Khene

The "khene" (also spelled "khaen", "kaen" and "khen"; Lao: , Thai: ) is a mouth organ of Lao origin whose pipes are connected with a small, hollowed-out hardwood reservoir into which air is blown. Today associated with the Lao of Laos and Northeast Thailand, similar instruments date back to the Bronze Age of Southeast Asia. It is also played in some parts of Cambodia. The Chinese adopted mouth organs at an early point, and the now-obsolete "yu" may have been similar in construction to the modern "khaen". The Chinese today call their most widely used mouth organ sheng.

The most interesting characteristic of the khene is its free reed, which is made of brass or silver. It is related to Western free-reed instruments such as the harmonium, concertina, accordion, harmonica, and bandoneon, which were developed beginning in the 18th century from the Chinese sheng, a related instrument, a specimen of which had been carried to St. Petersburg, Russia.

The khene uses a pentatonic scale in one of two modes ("thang sun" and "thang yao"), each mode having three possible keys. The khaen has five different "lai", or modes: Lai Yai, Lai Noi, Lai Sootsanaen, Lai Po Sai, and Lai Soi. Lai Po Sai is considered to be the oldest of the Lai Khaen and Lai Sootsanaen the "Father of the Lai Khaen." Khaen can be played as a solo instrument (Dio Khaen), as part of an ensemble (Ponglang), or as an accompaniment to a Lao or Isan Folk Opera Singer mor lam.

Annea Lockwood composed music for this instrument.

Mythological origin

According to Lao legend, the "khene" was created by a woman who was trying to reproduce the sound of the "garawek" bird which she heard while on a walk one day. The journey was long and difficult, so she decided to invent an instrument that would bring the sound to her. When she returned to her village, she experimented with many different instruments, including percussion, wind and plucked and bowed strings. Finally she cut a piece of bamboo and inserted a reed into it. Upon playing it, she realized that it sounded much like the garawek bird. She continued to improve the sound until she felt it was worthy for the king's ears. When she was ready, she went to the palace and began playing for the king on her newly invented instrument, which was at this point nameless. At the end of the first song, she asked the king if he liked the piece. He said it was fair, and instructed her to continue playing. After her last song, she again asked the king if he was pleased. His reply was "Tia nee kaen dae," which means "This time it was better." He then instructed her to call the instrument, according to his words, the kaen.Fact|date=April 2008

Players

In Thailand, one of the top virtuoso khaen soloists is the blind musician Sombat Simla. The instrument has also attracted a few non-Asian performers, including University of San Diego professor [http://home.sandiego.edu/~cadler/thai.html Christopher Adler] , who also composes for the instrument; English musician Clive Bell (UK); Vancouver-based composer/performer Randy Raine-Reusch (Canada), who played khaen on Aerosmith's "Pump" (1989), Cranberries' "To the Faithful Departed" (1996), and Yes's "The Ladder" (1999); and Jaron Lanier (United States). Since the early 21st century, the California-born khaen player [http://www.myspace.com/jonnyplayskhaen Jonny Olsen] has achieved notoriety in Laos and Thailand by appearing on numerous Thai and Lao TV Shows and performing live concerts in Thailand and the U.S. Jonny Olsen is the first "farang" (foreigner) to win a khaen championship in Khon Kaen 2005. [http://www.myspace.com/jonnyplayskhaen]

Tuning

It has seven tones per octave, with intervals similar to that of the Western diatonic natural A-minor scale: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. A khaen can be made in a particular key but can't be tuned after the reed is set and the pipes are cut. If the khaen is played along with other instruments the others have to tune to the khaen.

References

* [http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/LaoStudies/pnano.htm Khaen Repertories: The Developments of Lao Traditional Music in Northeast Thailand] 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.
* Lilly, Joseph "An Introduction to the Khaen of Laos:The Free-Reed Journal Articles and Essays Featuring Classical Free-Reed Instruments and Performers"

External links

* [http://www.patmissin.com/history/khaen.html Khaen Baet and Khaen Hok]

Listening

* [http://www.asza.com/ikhaen.shtml Audio samples]
* [http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/culture/traditional_Music/music_collection3.htm Traditional Music and Songs in Laos: The Voice of the Lao Khen]
* [http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/search.pl?sterm=khaen Art of the States: khaen] Three contemporary American works featuring the instrument
* [http://www.myspace.com/dansingkhene Dan Singer plays traditional Irish music on the khene]