Page "Lao music" Paragraph 14

The classical form is closely related to that of the Siamese.

The Lao classical orchestra can be divided into two categories, Sep Nyai and Sep Noi ( or Mahori ).

The Sep Nyai is similar to Thai Piphat, and is ceremonial and formal music and includes: two sets of gongs ( kong vong ), a xylophone ( ranat ), an oboe ( pei or salai ), two large kettle drums and two sets of cymbals ( xing, similar to Thai ching ).

The Sep Noi, capable of playing popular tunes, includes two bowed string instruments, the So U and the So I, also known to the Indians.

These instruments are similar to the Thai Saw u and Saw duang, respectively.

They have a long neck or fingerboard and a small sound box ; this sound box is made of bamboo in the So U and from a coconut in the So I.

Both instruments have two strings, and the bow is slid between these two strings, which are tuned at a fifth apart and always played together.

Furthermore this mahori or sep noi ensemble ( the sep nyai is strictly percussion and oboe ) may include several khene.

In this respect, it differs markedly from the mahori orchestras of Cambodia and Siam.