Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Siamese band



The Siamese band

The earliest Siamese musical instruments were given names that reflected sounds the made. A typical small musical ensemble is called a Phipat band. The majority of the instruments are percussive but there is always at least one reed, the pinai, which sounds somewhat like a bagpipe. In the illustration above, the man on the right is using a flute-like instrument composed of varying lengths of hollow bamboo; this is most often heard in the northeast. There are now about fifty different types of Siamese musical instruments, including many regional variations.

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