Traditional Thai musical instruments
Traditional Thai musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical music of Thailand. They comprise a wide range of wind, string, and percussion instruments played by both the Thai majority as well as the nation's ethnic minorities.
In the traditional Thai system of organology, they are classified into four categories, by the action used in playing:
- Plucking
- Bowing
- Striking
- Blowing
String
Plucked
- Grajabpi - ancient fretted lute
- Jakhe - crocodile-shaped fretted floor zither with three strings. The first two strings are made from silk, and the last is made from bronze
- Phin - three-stringed lute used in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand
- Phin phia - chest-resonated stick zither played by the Lanna of northern Thailand
- Sueng - plucked lute from the Lanna region of northern Thailand
- Phin hai or hai song - a set of earthenware jars with rubber bands stretched over the open mouths
Bowed
- Saw duang - higher two-string fiddle with hardwood body; used in classical music
- Saw sam sai - three-string spike fiddle with coconut shell body; used in classical music; also known as the most beautiful of the fiddles
- Saw u - lower two-string fiddle with a coconut shell body; used in classical music
- Saw pip or saw krapong - two-string fiddles with body made from a metal can; used in the Isan region of northeast Thailand; saw krapong is smaller
- Saw bang/Saw poo thai - a made from bamboo, used in the Isan region of northeast Thailand
- Salo - two- or three-string spike fiddle used in the Lanna region
Struck
- Khim - hammered dulcimer was classified as an idiophone
Percussion
Drums
- Taphon or klawng taphon - sacred barrel drum; played with the hands and used in the piphat ensemble and it is an membranophone
- Taphon mon - large drum played with the hand, used in the piphat Mon
- Glong thad - large drum played with sticks; usually played in a pair and used in the piphat ensemble
- Rammana - frame drum; played with the hand
- Thon - Goblet Drum; played with the hand
- *Thon - goblet drum; played with the hand
- *Thon - goblet drum; played with the hand
- *Thon - goblet drum; played with the hand
- Glong thap - goblet drum used primarily in southern Thai folk music, also used to create a beat in southern that shows or Nora shows.
- Glong khaek - barrel drum; played with the hands and generally played in pairs
- Glong songna - barrel drum; played with the hands
- Glong yao - long drum; played with the hands
- Poengmang khok, or simply poengmang - set of tuned drums used in the piphat mon
- Glong chatri - same as Glong thad but smaller, played with sticks; used in the piphat chatri
- Glong banthoh - smallest hourglass pellet drum, like the Damaru and Dhadd in India; used in the Royal Thai Brahmanism-Hinduism Ceremony or ritual about the Thai Royal Family
- Glong seng, Glong ching, or Glong tae - large drum played with sticks; generally played in pairs and used in competition in the Isan region of northeast Thailand, particularly by the Phu Thai people
- Glong tud
- Glong tocche
- Glong thom
- Glong took
Gong chimes
- Khong wong lek - higher gong circle; comprises many small tuned bossed gongs mounted in a rattan frame
- Khong wong yai - lower gong circle; comprises many small tuned bossed gongs mounted in a rattan frame
- Khong mon - set of many small tuned bossed gongs arranged in vertical curved frame; usually primarily in funeral music
- Khong rang - set of eight tuned gongs suspended horizontally in a straight frame; similar to the southern Philippine kulintang; rare
Pitched percussion
- Ranat - trough-resonated keyboard percussion instrument; generally played with two mallets and used in Thai classical and theater music
- *Ranat ek - higher xylophone, with bars usually made of hardwood
- *Ranat thum - lower xylophone, with bamboo or hardwood bars
- *Ranat ek lek - higher metallophone
- *Ranat thum lek - lower metallophone
- *Ranat kaeo - crystallophone; very rare
- Pong lang - pentatonic log xylophone used in the Isan region
Gongs
- Khong chai, also called khong hui or khong mui - huge hanging bossed gong used for indicating time
- Khong mong or mong - medium-sized hanging bossed gong used in Thai ensembles
- Khong meng or khong kratae - small bossed gong used as a signaling device and in traditional parades with klawng yao
- Khong rao - three bossed gongs suspended vertically in a wooden frame; rare
- Khong khu - pair of small bossed gongs suspended horizontally in a wooden box; used in theater music and music of southern Thailand
- Wong khong chai - set of seven large bossed gongs suspended vertically in a circular frame; rare
Clappers
- Krap - clapper
- *Krap phuang - bundle of hardwood and brass slats, tied together at one end
- *Krap sepha - pair of bamboo or hardwood sticks
Cymbals
- Ching - pair of small, thick cymbals joined by a cord; used to mark time
- Chap - pair of flat cymbals joined by a cord
- *Chap lek - smaller
- *Chap yai - larger
Bell
- Kangsdal - bell made from bronze, usually used in ancient monk rituals
Shaken bamboo
- Angklung - set of tuned bamboo tubes mounted in a frame and shaken; generally played by a group. Comes from Indonesia.
Bronze drums
- Mahorathuek - bronze drum; dates back to the Dong Son culture of antiquity and today very rare.
Wind
Flutes
- Khlui - vertical duct flute made of bamboo, hardwood, or plastic
- *Khlui lib ; not commonly used
- *Khlui phiang aw
- *Khlui u ; not commonly used
- Wot - circular panpipe used in the Isan region of northeast Thailand. Play by holding between the hands, and while rotating, blow downwards into the pipes.
Free-reed
- Khaen - mouth organ used in the Isan region
- Pi chum - free reed pipe used in the Lanna region
- Gourd mouth organ - used by the Akha, Lisu, and Lahu peoples of the upland regions of northern Thailand
- Jaw harp in central Thailand and huen - played primarily among ethnic minorities of northern Thailand, as well as by the people of the Isan region of northeast Thailand
Oboes
- Pi - quadruple- or double-reed oboe
- *Pi chanai - possibly derived from the Indian shehnai
- *Pi chawa - used to accompany Muay Thai
- *Pi klang
- *Pi mon - large double-reed oboe with detachable metal bell; used for funeral music
- *Pi nai - standard leading instrument used in the piphat ensemble
- *Pi nok
Horns
- Trae - metal horn
- Sang - conch shell horn; also called trae sang or Sangkhla
- Thai fanfare trumpet - used only in royal ceremonies
Central
- Saw sam sai
- Saw duang
- Saw u
- Jakhe
- Khlui
- Pi
- Ranat ek
- Ranat thum
- Khong wong yai
- Khong wong lek
- Thon rammana
- Glong khaek
- Glong songna
Northeast
- Huen - This drum is shaped like a drum that is used in the puangmangkog set. It is always played with a piphat ensemble.
- Khaen - mouth organ
- Wot - a circular panpipe made of 6-9 various lengths of small bamboo pipes. Play by holding between the hands, and while rotating, blow downwards into the pipes.
- Phin - a fretted, plucked lute
- Pong lang - log xylophone played by two players with hard stick. Its shape is like a xylophone consisting of 15 wooden bars stringed together
- Jakhe - one of the important instruments in the mahori khamen ensemble. It has three strings
- Grajabpi - The krachappi is a plucked stringed instrument. Its turtle shape sound box is made of jackfruit wood
- Saw kantruem - a bowed string instrument with a wooden soundbox, the head of which is covered with snakeskin.
- Saw poo thai - a tube zither/Idiochord made from bamboo, played by Isan people
- Glong kantruem - a single-headed drum
- Pi salai - a double-reed oboe accompanied with kantrum ensemble
- Krap khu - a pair of hard wooden bars two pairs made a set, played with both hands as percussion in "Kantruem ensemble".
North
- Salo - a bowed fiddle with three strings and a free bow. The resonator is made of coconut shell cut off on one side.
- Sueng - is a plucked string instrument, made of teak or hardwood. A round sound hole is cut on the top soundboard.
- Khlui - The same as the Central Thai khlui.
- Pi chum - a free reed pipe made of bamboo, with a single metal reed
- Pi nae - a double reed oboe that resembles the saranai or chani but larger in size; it is made of wood and usually accompanies the large gong.
- Phin phia - or sometimes simply called "pia" or "phia". The body is made from a coconut shell.
- Glong teng thing - Klong Teng-thing is a two faced tabular drum and used as one of percussive instrument.
- Talotpot - or Malotpot is a two-faced tubular drum of 100 centimeters long.
- Glong tingnong - The biggest and longest drum with one face made of hide about 3–4 metres long.
- Glong sabat chai - The most famous drum in northern, hanging on the double wooden bars carried by men
South
- Thap - The goblet-shaped drum used for providing the changes of rhythm and also for supporting rhythm of the Nora.
- Glong nora - Klong nora or Klong nang: a barrel-shaped drum used to accompany the Nora dance or the Nang talung performance
- Mong ching - Mong and Ching: two important percussion instruments used for accompanying the Nora dance and the Nang talung performance.
- Khong khu - pair of small bossed gongs suspended horizontally in a wooden box; used in theater music and music of southern Thailand
- Pi - a quadruple-reed oboe type with six finger holes producing at least three octaves of pitches range.
- Trae phuang - Trae phuang or Krap phung: a percussion used to provide rhythmic punctuation of the Nora ensemble.