The Traditional Music of Thailand [Reprint 2020 ed.] 9780520321335

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The Traditional Music of Thailand

Illustrations from a book, dated circa 1730, saved from the destruction of Ayuthaya in 1767. Left: an early mahori (string) ensemble; right: a pi phat (percussion) ensemble.

The Traditional Music of Thailand

David Morton

University of California Press Berkeley . Los Angeles . London

University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

University of California Press, Ltd. London, England

Copyright © 1976 by The Regents of the University of California ISBN: 0-520-01876-1 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 70-142048

Designed by Vincent Ryan Printed in the United States of America 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

(chon dai m3i ml dontrl kan nai Scfn dan

TflflflWfl(ftlwrfiVl rWufllU £

,

pen khon chcpp kon nak)

ifluGUtiQunfliiin Anyone who does not have music in his soul is a very peculiar person indeed. ^ T h a i proverb.

To the composers and musicians of Thailand who have made their traditional music what it was, is, and will b e — w h o indeed had music in their souls—this work is respectfully dedicated

Preface The traditional music of the Thai people has long deserved the attention of musical scholars, both in terms of itself and as a bridge between the various musical cultures surrounding it. But reconstructing its evolution is virtually impossible. Thailand, like many nations of the world, does not have an extensive or l e n g t h y recorded history. Written records such as court annals and regulations in which music may have been mentioned were often destroyed during times of war; in the extant records of the Thai only perhaps a dozen references to music are to be found, and these scattered over a period of more than a thousand years. Also, until recently the Thai had no written notation by which the music could be studied in and of itself.

Ethnomusicology. I joined the group and worked with it until I went to Bangkok in 1958 to study intensively Thai traditional music in Thailand; the transition from Los Angeles to Bangkok was made easier by this acquaintance with Javanese music. My first exposure to the traditional music in Thailand itself happened on the day after I arrived, in a rural locale near the old summer palace at Bang Pa-in, some miles north of Bangkok, at the time of a special Buddhist ceremony. After the ceremony, as we stood around the car eating our lunch, I became aware of a blend of many melodies floating from beyond a c l u m p of b a n a n a t r e e s . I could distinguish the bell-like tones of gong-kettles, xylophones, drums, chiming cymbals, and a penetrating oboelike sound. I pushed through the trees and found, spread out on the broken flagstones of the side courtyard of the temple, an ensemble of traditional Thai instruments being played by a group of men of various ages. Some months later, in recollection, I appreciated the rarity of that occasion, for as I pursued my studies of the traditional music I found that since the 1930's its p e r f o r m a n c e in Thailand has become more the exception than the rule, being largely replaced by W e s t e r n m u s i c and W e s t e r n - s t y l e Thai music. Although by the 1950's a move was already under way on the part of a number of Thai to restimulate i n t e r e s t in the traditional music, on returning to Bangkok for a few months from September 1969 to J a n u a r y 1970 to record the repertoire of Luang Pradit Phair^ (mentioned frequently in this study) I f o u n d t h e situation unfortunately little changed. From the time I first noticed the traditional music performed so little, I often wondered why. Some possible answers emerged in the course of my study; they appear scattered throughout this work.

Since the seventeenth century traditional Thai music has sometimes been commented on in reports of political missions and in travel books; but Western politicians, merchant traders, tourists, and even some musical scholars without an international "ear" are not equipped to listen to and comment on, with any degree of understanding, a music that differs radically from their own. The usual Western writing on Thai music tends to be a hodgepodge of opinions and s t a t e m e n t s t h a t are o f t e n conflicting, generally subjective, and sometimes even patronizing (see for example, some quotes at the beginning of Chapter II), and the writers usually view the music as a deviation from Western standards. A brief summary of my experience in Thailand illustrates a further difficulty in the study of the traditional music. My introduction to a non-Western music was at the first public concert, in May 1955, of the study group in Javanese gamelan started at the University of California at Los Angeles by Dr. Mantle H o o d , D i r e c t o r o f U C L A ' s I n s t i t u t e of vii

viii

Preface

This work is based on direct research with a number of Thai instruments, musicians, and other authorities, and on the reading of extant material on the traditional music by Thai and other scholars. It draws in large part on the repertory of traditional music recently put into notation in Bangkok, which I was allowed to microfilm in 1960. My investigations a n d r e s e a r c h w e r e s p e c i f i c a l l y f o c u s e d on instrumental music and forms; I felt that a study of this area would more likely reveal the fundamentals of Thai music than would a study of some other a s p e c t , such as vocal practice (other than the preliminary investigations of Sidney Moore. By the way, little research has been done in the area of Thai vocal practice). The early chapters of this work, then, c o n t a i n h i s t o r y and description of instrumental music—tuning system, melody, rhythm, and tempo as well as instruments, ensembles, and aspects of mode; vocal practice is touched on briefly in Chapter V, w h i c h deals w i t h f o r m s and compositional techniques. An explanation of the transliteration system used in this book to put Thai words into Roman l e t t e r s is given in Appendix A; to avoid undue c o n f u s i o n , t o n e m a r k s i n d i c a t i n g the correct inflection of the words (Thai is a tone language) are not given in the text. A glossary of all Thai words used, giving the complete pronunciation and the word in T h a i l e t t e r s , is in A p p e n d i x D. P h o n e t i c t r a n s l i t e r a t i o n has not been used, however, for personal names or proper place names (except in a few instances) — t h e traditional transliteration has b e e n retained because it is the one used in most books, on maps, and so forth; for many sounds the two systems are alike, so there is no difficulty where n o ambiguity occurs in pronunciation. For a few proper names, phonetic symbols have been used to avoid mispronunciation. For example, the first name transliterated in the old system as "Son" or "Sorn" is pronounced "Son." (A more striking example is the f a m i l y n a m e transliterated in the old system as "Diskul"—it does not appear in this book—which is c o r r e c t l y p r o n o u n c e d "Deet-suh-goon"!) The c o r r e c t p r o n u n c i a t i o n for proper names appears following the entry for that name in the index.

The photographs in this book are mine except where noted. The pictures of the ensembles were made by the Thai Department of Fine Arts and are r e p r o d u c e d w i t h t h e i r p e r m i s s i o n . The three photographs of Balinese instruments from the Colin McPhee collection are reproduced by permission of Mrs. Shirley J. Hawkins, executrix of Mr. McPhee's estate. I wish to express here my gratitude to Mantle H o o d , w i t h w h o m I have had the privilege and pleasure of working in ethnomusicology at UCLA since 1955, for his unfailing friendship and guidance during the years of my study and for his help in completing this present work. My study in Bangkok was supported from 1958—1960 by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, and in 1969—70 by a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies; I thank these organizations for their support. During t h e s e t w o p e r i o d s in T h a i l a n d I m e t w i t h c o n s i d e r a t i o n and cooperation from everyone. I should like particularly to thank Dhanit Yupho, the Director-General of the Thai Department of Fine Arts at the time I was there from 1958—1960, and all the members of the department who aided my work by g i v i n g s o g e n e r o u s l y of t h e i r t i m e and knowledge—in particular my teacher on the Thai i n s t r u m e n t s , C h i r a t A t c h a n a r o n g , and Montri Tramote, Head Musician of the music section of the d e p a r t m e n t . I am d e e p l y i n d e b t e d to Prasidh Silapabanleng and his family, who took me into their home and hearts and shared with me their vast fund of knowledge about Thai music, past and present. My gratitude is extended to Supachai Vanij-Vadhana, then Secretary-General of Chulalongkorn University, and his f a m i l y , w h o m o s t g e n e r o u s l y t o o k every opportunity to make me feel at home in Bangkok. Last but not least go my thanks to Rev. and Mrs. Ray C. Downs, Directors of the Student Christian Center (in 1958-1960) in Bangkok, where I lived while I was in Thailand, and to the many students there who treated me as one of themselves. Los Angeles, California

David Morton

Contents Chapter I: History

1

Chapter II: The Fundamentals of Thai Music A. The Tuning System B. Melody C. Meter, Rhythm, and Tempo

20 22 29 39

Chapter III: Instruments, Their Idiomatic Characteristics, and Ensembles A. Melodic Percussion

44 45

1. Sets of Gong-kettles a. b. c. d.

Khgng Khgng Khgng Khgng

wong yai wong lek (wong) klang mgn

45 50 51 52

2. Xylophones a. Ranat ek

54

b. Ranat thum

57

3. Metallophones a. Ranat ek lek

62

b. Ranat thum lek

63

B. Rhythmic Percussion

64

1. Cymbals a. b. Ching Chap lek

64 66

c. Chap yai

67

2. Gong a. Mong

67

3. Drums a. b. c. d. e. /. g.

Taphon Taphon mgn Sgng na Klong khaek Klgng that Thon Rammana

68 71 71 73 74 76 77 ix

X

Contents C. Woodwinds

77

1. Flute Types a. Khlui

77

2. Reed Types a. Pinai b. Plchawa

80 88

c. PTmgn

90

D. Stringed Instruments

91

1. Plucked a. Krajappi

92

b. dhakhe

92

2. Bowed a. b. Sg Sgusam sai

94 97

c. Sg duang

100

3. Notation for String Parts E. Ensembles

101

1. Development of String Ensembles

101

2. Development of Melodic Percussion Ensembles

104

3. Standard Contemporary Ensembles

105

a. b. Piphat Khryang sai c. Mahori 4. Special Ensembles a. b. Piphat Piphat nang mgn hong Chapter IV: Mode

105 Ill Ill Ill 113 113 115

A. An Approach to Modality in Thai Traditional Music

115

B. Classification of Modal Types

126

C. Metabole

128

D. Analysis of Representative Compositions of the Classified Types

133

Fifth Polarities

137

E. Coda

172

F. Summary

178

Contents

Chapter V: Forms and Compositional Techniques A. Ryang "La" (Farewell Song)

xi

180 180 182

B. Thao

182

C. Developmental sam chan

212

D. Tap

212

E. Other Forms 1. Sgng chan

214

2. ST chan

216

F. Ceremonial and Theater Music

216

G. Vocal Music

216

Chapter VI: Conclusion

223

Notes

225

Appendix A: Phonetic Transliteration of Thai

231

Appendix B: Measurements of Tunings

232

Appendix C: Structure of the Versions of "La" (Farewell Song)

238

Appendix D: Glossary of Thai Words

239

Bibliography

244

Discography

252

Index

253

List of Illustrations Frontispiece. Two early ensembles. Figure 1. Chinese yang-ch 'in Figure 2. Thai khim Figure 3. Procession carved on Angkor Wat (a) and detail from the carving (b, c, d) Figure 4. Procession carved on the Bayon, Angkor Thorn Figure 5. Procession carved on Angkor Wat Figure 6. Procession carved on Angkor Wat Figure 7. Procession carved on Angkor Wat Figure 8. Procession carved on Angkor Wat Figure 9. Procession carved on Angkor Wat Figure 10. Ensemble with harp carved on the Bayon, Angkor Thorn Figure 11. Ensemble with harp carved on the Bayon, Angkor Thom Figure 12. Ensemble with harp carved on the Bayon, Angkor Thom Figure 13. Ensemble with harp carved on the Bayon, Angkor Thom Figure 14. Ensemble accompanying a vaudeville performance in a carving on the Bayon, Angkor Thom Figure 15. Khmer gong-chime: a, detail from figure 3; b, detail from figure 5 Figure 16. Javanese bonang Figure 17. Balinese trompong: a, the instrument alone; b, being played Figure 18. Balinese reong Figure 19. Chinese yun lo (gong-chime) Figure 20. Mask for Hanuman in a khon drama (Thai) Figure 21. Detail from a carving at Angkor showing a Khmer mask Figure 22. Hanuman and a giant fighting in a scene from a khon drama (Thai) Figure 23. Female dancer with headdress, carving at Angkor Wat Figure 24. Thai dancer, female in male dress with headdress Figure 25. Three dancers carved on a column, Angkor Thom Figure 26. Learning by rote, the author and his teacher at the Department of Fine Arts, Bangkok Figure 27. Methods of tuning instruments in Thailand: a, adjusting the wax in the boss of a gong-kettle; b, comparing the same pitch on the xylophone and the set of gong-kettles Figure 28. Tapestry with harp, unearthed in Thailand Figure 29. Khgng rang, early form of the Thai gong-circle in the form of a straight rack Figure 30. Carving of a gong-circle on a bookcase, from the Ayuthaya period Figure 31. Contemporary gong-circle Figure 32. Gong-circle being played Figure 33. Inside of a gong-kettle from a set of gong-kettles showing the tuning wax in the boss xii

2 2 5-6 6 6 7 7 8 ! . . 8 9 9 9 9 10

. . .

10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 14 14 19

31 46

. . .

47 47 48 48 48

List of Illustrations Figure 34. Figure 35. Figure 36. Figure 37. Figure 38. Figure 39. Figure 40. Figure 41. Figure 42. Figure 43. Figure 44. Figure 45. Figure 46. Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75.

Figure 76. Figure 77. Figure 78.

Khgng wo ng lek, small set of gong-kettles Detail of the gong-circle showing the method of fastening the gong-kettles to the rack, and the mallets Khgng mgn yai being played Khgng mgn lek being played Several khgng mgn at a cremation ceremony Krap sepha being played Ranat ek being played Ranat ek used in the pi phat ensemble (left) and the one used in the mahorT ensemble (right) shown side by side River boat, showing the similarity to the case of the ranat ek Ranat ek case without the keyboard The under side of the ranat thum keyboard, showing the tuning waxes Ranat thum being played Ranat ek lek, open case and metal keys in their carrying and storage box Ranat ek lek and ranat thum lek Javanese saron Javanese gender Pair of ching The two strokes of the ching: a, ching; b, chap The Chinese shing Chap lek (a) and chap yai (b) Chap lek being played Khgng rao or khgng hui, set of three gongs on a rack Mong (on a stand) Mong (on a tripod) Taphon Taphon mgn and taphon, showing relative sizes Taphon mgn being played in a mgn ensemble (see also figs. 36, 37) Sgng na being played Pair of klgng khaek being played Klgng that: a, front view; b, rear view Chinese percussion instruments Pair of thon chatrT Thon mahorT Two rammana, head side (left) and underneath side (right) Chinese pang ku Thon mahorT and rammana being played Khlui phiang g being played Three sizes of khlui Detail of khlui mouthpiece Pi nai being played Process of making the reed for the pinai (a through m) PTnai: a, closed end with reed and tube holder; b, lower end, showing tuning wax Different sizes of pi Ptchanai being played PTchawa being played

xiii 51 52 52 53 53 55 55 55 57 57 59 59 62 62 63 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 67 68 68 68 69 72 72 72 75 76 76 76 76 77 80 80 81 81 82 85 86 89 90

xiv

List of Illustrations

Figure 79. Figure 80. Figure 81. Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87.

Figure 88. Figure 89. Figure 90. Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

91. 92. 93. 94. 95.

Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

96. 97. 98. 99. 100.

Figure 101. Figure 102. Figure 103. Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116.

PTchawa being played PTmgn (see also figs. 36, 37) PhTn nam tao \ a, side view; b, bottom view, showing the open half gourd PhTn phia Two sizes of krajappT being played v Chakhe, an old ivory-inlaid case Chakhe contemporary model Chakhe being played Sg sam sai, back view, showing the sound box with three mounds on the back, with bow Sg sam sai, front view, with bow Detail of the spike of the sgsam sai showing the strings entering the spike Detail of the front of the neck of the sg sam sai, showing the strings entering the neck Sp u Sg u, bottom of the sound box Chinese pan hu Sg duang Sg duang sound box, showing the hair of the bow passing between the strings Sg duang being played Chinese erh hu Khap mai ensemble Original mahorT ensemble Rubbing of a stone carving showing an early ensemble of the Sukhothai period Klgng khaek ensemble Small piphat ensemble Small, informal indoor pi phat ensemble with the khlui substituted for the pi Medium-sized or double pi phat ensemble Large pi phat ensemble Small khryang sai ensemble Medium-sized or double khryiang sai ensemble Small mahorT ensemble Medium-sized or double mahorT ensemble Large mahorT ensemble PTphat nang hong ensemble PTphat mgnznsemble Poeng mang khpk being played Back view of poeng mang khgk Burmese Anyein ensemble and ceremonial instruments Burmese saing ensemble

90 90 91 91 91 93 93 93 95 95 95 95 98 98 98 98 99 99 99 101 102 103 104 106 106 107 107 108 108 109 109 110 112 113 114 114 114 114

List of Charts Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart Chart

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36.

Comparison of Thai and Western tuning systems Thai pitch levels and pentatonic modes Ching patterns Ching patterns Ching patterns Percentage of occurrences of pitches as a finalis Classification of finalis pitches according to pitch levels "Kha"ek Sai" (Thao), pitch outline "Tuang Phra That" (Thao), Section 1, pitch outline "Tuang Phra That" (Thao), Section 2, pitch outline "Lao Slang Thian" (Thao), pitch outline "Lao Khruan" (2 chan), pitch outline "La~o Chiang Tat S9Ì" (2 chan), pitch outline "Nok Khao Khamàé" (Thao), pitch outline "Khama"e Thorn" (3 chan) "Lila K(r)athum" (3 chan) "Sam Mai Nai" (Thao) Pitch-exchange process for metabole "Hong Th^ng" (Thao), pitch outline "Khàek Th