Cool Stuff Blog IV: Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam

A lot of the traditional music of Cambodia has been lost over the last century or so do to war, so there is not much in terms of written music. This is also due to the fact that most of their music was passed down and taught by rote, similar to Native American music. Since the elders died by the Khmer Rouge(communist party in the 1970s), it has been scientific research that has been unlocking much of Cambodia's musical past. What they have found is that, much like in other places of the world, Cambodian music has heavy ties to religion as well as social events. There are two main types of ensembles, Pinpeat and Mahori. The Pinpeat ensemble is the oldest Cambodian ensemble and it was used very heavily in social events. This ensemble would be seen accompanying dances, shadow theatre, and many folk festivals. The other ensemble is the Mahori was also used for entertainment in places such as the royal courts.

For Malaysian music, I wanted to learn more about what type of instruments they had and before I get into those, I would like to share the fact that I found out their instruments came from very artistic portrayals of humanities such as history and religion, but also of love. The kompang is a percussive instrument that is usually played in an ensemble at weddings or to accompany choirs. The gamelan is not an instrument, but rather an ensemble consisting of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, flutes, gongs, voices, as well as bowed and plucked strings. The gendang are types of drums that differ depending on whether you are one of the royal people or the common people of Malaysia. The seruling is a flute made out of bamboo that had been debated on being the oldest instrument that was played by indigenous tribes in Malaysia. Lastly, the serunai is another wind instrument that is made out of wood that is often used in shadow plays and even martial arts performances.

The last type of music that I would like to talk about is Vietnamese music, specifically the three types which include the Hue style, northern professional style, and southern amateur style. Hue music is often used in the court and in many cases, for religious purposes. One of the religious ceremonies it was used for was sacrificial to both Heaven and Earth. Hue music was also used in the royal classical opera called Tuong. Much folk music comes from Northern Vietnam such as Quan Ho singing. In this, the people who are singing are not considered entertainers but are all just considered to be part of the performance. Ba'c Ninh folk songs include 400 lyrics and their main topics include longing, sadness about being separated from loved ones, and the happiness of meeting their lovers. Southern Vietnamese voices were known for being very soft, therefore they were able to sing folk music like Cai Luong very romantically. Cai Luong is known for having performances that not only included this southern amateur music, but also dances.