The violin was created in about 4 weeks by Le Tri, a former Captain in Unit 101 of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who trained himself as a carpenter while in the prison camp.
The faces of the violin are made of two 1.5 cm thick pieces of Vang Tam wood, thinned down to 3 mm using a broken glass shard.
The pieces were glued together using glue made from buffalo or cow hide. The violin strings are made of discarded bicycle brake cables, and the bow strings are made of thin nylon wire.
After being caught working on the violin, the creator was first put in solitary confinement for 15 days and then beaten with a hammer, but he was ultimately able to finish the violin and hide messages for his family inside of it when he was released.
