Traditional Cambodian musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical music of Cambodia. They comprise a wide range of wind, string, and percussion instruments, used by both the Khmer majority as well as the nation's ethnic minorities.
- Soldiers carry drums and a shoulder-mounted nipple gong in relief at Angkor Wat.
- Kse diev at Angkor Wat, North Section, 16th Century.
- Khmer gong chimes from Angkor Wat.
Woodwind
Flute
Free-reed
- Sneng (Khmer: ស្នែង) - water buffalo or ox horn with a single free reedphoto
- Pey pok (Khmer: ប៉ីពក) - free-reed pipe[1][2]photo
- Ploy (Khmer: ព្លយខ្មែរ) (also called m'baut) - mouth organ with gourd body and five to seven bamboo pipes; used by Mon-Khmer-speaking upland ethnic minorities
- Ken/Khaen (Khmer: គែន) - free-reed mouth organ used in northwestern Cambodia
- Angkuoch (Khmer: អង្គួច) (also called kangkuoch) - jaw harp made of bamboo or metal
Quadruple Reed
Horns
- Saing - conch horn
Other
- Slek - tree leaf used as a wind instrument
String
Bowed
- Tro (ទ្រ) - fiddle
- Tro Khmer (ទ្រ ខ្មែរ) - three-string vertical spike fiddle with coconut shell body; used in classical music
- Tro che (ទ្រឆេ) - high-pitched two-string vertical fiddle, with face covered with snakeskin
- Tro sau toch (ទ្រសោធំ តូច) - two-string vertical fiddle with hardwood body; used in classical music
- Tro sau thom (ទ្រសោធំ) - two-string vertical fiddle with hardwood body; used in classical music
- Tro u (also spelled tro ou) (ទ្រអ៊ូ) - lower two-string vertical fiddle with a coconut shell body, with face covered with calfskin or snakeskin; used in classical musicphoto
Plucked
- Chapei dong veng (ចាប៉ីដងវែង) - plucked fretted lute
- Kong ring - bamboo tube zither, can play thet drum's part
- Krapeu (also called takhe) - crocodile-shaped fretted floor zither with three strings
- Kse diev (Khmer: ខ្សែដៀវ) or khse mhoy (Khmer: ខ្សែមួយ) - chest-resonated stick zither)photo
- Pin - Cambodian harp, ancient instrument reborn in modern times
Struck
- Khim (ឃឹម) - hammered dulcimer
Percussion
Drums
Gong chimes
- Kong vong toch (also called kong toch) - small gong circle
- Kong vong thom (also called kong thom) - large gong circle
- Kong mon (also called kong mon) - small gong chime shaped curved
Xylophone
Roneat (រនាត)- trough-resonated keyboard percussion instrument; generally played with two mallets and used in Khmer classical and theater music
- Roneat ek - smaller xylophone
- Roneat thung - larger xylophone
- Roneat dek - smaller metallophone
- Roneat thong larger metallophone; no longer used
Gongs
Clappers
- Krap (ក្រាប់) - pair of flat bamboo or hardwood sticks
Cymbals
Woodblocks
- Pan - woodblock
- Nay pay - pellow
- Sindang - small size woodblocks
Occasions
Traditional Cambodian musical instruments play a significant role in the Cambodian culture.[3] These instruments are typically used during royal events, weddings, and festivals. For weddings and royal events, the musicians playing the instruments would wear traditional Cambodian attire. Just like the Chinese, with regard to playing context, there is no conductor in traditional Cambodian music because musicians generally learned and memorized how to play the instruments aurally. These instruments provide a sense of identity for the Cambodian people.
See also
References
- ↑ Sovichet. "ប៉ីអ និង ប៉ីពក [Poetry and Songs]". sovichetlifelwordpress.com.
ប៉ីពក (the name of the instrument in Khmer).
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- ↑ Ung, Chinary (1979). Cambodia Traditional Music (PDF) (Media notes). Tribe Music, Folk Music, and Popular Dances, Ethnic Folkways Records FE 4082. New York: Ethnic Folkways Records. p. 2. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ↑ May M. Ebihara, Carol Anne Mortland, Judy Ledgerwood. "Cambodian Culture Since 1975: Homeland and Exile". Cornell University Press, 1994
External links
- The traditional music and instruments of Cambodia
- Rebuilding the musical instruments of the ancient Khmer. 26 February 2016. tuk-tuk.tv
- Mysteries of the Khmer harp. 9 April 2016. tuk-tuk.tv