   #copyright

Music of Thailand

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Musical genres, styles,
eras and events

   Thailand retains cultural connections with the two great centers of
   Asian civilizations, India and China. Though Thailand was never
   colonized by Western powers, pop music and other forms of European and
   American music have become extremely influential. The two most popular
   styles of traditional Thai music are luk thung and mor lam; the latter
   in particular has close affinities with the Music of Laos.

   Aside from the Thai, minorities of Laotians, Lawa, Hmong, Akha, Mien,
   Lisu, Karen and Lahu peoples have retained traditional musical forms.

History

   Thai music was part of an oral culture and developed no traditional
   system of notation. "As an integrated, unique system the traditional
   music of Thailand is probably not more than six hundred years old."
   (Morton 1978, p.1) The classical or Bangkok period beginning 1782 may
   be considered "a culmination of musical evolution that probably
   started, as nearly as can be ascertained from the references, in the
   fourteenth and fifteenth centuries with the rise of Ayuthaya as the
   capital," (ibid) in 1350. Music flourished for the next few centuries,
   in spite of occasional oppression from monarchs like Rama I and the
   burning of Ayuthaya, including its art collections and libraries, in
   1767 the result of which is a loss of most knowledge necessary to
   reconstruct the history of Thai music before the Bangkok period.

Genres

   Pop, Rock, Cultural, Classic, Techno and Spiritual

Classical music

   The earliest Thai ensembles were called piphat, and they included
   woodwind and percussion instruments, originally in order to accompany
   traditional theatre and religious rituals. Another ensemble type,
   khruang sai, consists primarily of string instruments, while the mahori
   mixes strings with melodic percussion instruments and flute.

Fundamentals

   "Thai music is nonharmonic, melodic, or linear, and as is the case with
   all musics of this genre, its fundamental organization is
   horizontal...Thai music in its horizontal complex is made up of a main
   melody played simultaneously with variants of it which progress in
   relatively slower and faster rhythmic units." (ibid, p.21) This is
   known as heterophony or polyphonic stratification: instrumentalists
   improvise idiomatically around the central melody. Rhythmically and
   metrically Thai music is steady in tempo, regular in pulse, divisive,
   in simple duple meter, without swing, with little syncopation (p.3,
   39), and with the emphasis on the final beat of a measure or group of
   pulses and phrase (p.41), as opposed to the first as in
   European-influenced music. The Thai scale includes seven equal notes,
   instead of a mixture of tones and semitones.

Traditional or folk

Luk thung

   Luk thung, or Thai country music, developed in the mid-20th century to
   reflect daily trials and tribulations of rural Thais. Ponsri Woranut
   and Suraphol Sombatcharoen were the genre's first big stars,
   incorporating influences from Latin America, Asia and, especially,
   American film soundtracks and country music. Many of the most popular
   artists have come from the central city of Suphanburi, including
   megastar Pumpuang Duangjan, who pioneered electronic luk thung. The
   first all luk thung radio station was launched in 1997.

Mor lam

   Khene player wearing sarong and pakama at the Ubon Candle Festival
   Enlarge
   Khene player wearing sarong and pakama at the Ubon Candle Festival

   Mor lam is the dominant folk music of Thailand's north-eastern Isan
   region, which has a mainly Lao population. It has much in common with
   luk thung, such as its focus on the life of the rural poor. It is
   characterized by rapid-fire, rhythmic vocals and a funk feel to the
   percussion. The lead singer, also called a mor lam, is most often
   accompanied by the khaen.

   There are about fifteen regional variations of mor lam, plus modern
   versions such as mor lam sing. Some conservatives have criticized these
   as the commercialization of traditional cultures.

Kantrum

   The people of Isan are also known for kantrum, which is much less
   famous for mor lam. Kantrum is played by Cambodians living near the
   border with Cambodia. It is a swift and very traditional dance music.
   In its purest form, cho-kantrum, singers, percussion and fiddles
   dominate the sound. A more modern form using electric instrumentation
   arose in the mid- 1980s. Later in the decade, Darkie became the genre's
   biggest star, and he crossed into mainstream markets in the later
   1990s.

Pop and rock

   Wax figure of Khru Eua Sunthornsanan
   Enlarge
   Wax figure of Khru Eua Sunthornsanan

   By the 1930s, however, Western classical music, showtunes, jazz and
   tango were popular. Soon, jazz grew to dominate Thai popular music, and
   Khru Eua Sunthornsanan soon set up the first Thai jazz band. The music
   he soon helped to invent along with influential band Suntharaporn was
   called pleng Thai sakorn, which incorporated Thai melodies with Western
   classical music. This music continued to evolve into luk grung, a
   romantic music that was popular with the upper-class. King Bhumibol is
   an accomplished jazz musician and composer.

Pleng phua cheewit

   By the 1960s, Western rock was popular and Thai artists began imitating
   bands like Cliff Richard & the Shadows; this music was called wong
   shadow, and it soon evolved into a form of Thai pop called string. The
   following decade saw Rewat Buddhinan beginning to use the Thai language
   in rock music. The 70s also saw the rise of protest songs called pleng
   phua cheewit (songs for life).

   The earliest pleng phua cheewit band was called Caravan, and they soon
   emerged at the forefront of a movement for democracy. In 1976, police
   and rightwing activists attacked students at Thammasat University;
   Caravan, along with other bands and activists, fled for the rural
   hills. There, Caravan continued playing music for local farmers, and
   composed what is now their most famous song, "Khon Gap Kwaii".

   In the 1980s, pleng phua cheewit re-entered the mainsteam with a grant
   of amnesty to dissidents. Bands like Carabao became best-sellers and
   incorporated sternly nationalistic elements in their lyrics. By the
   1990s, pleng phua cheewit had fallen from the top of the Thai charts,
   though artists like Pongsit Kamphee continued to command a large
   audience.

String

   String pop took over mainstream listeners in Thailand in the 90s, and
   bubblegum pop stars like Tata Young, Bird McIntyre and Asanee-Wasan
   became best-sellers. Simultaneously, Britpop influenced alternative
   rock artists like Modern Dog, Loso, Crub and Proud became popular in
   late 1990s. In 2006, famous Thai rock bands include Clash, Big Ass,
   Bodyslam and Silly Fools.

Indie

   A group of independent artists and records which produces music for
   non-commercial propose also found in Thailand: Bakery Music (now under
   BEC-TERO) ; Smallroom ; FAT radio ; City-Blue ; Coolvoice ; Dudesweet ;
   Idea-radio and Panda Records .

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Thailand"
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