Thailand

Pieces Analysed: Classical PiPhat Music – Miller & Shahriari CD 1 #11, Northeast That Lam Klawn Repartee Singing – Miller & Shahriari CD 1 #12, Phleng Luk Thung – Miller & Shahriari CD 1 # 13YouTube Pieces Analysed: Thai Court Music “Piphat Khryang Ha” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Z5HAYjCcs), Northeast Thailand Lam Klawn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJQNkogGi2c), Pornsak “Isaang Luk Thung” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQmjJjpRHm8)

The Classical PiPhat Music track makes a large use of the PiPhat Gong circle. It is a fast paced piece which slows down toward the end. It has quite a thin texture consisting of only two instruments being the PiPhat Gong Circle and what sounds like a Pi Chawa (a type of oboe). It also has some form of percussion as well in the form of various drums. The piece does not vary in dynamics or in tempo, keeping one constant motif going throughout the whole piece.

The Northeast That Lam Klawn Repartee Singing piece is heavily driven by the vocal melody, accompanied by a Khene (which is can be described as a mouth organ). This piece has a very free form, not conforming to a standard song structure. Just like the Classical PiPhat Piece, this piece does not vary dynamically or in tempo, keeping simple melody lines which is sung by two different voices consecutively. The melody sung by the second voice is quite different, focusing on more of a vibrato approach in the voice.

The Phleng Luk Thung piece, is quite different to the other two pieces as it is considered to have a tighter, pop type structure to it. This piece makes use of what seems to be the Khene, and the Pi Chawa. The melody line is delivered by the voice. This piece, unlike the other two follows a strict tempo. The first half of this piece is much more free, having no rhythm keeping instrument, whilst the second half of the piece has a tight rhythmic structure with some percussion keeping the rhythm.

The first two pieces are much more free than the third piece, however all three pieces are quite loose in tempo structure as compared to western music. They all have similar elements in them, such as instruments used and their melodies follow similar ideas.

Piphat Khryang Ha, which is similar to the Classical Piphat Music piece, has a very rhythmic feel to it, because of the Piphat gong circle. It also makes use of what seems to be an eastern version of a xylophone. This piece also features the Pi Chawa, and has some percussion, such as a bass drum to keep the tempo. Unlike the first piece, this piece has a much more structured tempo to it. This piece features many of the same instruments as the first piece, with the added bass drum. This piece has a thicker texture than the first piece, as it has more instruments in it.

The Northeast Thailand Lam Klawn is a very free piece, having a lose tempo structure, rather focusing on phrasing of the voices which are in it, having the Khene accompanying it. Dynamically it stays very constant, not really altering in volume. This piece is very similar to the Northeast That Lam Klawn Repartee Singing piece that features on the Miller and Shahriari CD. Unlike that piece, however, this Lam Klawn piece has a much denser vocal melody, with the voices having longer phrases consisting of more words, whereas the Miller and Shahriari Lam Klawn piece has fewer words in it, but they are held out for a longer period of time.

The Isaang Luk Thung piece, performed by Pornsak, is much more of an upbeat piece, having a very obvious tempo structure to it. This piece has a driving rhythm played by some form of drums. This piece featured what seemed to be some kind of eastern guitar. This piece adheres to the pop structure much more than the Miller and Shahriari “Phleng Luk Thung” piece. This piece, unlike the other Luk Thung piece, is very structured, leaving no room for free movement. Like the other pieces, this piece also does not alter much dynamically, keeping a constant volume. It has a repetitive melody, much like the other Luk Thung piece.