Later, four more Lithophone were discovered in Song Be and Khanh Hoa. It results from the researches that Lithophone existed between 4,000 and 10,000 years ago.At the end of the 1980s, 200 stone lithophone slabs had been discoveredin Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa, Dong Nai, Ninh Thuan, Binh Phuoc, Lam Dong, andPhu Yen Provinces. Each set is comprised of between three and 15 bars.The the oldest extant set, first discovered at Ndut Lieng Krak in DakLak Province in 1949, is now kept in a French museum. Most of the othersets are exhibited throughout Vietnam. They were quarried from a placenearby where the rock is made of petrified wood and were chipped andshaped to tune them to a perfect pentatonic scale. They can still beplayed, by hitting them with wooden mallets, to make a sort of hugelyantique stone marimba.

Forsome ethnic groups in Tay Nguyen or Central highland, the stone slabsare sacred and preserved as family treasures played during grandceremonies for the gods. For others, the stone slabs are used forsetting up crop-protection devices.

Pleaseonce attentively listen to the sound of Vietnamese Lithophone and youwill feel the resonant music – so special sound from this kind ofinstrument.