How beastly of you. You could have at least flattered us with a beautiful lie. *chuckles*
Your favourite instrument – a guitar? Wouldn’t have pegged you for a fan. Do you play the guitarist, uhm, I mean the guitar, then?
P.S. Never mind. Good films do not need awards or nominations, just folks who appreciate their magic.
what can i say. i prefer men in uniforms :D
alas, i’m … what’s the phrase. instrumentally challenged? my fingers lack the musical touch. i have guitar envy. i want to be able to strum a tune, to play and sing extreme’s ‘more than words’ in my bedroom. i’ve tried learning, but i lack the ability to remember chords, identify them, coordinate my fingers, etc…
p.s. bah, humbug. please shower me with awards if i ever make a movie :D
@Sean: Same here with musical instruments. But it’s okay, cos I make music in the bedroom and what symphonies do I conduct too…
*la la la la la la la*
P.S. Award for Most Scenes with Cockles and Mangosteens?
hmmm, i’d imagine it’d be less of an epic, sweeping opera, and more of a requiem :D
p.s. oscars don’t have that category! but i suppose we should aim for best original screenplay, and not best sound mixing :P
p.p.s. eh, i commented on ‘the four faces’ also but the comment still not approved yet. such sluggish service today :D
@Sean: Then you imagine wrong. *la la la la la*
P.S. Oscars got Best Attempt by a Carnivore to Become a Vegetarian for A Day or not? You might win that for your efforts on Monday. Hehe.
P.P.S. Harlo. I got meetings all day lah. Some of us work for a living, okay? *chuckles*
both of u ka ka cau cau lah… hehe ^^
@mimid3vils: We where got kacau? We were assisting them… consider us the auxillary drum duo… The Wonder Boys? Hehehe…
i really love the sound of chinese drums! it’s so intense and incredible….the sound goes straight to my heart. nice pics! (as usual!)
@luuworld: Ah, another fan of Chinese drums! Devil and I went back last night and beat the drums again, even more loudly and intensely this time, hehe.
I love LOVE Chinese drums. Had wanted to take it up when I was a child, but my grandpa wouldn’t let me. (He said something about me being a girl.. But what that has to do with anything still baffles me today..)
I went to an event the other day where they also had a Chinese drums performance. But this was special. The drummers were all deaf. Can you believe it? They couldn’t hear the magic they produced, but they were so precise, so together, so on-the-dot. Absolutely beautiful performance, that was. Unforgettable.
@Michelle: Well, your grandpa may be shocked and scandalized by the fact the 24-Seasons Drums do welcome and encourage female drummers too. In fact, many of the little “boy” drummers in the second collage above are actually girls.
And deaf drummers? That’s discipline and dedication, man. Incredible.