Chapter 6: Southeast Asia

About

Chapter 6 introduces the music and associated cultural activities from Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Indonesia. Contrasting folk and classical styles are offered from Vietnam and Thailand, as well as a popular music style from the northeast region of Thailand.  The examination of music from Indonesia includes two differing types of classical gamelan, from the islands of Java and Bali. The Explore More feature boxes focus on the story of the Ramayana, an epic originating in India that is significant throughout Southeast Asia as well.

Key Terms

  • Bossed gong
  • Ching
  • Colotomic structure
  • Dan co
  • Dan kim
  • Dan tranh
  • Dan tyba
  • Gamelan
  • Gamelan gong kebyar
  • Gong ageng
  • Isan
  • Kecak
  • Khaen
  • Khawng wong lek/Khawng wong yai
  • Kohn
  • Khru
  • Khruang sai
  • Lam klawn
  • Lam sing
  • Mahori
  • Metallophone
  • Phin
  • Phleng luk thung
  • Pi
  • Piphat
  • Ramayana
  • Ranat ek
  • Ranat thum
  • Rebab
  • Saw u
  • Song lang
  • Wai khru
  • Bonang
  • Mawlam
  • Tai thu

Flashcards

Practice Quiz

Audio Examples

6.1

Vietnam: Upland bronze gong ensemble.  Gong ensemble of the Jarai, Pleiku City, Pleiku province, recorded by Terry E. Miller and Phong Nguyen, from Vietnam: Mother Mountain and Father Sea, White Cliffs Media WCM 9991 (6 CDs and 47 pp. book), 2003. Used by permission.

6.2

Vietnam: Tai tu amateur chamber music. “Xuan tinh (Spring Love)”performed by Nam Vinh, dan kim, Sau Xiu, dan tranh, and Muoi Phu, dan co, recorded by Terry E. Miller and Phong Nguyen, from Vietnam: Mother Mountain and Father Sea, White Cliffs Media WCM 1991 (6 CDs and 47 pp. book), 2003. Used by permission.

6.3

Central Thailand: Classical piphat music. "Sathukan" and "Sathukan klawng" from Wai Khru/The Traditional Music of Siam, produced by The Committee of the College of Music Project, Mahidol University, Saliya, Thailand, 1994.

6.4

Northeast Thailand: Lam klawn repartee singing. “Lam thang san”(excerpts) sung by Saman Hongsa (male) and Ubon Hongsa (female),and accompanied by Thawi Sidamni, khaen, recorded by Terry E. Miller in Mahasarakham, Thailand, 1988.

6.5

Northeast Thailand: Phleng Luk thung popular song. "Sao Jan Kang Kop" sung by Phawnsak Sawng-saeng, from Sao Jan Kang Kop, JKC Marketing Co., Ltd, JKC-CD 157 (nd). Used by permission.

6.6

Indonesia: Javanese court gamelan. “Udan Mas” (“Golden Rain”), from the recording entitled Music of the Venerable Dark Cloud: The Javanese Gamelan Khjai Mendung, Institute of Ethnomusicology, UCLA, IER 7501, 1973. Used by permission.

6.7

Indonesia: Balinese gamelan gong kebyar. “Hudjan Mas,” recorded in south Bali by a gamelan gong kebjar ensemble, from the recording entitled Gamelan Music of Bali, Lyrichord CD 7179, n.d. Used by permission, Multicultural Media Inc.

Audio Book

Coming soon...

On Your Own Time

Links and further resources

Vietnam


Audio:
Ngyuen, Phong T. and Terry E. Miller. Music from the Lost Kingdom Vietnam: The Perfume River Traditional Ensemble
http://lyrichord.com/musicfromthelostkingdomvietnam-theperfumerivertraditionalensemble.aspx
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/music-from-lost-kingdom-vietnam/id78666859
Book:
Reyes, Adelaida. Songs of the Caged, Songs of the Free: Music and the Vietnamese Refugee Experience. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999.
http://tupress.temple.edu/book/3518
Popular Artists from Vietnam:
My Tam
Quang Dung
Lam Truong

Thailand


Audio:
Royal Court Music of Thailand (Smithsonian-Folkways)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/royal-court-music-of-thailand/id83572118
Audio:
Silk, Spirits, and Songs: Music from North Thailand (Lyrichord)
http://lyrichord.com/silkspiritsandsongmusicfromnorththailand.aspx
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/silk-spirits-song-music-from/id258470887
Book:
Shahriari, Andrew. Khon Muang Music and Dance Traditions of North Thailand. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 2006.
http://www.whitelotuspress.com/bookdetail.php?id=E22486
Popular Artists from Thailand:
Loso
Tay Orathai
Katreeya English

Indonesia


Audio:
Gamelan Music of Bali - Gamelan Angklung, and Gamelan Gong Kebjar
http://lyrichord.com/gamelanmusicofbali-gamelanangklungandgamelangongkebjar.aspx
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/gamelan-music-of-bali/id49332149
Audio:
Java Court Gamelan (Nonesuch)
http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/java-court-gamelan
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/java-court-gamelan/id128049636
Book:
Spiller, Henry. Gamelan Music of Indonesia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
https://www.routledge.com/Focus-Gamelan-Music-of-Indonesia/Spiller/p/book/9780415960687
Book:
Tenzer, Michael. Gamelan Gong Kebyar: The Art of Twentieth-Century Balinese Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo3630827.html
Audio:
Indonesian Popular Music: Kroncong, Dangdut, and Langgam Jawa
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/music-indonesia-vol-2-indonesian/id151045292
Popular Artists from Indonesia:
Rhoma Irama
Dangdut
Jeni Anjani