Khene
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Khenesarong.jpg
The khene (also spelled "kaen") is a mouth-organ whose pipes are connected with a small, hollowed-out wooden reservoir into which air is blown. It is a polyphonic instrument and hence is important to the history of music. Today associated with the Lao of Laos and Northeast Thailand, it dates back to the bronze age of Southeast Asia. The Chinese adopted it at an early point and today call it sheng, a word which is the phonetic equivalent of the word khene.
The most interesting characteristic of the khene is its free reed, which is made of brass. The invention of the khene is attributed to the Lao, but it was after having studied a Chinese sheng, carried to St. Petersburg in the 18th century, that a technician devised the free-reed Western instruments from which the harmonium, concertina, accordion, harmonica and bandoneon were developed.
The khene uses a pentatonic scale in one of two modes (thang sun and thang yao), each mode having three possible keys. It is played as a solo instrument, as part of an ensemble, or as an accompaniment to mor lam.
The khene has attracted a few non-Asian performers, most notable of whom is the U.S. performer Christopher Adler (a professor at the University of San Diego), who also composes for the instrument.
Tuning
It has seven tones per octave, with intervals similar to that of the Western diatonic scale: A-B-c-d-e-f-g.
References
- Khaen Repertories: The Developments of Lao Traditional Music in Northeast Thailand (http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/LaoStudies/pnano.htm) Accessed 13 May 2005.
- Miller, Terry E. Traditional Music of the Lao: Kaen Playing and Mawlum Singing in Northeast Thailand (1985). Contributions in Intercultural and Comparative Studies, no. 13. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
- Miller, Terry E. An Introduction to Playing the Kaen (1980). Kent, Ohio: Terry E. Miller.de:Khaen