Khmer music is often divided into three categories: (1) pin peat, the ceremonial music of the former royal courts; (2) phleng kar, the songs of the wedding ceremony; and (3) mohori, secular entertainment music, also originating in the royal courts, that is played by a string-based ensemble. Mohori usually accompanies a play of the same name and Khmer folk dances. Khmer music instruments consist of roneat, khloy (duct flute), salay (a type of flute), tror (two-stringed fiddle), khim (dulcimer), takhae, skor dai (hand drum), skor sampho (two-sided drum), and chhing.
Khmer Music Intruments
Khmer music instruments comprise a wide range of wind (khloy, Salay), string (tror, takhae, khim), and percussion (roneat).
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Khloy is a wind-type instrument made of from a bamboo pipe. |
Salay is another wind-type instrument made of from wood. |
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Tror Sor is a high-pitch khmer fiddle. It is a string-type instrument. |
Tror Ou is a low-pitch khmer fiddle. It is a string-type instrument. |
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Takhae is a string-type instrument made of from wood. |
Khim is a Khmer dulcimer and is a string-type instrument made of from wood and has metal strings. |
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Roneat Ek is a khmer wood xylophone. It is a percussion instrumen. |
Roneat Dek is another khmer metal xylophone. It is a percussion instrument. |
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Gong is another khmer metal xylophone. It is a percussion instrument. |
Sampho is a two-sided drum instrument. |
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Skor Dai is another Khmer drum. |
Chhing used mainly in Mohoree music. |
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Chapey Dangveng |
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Phleng Khmer
The word "phleng" is a literal translation of the English word 'music". The word "Khmer" is used interchangeably with the word "Cambodian" to mean people of Cambodia or Cambodian language. We can divide the Cambodian music into two main categories: modern/contemporary music and traditional music. "Phleng Khmer" refers to the Cambodian traditional music. Phleng Khmer can be divided into three sub-categories (as described above), each of which is suitable for a particular social and traditional event.
Phleng Pinpeat
Phleng Pinpeat is performed at different events ranging from praying to Buddha to classical dances to funeral processions. The songs and lyrics vary according to the event type. The praying music is melodious and serves simply to enhance the praying services. The classical dance Pinpeat emphasizes the drum beat that coordinates and synchronizes the dancers' footsteps. The funeral type has a sad tone and lyrics that may cause one to cry.
Phleng Kar (Wedding music)
Phleng Kar is one of the major components in the wedding ceremony. In fact, it is an essential one. Unlike the Phleng Mohoree theme, which is always an offbeat and happy tune, the Phleng Kar is much sober, much more emotional. It is the time for the bride and the groom to reflect about their lives, from the day they were born, how they have been raised, the good deeds of their parents, and the journey ahead as a married person. The Phleng kar is played from the early morning of the wedding day to the conclusion of the ceremony (the thread-tying and the blessing) early next day.There are six musicians in the ensemble. They use two types of fiddles (a melodic fiddle that leads the whole ensemble and the bass fiddled), one dulcimer, one Takhe (two-string dulcimer), one drum and a singer.
Phleng Mohoree (Mohoree Ensemble)
Mohoree musicians use different type of fiddles, recorder (Khloy), dulcimer and banjo, Roneat and drums. The music is suitable for an entertainment in social and traditional events. It normally has an upbeat, happy-going style of music. Songs and lyrics of Mohoree music normally depict the beauty and admiration of nature, the confession of love or the teasing between man and woman.
