Musical Atlas: Thailand

various artists compilation - Musical Atlas: Thailand

This is a compilation of music from the Thailand province of Chieng Mai. The cover above is for the long-ago reissued CD version. The post is for the LP version. Just like with Musical Atlas: Cambodia, I borrowed this and had to return it so I was unable to snap a picture of the album cover.

Excerpts from the liner notes:

Liké: Introductory Piece

The liké is a traditional theatre form, now becoming obsolete, in which music and dancing are the most important factors. The musical accompaniment is provided by an instrumental ensemble called piphat, the Thai version of the Khmer pinpeat orchestra. It consists of two xylophones, ranad ek and ranad thum, two sets of small knobbed gongs placed in circular frames tuned an octave apart, gong wong yai and gong wong lek, a keyed metalophone, ranad ek lek, two oboes, pi nai, and several percussion instruments: a pair of barrel drums, khlong thad, a horizontal double-headed drum, taphon, and a pair of small cymbals, ching.
The introductory piece heard on the present recording is performed while the audience is arriving.

Plasat Vai

This type of music, which is performed during religious processions, shows a very distinct Chinese influence. The scale employed, however, is one of those on which Thai music is based. In addition, the instruments are found only in this region. The ensemble is made up of three soeung lutes with three strings, two of which run in double courses while the third is a single string, tuned a fifth apart, each soeung being pitched an octave below the preceding one, a six-holed khluy bamboo flute, a two-stringed fiddle of Chinese origin, the so-u, which was undoubtedly assimilated to South-East Asian music several centuries ago, a pair of large cymbals, chhap, a pair of small cymbals, ching, and a horizontal double-headed drum, khlong.

Hay Ya Ret

This ensemble, which is called kruang say thai doeum, <<>>, resembles the Khmer and Laotian ensembles even more closely. The melodies played by this ensemble are thought to date back to the old kingdom of Laos at the time when it occupied the northern part of Thailand. It may be compared with the North Laotian orchestras that play at weddings and some Cambodian ensembles that perform magic music and music for entertainment. The scale is similar to that of Khmer traditional music. The ensemble consists of two double-stringed fiddles, so duang and so-u, a zither, khim, these three instruments having a distant Chinese origin, a khluy flute, and a percussion ensemble made up of small single-headed drums always played in pairs, thon and ramana, and a long double-headed drum, khlang khek, of Malayan origin. This ensemble generally accompanies entertainment songs or courting songs. In earlier times it was used to accompany the reception of the guests at wedding ceremonies.

Tracklisting:

Side I

1. Piphat Orchestra of Plo Sieng Pieng Ensemble - Liké: Introductory Piece {24:15}

Side II

1. The Ritual Orchestra of Va Nantaram Monastery - Plasat Vai {8:28}

2. Krung Say Thai Doeum Orchestra of Chieng Mai Sankhit Ensemble - Hay Ya Ret {12:46}

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