Drums and Percussion
Klong Khaek
Klong khaek is a type of double-headed barrel drum used in Thai music. They are usually played in a pair by two players. It looks the same as the Klong malayu but those are shorter and heavier.
There are two types of klong khaek : klong khaek tua phu (male voice) which has higher pitch and klong khaek tua mia (female) which has lower pitch. Typically playing in a pair interlocking each other.
Klong Tad
Tone - Rammana
The Tone Rammana is a rhythmic percussive instrument, consisting of The Tone : the cone-shaped drum with the front part larger than the rear part. The single face is stretched over with cow hide. It is played in a pair with the Rammana.
The Rammana is a single-face drum. The body is made of hard wood in a short shallow shape. The face is stretched over with leather and fixed with pins around the edge of the drum.
Taphon
The Taphon is a double headed Thai traditional drum which played by both hand and fingers. It is considered a particularly sacred instrument in the Thai culture, It is very similar to the Cambodian Sampho. The Taphon can produce up to 13 different notes and able to tuned to any desired pitches.
Taphon Mon
The Taphon Mon is a double headed drum which has an important role in Pi Phat Mon Ensemble, it is played by both hand and fingers. It is similar toTaphon but larger in shape. Its timbre is low pitched, but the pitch of the instrument can be varied according to the player’s desires.
Klong Song Na
The Klong Song Na is a traditional Thai barrel drum. It has two heads, Song na means “two faces” in Thai. Used in the Piphat ensemble, this drum is similar to the Perng Mang drum.
Klong Took
The Klong took is a small double-face drum played with wooden sticks, also known as Klong Chatri. It has the same cylindrical shape as a Klong Tad but smaller in size. It is usually played with Tone Chatri.
Tone Chatri
The Tone Chatri is the cone-shaped drum with the front part larger than the rear part. The single face is stretched over with cow hide. It looks similar to Tone but it is shorter than traditional Tone. Drummers typically place Tone Chatri under their thigh while sitting on the ground and played in a pair.
Rammana Lum Tud
Rammana Lum Tud is a kind of rebana which originated from Java, It is single-face drum made of hard wood in a short shallow shape. Usually played in accompany with singers in Thai-style antiphon called Lum Tud.
Perng Mang Khok
The Perng Mang Kok is a Thai percussion uses to furnish the rhythms, It is played to teasingly interrupt the rhythms with the Taphon Mon adding the joyful mood to the music. The Perng Mang Kok is a set of 7 different sizes Perng Mang drums which are tuned to the desired pitches.
Playing the Perng Mang Kok, the musician sits inside the Perng Mang Kok and uses his hands to beat the drums, Sometimes elbows or head are used to present fantastic and joyful styles.
Southern Rammana
The Southern Rammana is one of the most important instrument in southern Thai music. The drum is made from wood, played by hand and can be combined with other instruments to form an ensemble called “Rongeng”. The Southern Rammana originates from Arabic culture and was introduced to Thailand and Malay Peninsula during Ayutthaya period.
Anor
Anor is a small wooden drum from southern Thailand. It is played by hand and has many different functions, depending on the ensemble in which it is used. In rongeng ensembles, it plays an upbeat role along with the larger and deeper Rammana drum.
Mahoratuek (Bronze Drum)
Bronze drums are ritual musical instruments developed in South East Asia over 10,000 years ago. Frogs represent rain and the sun represents the cycles of life; these two symbols combined make this bronze drum a perfect example of how ancient cultures live in harmony with their environment.
Klong Yao
The Klong Yao is a single face drum covered with stretched skin or leather used in Thailand and Laos. The body of the Klong Yaao is long with a wide, flared open end like a trumpet and It is generally slung over the shoulder and played with the hands. Usually played in a group of many drums at the same time. It is played in many festival parades in Thailand.
Klong Poo Jaa
The Klong Poo-Jaa or Klong Boo-jaa is a huge Northern Thai drum, The body is made of the whole trunk of hard wood tree, The two faces are stretched over with leather, fixed with small wooden pins.
To use the Klong Poo-Jaa, other 3 smaller drums called Look-tub are included in a set, each of the Look-tub is in a different size, created different characteristic of sound.
Klong Pong Pohng
The Klong Pong Pohng is double headed Northern Thai drum, The body is similar to the Taphon, The two faces of the drum are stretched with leather strips or cords crossing over the body of the drum. The drum is placed horizontally on the stand in the same way as the Taphon.
The Klong Pong Pohng is widely played in the Pat Kong ensemble. It is normally played together with the Klong Teng Ting.
Klong Poo Jae
The Klong Poo Jae is a large single face Northern Thai drum covered with stretched skin or leather on one side. The body is long, narrow with flared open end like a trumpet similar to Klong Yao. It is generally slung over the shoulder and played with the hands fingers and fist.
Klong Mong Serng
The Klong Mong Serng is a Northern Thai double-faced drum which stretched over the faces with leather. The shape of Klong Mong Serng is similar to the Taphon Mon, There is no stand, but a cord to sling round the neck while playing.
A Klong Mong Serng ensemble consists of one Klong Mong Serng, a pair of large Chaap (Cymbal) and a set of Gong in graded sizes, tuned to the fifth interval.
Klong Talod Pod
The Klong Talod Pod is Northern Thai double-faced drum. The body is in cylindrical shape similar to the Perng Mang or the Klong Song Na (double-face drum) but it is smaller and longer. It’s played by a hard beating stick so that it can produce loud sounds.
Normally the Klong Talod Pod is played with the Klong Aew. The sound of the Talod Pod is tuned to the same pitch as the Khong Hui. Its function is to keep the rhythm for the Chaap or other instruments to follow the melody.
Klong Seng
The Klong Seng is double-faced drum originated in the Isan region of Thailand. The word Seng means competition so klong seng is usually beaten in a competition, whomever beats the klong seng loudest wins.
A strong wooden stick made of tamarind wood is wound around with cloth as a non-slippery handhold. The end of the stick is covered with lead to gain more weight when beating.
Klong Haang
The Klong Haang is the northeastern single-faced drum covered with stretched leather. The body of the drum is made of a light weight soft wood, looks similar to Klong Yao.
Klong Haang is usually played with the Klong Teung or can be played as a set of Isan drums (northeastern drum) consists of one Klong Teung and four Klong Haang.
Gong Rao
Kong Rao is a set metal gong used in Northern Thailand. It originated from Burmese Tai people. Normally played along with Puje and Mong Serng drum to accompany Tai Traditional dance. For instance, Sword dance, Gingala Bird Dance. Each gong is tuned in harmonic series and It use a mechanic pedal to hit each gong pad all together at once.
Tub Norah
This wooden drum is played with hand beats to accompany the norah dance and Rong Kru Ceremony (Praying for ancestors). Tub Norah role as a leader of Norah ensemble to communicate with the Norah dancer. Tub Norah can produced various timbre of sound using different hands and finger techniques.
Bandaw / Damaru
Bandaw, also known as Damaru is a small double headed drum originated in India. The body of the drum is made of hard wood with the sides tapering in to the center, similar to an hourglass. The strikers are typically beads fastened to the ends of leather cords around the waist of the damaru.
To produce the sound, the musician stretches both hands in front of their body at chest level and waves the drum using a twisting wrist motion, the strikers beat on the drumhead. Bundaw was in part of ancient Thai ensemble originated in Sukhothai era called “Kub Mai” ensemble. The ensemble consisted of Saw sam sai, Bundaw(Damaru) and singer, uses in royal ceremonies.
Ching
The Ching is a pair of cymbals used for controlling the rhythm. The cymbal is made of cast metal such as brass or bronze. Each cymbal Joined by a cord that runs through the center, tying a pair of cymbals together for convenience in playing the instrument.
The name Ching probably comes from the sound it produces. It produces two accented sounds, Ching and Chup. Its function is to keep time, the pace and the rhythm of the music.
Chaap
The Chaap(cymbal) is a Thai percussion. It’s made of flat round metal with a bulging central knob. Chaap is similar to Ching but bigger and thinner, Each of the pair of cymbals is tied with a cord to pair the cymbals together
There are two sizes of Chaap. The Chaap Lek (small cymbal) is about 12-14 centimeters in diameter, while the Chaap Yai (large cymbal) is about 24-26 centimeters in diameter. The Chaap Lek is struck to teasingly interrupt the rhythm with the Ching while the Chaap Yai is used to mark the rhythm on the beat.
Krap
The Krap is a Thai percussion instrument, using to control the rhythm. It also controls the speed of the rhythm by striking at the same time as the “Chup” rhythm of the Ching (a pair of cymbals). The player holds each piece of the Krap in each hand and strikes them together to beat the rhythm.
Krap is made wood comes in three varieties, The Krup Koo is made of two pieces of split bamboo, The Krap Puang is made of thin wood and thin brass sheet, Krap Saepa is made from hard wood, gives different characteristic sound.
Mong
The Mong or Kong Mong is a Thai percussion instrument, can be classified as Gong. It is made of several kinds of metal, such as bronze and brass. Each gong is a round wide piece of metal with a bulging central knob, which is the position for beating to produce the resonant musical sound.