Similar & Different

Dal:um is a musical duo based in Seoul, who challenges the sonic possibilities of Korea’s most well-known traditional string instruments: the gayageum and geomungo. Ethereal and otherworldly, Dal:um create a compelling soundworld that treasures subtle dynamics and the space between the notes.

Two musicians. Two weighty acoustic stringed instruments. A dialogue between traditional and experimental practices. A melding of both new possibilities and deeply travelled resonances.

Dal:um was founded in 2018 by Ha Suyean (gayageum) and Hwang Hyeyoung (geomungo). Suyean notes that they first met “as members of Seoul Metropolitan Youth Traditional Music Ensemble which we still are in. We both had been pondering and exploring the possibilities of our respective string instruments, and that led us to come together as a team.” While both Suyean and Hyeyoung had been performing Korean traditional music since their childhoods, upon meeting they discovered a shared desire to extend the techniques and boundaries of their instruments and to develop their own distinctive repertoire. The music of Dal:um is the result.

“Dal:um’s literal meaning is ‘keep pursuing something’ and it conveys our passion for music” says Hyeyoung. “In Korean its pronunciation could also mean ‘different’. Dal:um represents the sounds of two similar and different instruments – geomungo and gayageum, and our will to keep pursuing musical dialogues between the two of us.”

When laid flat for performance, the two instruments played by Dal:um appear to be quite similar. However, a closer examination reveals both visual and sonic individualities.