Traditional Mizo musical instruments are broadly grouped into percussion (striking), wind, and stringed instruments. Although simple compared with the classical instruments of other Indian traditions, they served a central role in Mizo festive, martial, and spiritual life. The Asia InCH Encyclopedia of Intangible Cultural Heritage notes that the hills of Mizoram have long been characterised by a strong sense of music and song manifested in locally made instruments. The Mizo possess six varieties of wind instrument and several types of percussion and stringed instrument.
Percussion instruments Khuang (drum) The
khuang is the principal Mizo drum, made from a hollowed log of softwood roughly three feet long, with both ends covered in animal hide. Preference is given to trees with softness and workability. The hide is soaked in water for several days before being dried in the sun, cut to size, and lashed onto the drum with strips of skin. Sound quality varied with the weather: on damp days the skin loosened, requiring splinters to tighten it further. Drums are classified by size:
khuangpui (large),
khuanglai (medium), and
khuangte (small); an elongated drum is called
kawlkhuang. Historically,
zawlbukkhuang drums were kept in the
zawlbuk (young men's dormitory). Scholars believe the drum reached the Mizo through Burmese cultural contact during the period of the
Pagan Kingdom (9th to 13th centuries), with Chinese influence on Burmese drum traditions forming a further possible vector. The
khuang is the only traditional Mizo instrument that remains in widespread daily use in the 20th and 21st centuries. Once absent from religious ceremonies, it became central to church worship services following its reintroduction during the third spiritual revival. In 1995, the Mizoram Department of Arts and Culture organised drum-making competitions to revive traditional craftsmanship.
Gongs (dar) Mizo gongs appear to be Burmese in origin, likely acquired during the Mizo residence in the
Kabaw Valley during the 9th to 13th centuries AD. The collective Mizo term for gong is
dar, and all principal varieties of gong in Mizo use are classified under this broader category. •
Darkhuang (also
zamluang) -- The largest Mizo gong, made of brass, with no standardised size. The biggest known example, measuring 31 inches in diameter, is held in the
Mizoram State Museum. The
darkhuang was a luxury item owned by few individuals and was sometimes used as a means of exchange or demanded as
bride price by the parents of a prospective bride. Beyond music, the
darkhuang was sounded to convey messages, to call village meetings, for church congregations, and as an alarm for impending raids or wild animals. Since the late 20th century, the
darkhuang has been used in the
Mizoram Legislative Assembly to signal quorum calls at the opening and close of each session. •
Darbu -- A set of three medium brass gongs producing three distinct notes, typically played by three specialists, one to each gong. In some cases an expert ties two gongs to his body with rope and strikes them against one another, producing three distinct rhythmic notes simultaneously. These gongs were typically owned by a chief or an influential village elder and accompanied dances including
Khuallam and
Cheraw. •
Darmang -- The smallest gong, used to keep time within the ensemble; it produces two different sounds depending on how it is held. It has no musical effect without the support of other gongs or instruments, but is essential for rhythmic timekeeping during traditional dances. •
Darbenthek -- A pair of equal-sized brass gongs clapped together, typically at festivals.
Other percussion •
Bengbung -- An indigenous
xylophone-like instrument consisting of a series of flat wooden bars producing three musical notes, typically played by girls at leisure. The instrument has fallen into disuse and few contemporary Mizo know how to play it. •
Talhkhuang -- A larger variant of the
bengbung, made of three curved wooden pieces of varying depth so that the sounds produced when beaten differ in note. It was brought out only for special occasions, such as the erection of memorial stones at the village
lungdawh (entrance platform). •
Sekikhawn -- A hollowed
mithun horn beaten to keep time for the
darbu and
darkhuang, widely used in the Chai dance. It can be beaten against any object or another horn and provides rhythmic support to the gong ensemble.
Wind instruments •
Rawchhem -- A
bagpipe-like instrument made from a dried gourd into which nine bamboo tubes of varying sizes are inserted; five tubes are grouped on one side of the gourd and four on the other. The player blows into a central mouthpiece and produces notes by covering holes with the fingers. Also known as
rewchhem, it has fallen out of everyday use and very few Mizo play it today. •
Tawtawrawt -- A bamboo
trumpet assembled from successively smaller tubes fitted within one another, with a dried gourd fitted on the widest end. This continues typically until the last tube is approximately the size of a forefinger; it was blown to signal one's location in the
jhum (shifting cultivation field) or for amusement. •
Phenglawng -- The traditional Mizo
flute, made from a bamboo tube open at both ends with a notched blowing hole and three finger-holes on the opposite end to produce distinct notes. The
Mara call it
siaramang chanongpa. •
Tumphit -- Three bamboo tubes of different heights tied together in a row; the player blows down each tube to produce a separate note. The
tumphit was compulsory during the
rallulam ceremony. •
Buhchangkuang -- A flute made from a rice stalk or reed, generally played by girls. •
Hnahtum -- A thin, tender leaf folded and placed between the lips, producing sound when blown; the volume depends on the force of the player's breath.
Stringed instruments •
Tingtang (
tringtrang) -- A one-stringed bowed instrument played in a manner similar to a
violin. A bamboo shaft is fixed to a hollow gourd covered with a dried animal bladder; the string is made from the fibre of the
Malay sago palm (
thangtung) and is drawn with a thin bamboo bow. The word
tingtang now colloquially refers to the guitar in Mizo usage. :A folk tale traces the tingtang to a blind woman named Chhunruii, who learned the craft from a feared instrument-maker named Thinglanga during the Mizo settlement in the Kabaw Valley; because of Thinglanga's fearful reputation, no one else would approach him. Chhunruii's wandering performances with the instrument became known as
Chhunruii Zai, and after her death the tingtang was further popularised, until it declined into disuse with the introduction of the Hawaiian, Spanish, and electric guitars. •
Lemlawi -- A bamboo instrument related to the
jew's harp family, differing from it in shape and size. •
Tuiumdar -- A children's instrument in which a bamboo tube between two joints is carved so that strips of the outer covering are raised as strings and placed over the nodes inside it, played like a small guitar. == Choral music and tonic sol-fa ==