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Friday, July 17, 2009 ( 7:40 AM )

Pictures of the Thai Instruments

Khwang Wong Yai

Ranat Thum Lek

Ranad Ek

Ranad Ek Lek

VIDEO OF RANAD EK

VIDEO OF KHWANG WONG YAI

Unfortunately, we were unable to find videos for the rest of the music instruments.

CREDITS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Thailand

http://www.thaiwave.com/benjarong/nightlife/konthaipub.htm

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/589625/Thailand/274227/Music-and-dance

http://itravelfootprints.com/Culture_Music_Clothes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_people

http://images.google.com.sg

( 7:27 AM )

Thailand

There are many people from Thailand who are musicians. The Thai can be broken down into various regional groups including the main Thai, northeastern, northern, and southern Thai with their own regional dialects of their Thai language. The Thais are relaxed, not in a hurry about anything and they cannot be hurried. They are also polite and lead a pleasant life. To the Thais, their family, friends, community and good food are very important to them.

Ranad Ek Lek

The keys of the Ranad Ek Lek are made of metal. Originally the keys were made of Brass. The keys of the Ranad Ek Lek look similar to the keys of the Ranad Ek.

Ranad Ek

The Ranad Ek is a percussion instrument. It originated from ‘grap’. ‘Grap’ are wooden keys that were used to keep rhythm. These keys were made in different sizes. They were laid on two tracks. Then a heavy string was threaded through holes in the end of the keys. They were put close together and hung on a stand. Later, a mixture of lead shavings and beeswax was put on the bottom of the keys. This mixture made the tone more in tune.

Ranat Thum Lek
The keys of the Ranat Thum Lek are like the keys of the Ranad Ek Lek, but they are larger.

Khwang Wong Yai

The Khawng Wong Yai is a circle of gongs. It is played from the middle of the circle. The gongs set on a stand made of Rattan. On the end of the stand that holds the high toned gongs, the side of the stand closest to the player and the side farthest away, are 17.5 cm apart. On the high tone end the two sides are 20 cm apart.

PURPOSE OF MAKING MUSIC

The music of Thailand reflects its geographic position at the intersection of China, India, Indonesia and Cambodia, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Rome. Thai musical instruments are varied and reflect ancient influence from far afield - including the klong thap and khim (Persian origin), the jakhe (Indian origin), the klong jin (Chinese origin), and the klong kaek (Indonesian origin).

Though Thailand was never colonized by Western powers, pop music and other forms of European and American music have become extremely influential. The two most popular styles of traditional Thai music are luk thung and mor lam; the latter in particular has close affinities with the Music of Laos.

In Phuket Town across from the Phuket Garden Hotel, Kon Thai Pub can be found with features of what’s called Thai Country Rock which has been influenced by the music of the American South. Kon Thai Pub is a favourite among local Thais and resident Westerners. The music is not only familiar but not too loud and it’s definitely a great place to relax. Also, there are many singers who used music as an entertainment. For example, Joey Boy, who has released 11 bakery music and 2 independent releases. Including Myria Benedetti who released 14 albums! This has enough evidence that Thailand uses their music as entertainment.

Thai classical music (dontri Thai doem) was originally played at court and was based on Khmer models. There are three types of orchestral groups for Thai classical music

: a percussion-dominated ensemble, pi phat, which performs at court ceremonies and in the theatre; a string-dominated ensemble, kruang sai, typically heard in indoor instrumental settings; and mahori, a mixed ensemble that often accompanies vocalists, sometimes in the context of theatre. Thai classical music is also often used as an accompaniment to classical dance such as khon. The music played by the classical orchestras essentially uses a scale of seven equidistant tone-steps, although vocalists and instruments without fixed pitch may sometimes use additional tones.

Since ancient times Thai music has played an important part of everyday life for Thai people. The songs were taught from one person to the next aurally. Rather than providing notes and history to songs, as western music did, a teacher would play a simple melody to the student. He would then play that melody back to the teacher. Once this was done the student would memorize the melody. As the student developed more complicated melodies were taught. Over time more melodies are learnt and combined together until traditional songs are created. It has only been in the last half a centaury that musical notation has been used in schools. In fact in some traditional schools the method of memorising melodies is still taught. Not only is the traditional music played at buddhist ceremonies but the principles of learning the music follow a principle of buddhism.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 ( 6:55 AM )

Musical Instruments

Ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks had a special place for music in their culture. It was believed that music nurtured a man's relationship with the Gods. many ancient Greek myths included musical instruments, especially the greek lyre. It was said that this instrument was invented by the god Apollo. An example is that Amphion, son of Zeus, used a lyre to build the walls of Thebes. The myth said that, as soon as Amphion played the greek lyre, the stones built themselves into a wall.

The lyre is a stringed instrument made of a tortoise shell with three to twelve strings. The lyre was played with a plectrum, or a pick. All the strings were strummed, but the player would press down the strings that he does not want to hear. The lyre is related to the harp. The lyre was also used in Egypt and Sumeria. While the lyre was an instrument that amateurs could play, the kithara, was used by professional musicians. its appearance is similar to the lyre, it was bigger, heavier, and made of wood. The lyre migrated to Europe.

Woodwinds is also one of the ancient Greece’s instruments. Panpipes, another instrument invented by the gods, were cane tubes arranged in a scale. Sound could be produced by blowing across the holes. A more complicated version of panpipes is known in Thailand as the khaen. The aulos was a wind instrument which was extremely hard to play. The cheeks of aulos players had to be fastened with a leather strap so they wouldn't burst. The aulos sounded similar to today's oboe.

Ancient Egypt

In Ancient Egypt, music was not only an important part in ceremonies and festivals, but

also a part of daily life. For instance, farmers would sing while sowing and harvesting crops. Large groups of flutes or stringed instruments were known to entertain at royal parties. Common people would dance to the music of smaller groups of stringed instruments. The Egyptian army marched to the sounds of the trumpet and drums.

The Egyptian harp was seven feet tall. Most commonly played in temples by priests, a 2500 year old example of this instrument is displayed in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another stringed instrument, the lyre, was also used in Egypt after being brought over from Greece.

Strings were not the only type of instrument in ancient Egypt. A very important part of Egyptian culture was the trumpet. The legend in Egypt was that the trumpet was invented by the god Osiris. Osiris was frequently worshiped to the sound of trumpets. It is also known that the Egyptians used a double-reed instrument similar to the oboe.

Percussion instruments also had a major role in Egypt. Egyptian cymbals came in various sizes and pitches. The tambourine, commonly used today in folk and rock music, originated in Egypt. The sistrum, an instrument similar to a tambourine was also used commonly in Egypt. Similar to a rattle in appearance, the sistrum made a jangling noise when shaken.

Marimba
The modern marimba was developed by Japanese and American builders based on the Hispanic-American traditional marimba.

There is no standard range of the marimba, but the most common ranges are 4 octaves, 4.3 octaves and 5 octaves; 4.5 and 5.5 octave sizes are also available.

4 octave: C3 to C7.

4.3 octave: A2 to C7. The 3 refers to three notes below the 4 octave instrument. This is probably the most common range.

4.5 octave: F2 to C7. The 5 means "half"; the instrument goes down a fifth below the 4 octave instrument.

4.6 octave: E2 to C7, one note below the 4.5. Useful for playing guitar literature.

5 octave: C2 to C7, one full octave below the 4 octave instrument.

The range of the marimba has been gradually expanding, with companies like Marimba One adding notes up to F above the normal high C (C7) on their 5.5 octave instrument, or marimba tuners adding notes lower than the low C on the 5 octave C2. Adding lower notes is somewhat impractical because as the bars become thinner (more fragile), the resonators become longer or larger, and the sixth overtone becomes more present than the fundamental tone.

The marimba is a non-transposing instrument with no octave displacement, unlike some other keyboard instruments, which are pitched one or two octaves higher than written.

Some videos on the Musical Instruments...

Marimba

Greek Lyre

Egyption Aulos

Unfortunately, we were not able to find a music video played by the Egyption Harp and Sistrum.