In an era when electronic tools dominate popular music, ancient instruments are being kept alive by small but passionate groups of performers.
One way that these musicians are safeguarding instruments such as the Vietnamese dan tranh, Ireland's bodhran, the khlui flute of Thailand and the Spanish guitar, is by passing on their knowledge to tourists.
Here are four unique instruments you can learn in different corners of the world.
The bodhran
My wife is nailing the rhythm but, try as I might, I just can’t find it. Eamonn Galldubh is instructing me, correcting me, encouraging me, but it’s all in vain because, for me at least, playing the Irish bodhran drum is proving to be a challenge.
A round, handheld drum that almost makes its user look like they’re wielding a shield, the bodhran is so old that there are varying opinions as to when it was invented. There is written proof of its use as a battle drum as far back as the 1600s.
Those early bodhrans are not believed to have been much different to those still commonly used in Ireland’s Gaelic music. Bodhrans typically measure between 25cm and 80cm in diameter. One side is hollow, providing space for the musician to hold the instrument and also alter the tone of its sound by pressing against the goat skin stretched tightly across the other side.
I was probably overconfident when my wife and I began our 90-minute Irish Music Tasters lesson at Waltons New School of Music in Dublin. Perhaps it was because I’m Irish, and foolishly assumed bodhran tunes would come naturally. Or perhaps it’s because the bodhran is a flat surface you hit with a stick. Pretty simple, in theory.
Yet I just could not maintain a pleasing rhythm. Instead, I conjured up a disjointed racket which, come to think of it, probably would have been pretty intimidating in battle.
The khlui flute
Nittaya Ruchiamsin’s slender fingers move nimbly, whether helping her wield a blade, operate a drill or play a wooden khlui flute. The 61-year-old Thai woman handicrafts these musical instruments in her Bangkok home, one of several traditional flute makers in Bang Sai Kai, a historic artisan community 1km south of Bangkok’s famed tourist attraction, the glimmering Wat Arun temple.
While Bang Sai Kai is not well known among foreigners, it’s been a hub of flute production for almost 250 years. That's when this village was first formed by families migrating from Laos, at a time when Bangkok was flourishing and about to become the Thai capital.
A fifth-generation flute maker, Ruchiamsin still uses many of the same techniques introduced to Bangkok by those Lao artisans. She spends up to 10 days carving and engraving a bamboo khlui flute, which then sells for between Dh180 and Dh2,200. This is no ordinary bamboo, either. The wood is gathered from a mountain mythically adorned by Buddha’s footprint in Saraburi Province, 100km north-east of Bangkok.
Ruchiamsin tells me that she and the other flute makers in her community welcome tourists into their homes to watch them work or learn the basics of playing the khlui flute. She played several traditional Thai songs for me while explaining, via an interpreter, the need to move your fingers smoothly when covering or exposing the flute’s tone holes.
My own long, thick fingers make it very hard for me to match her dexterous movements. But the experience of listening to Ruchiamsin play and witnessing her skilled craftsmanship, make it well worth a visit to this little-visited community.
The dan tranh
If I couldn’t play a drum, then I had no hope of mastering a 19-string musical instrument. That was the pessimistic thought that clouded my mind as I got my first look at the dan tranh, one of the oldest instruments in Vietnam.
It was being expertly played in a Hanoi home by veteran musician Nguyen Hang, the Vietnamese woman tasked with giving me a basic understanding of how to operate this large and complex instrument. About 1.1 metres in length, one end of the dan tranh rested on a table and the other on a small wooden stand that lifted the instrument just above the height of her lap.
She shows me how I should first pluck the strings with my right hand, then use my left hand to gently manipulate them. These notes reverberate through the instrument’s long wooden box, producing melodies so gentle and relaxing that they almost make me feel like having a nap.
The dan tranh, which has between 16 and 22 strings, depending on the model, is from the zither class of stringed instruments, which are also popular in Europe and the Middle East. It has entertained emperors, inspired generations of children and shaped Vietnamese music for more than 1,000 years. And the dan tranh remains popular, too, particularly as an accompaniment to a classical female vocalist, or as part of a Vietnamese orchestra. Try it for yourself, and you’ll appreciate the extraordinary skill possessed by these musicians.
The Spanish guitar
The energy and flamboyance of flamenco music have beguiled many a tourist to Spain. I was no different on my first trip to the European nation when I spent an evening enthralled by a show in its spiritual home of Andalusia, in the south of the country.
I was particularly impressed by the middle-aged man strumming up a storm on a Spanish guitar. It seemed like such a fun instrument that I vowed to one day give it a try. And that day eventually arrived. I visited Shine Music School, one of the top guitar academies in Barcelona, to pluck a Spanish guitar under the tutelage of veteran musician Strahinja Sajin.
The classical guitar was invented in southern Spain about 500 years ago and then, in the mid-1800s, the Spanish guitar emerged, which was lighter in construction and produced a livelier, more percussive sound. As Sajin watched on, I cradled one of these instruments.
Gripping its neck with my left hand, I began gently strumming with my right index finger. Within half an hour I was producing a rhythm, of sorts. Sajin smiled, tilted his head and told me I had made a “good attempt” at learning Spain’s favourite instrument.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
Asia Cup Qualifier
Final
UAE v Hong Kong
TV:
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
