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many as the 'Pī Pat'. The only differences between these two are that the 'Mahorī', having stringed instruments in it, does not contain drums and it is composed of women whereas the 'Pī Pāt' consists of men. During the Fifth Reign the 'Krachappi' lute and the basso cymbals ceased to be used in the 'Mahorī.' So there remained only twelve musicians (see plate XII).
During the reign of King Mongkut changes occurred in connection with the dramatic stage which had effect upon the 'Mahorī.' During the period of Ayudhya women were not permitted to act on the stage outside royal service. Princes, noblemen and others with large households consequently trained their women solely for the 'Mahorī', leaving play-acting and the 'Pī Pāt' to their men, King Mongkut Removed the prohibition, and permitted women to be trained as actresses. The result was that the practice of employing women for the 'Mahorī' gave place to the practice of training them for the stage. Women players were popular, and the stage claimed them almost to the exclusion of the 'Mahorī'.
After the decline of the women's 'Mahorī'; some of the men who had been taking to Chinese stringed instruments adopted the fiddles 'Saw Duang' and 'Saw Ū' which, with the 'Chake-lute' and the oboe, they added to an existing but different kind of orchestra known as 'Klong Khek', which will be described further on in this paper. The new combination became known as the large 'Klong Khek' combination. Later the tom-tom and the oboe ('Pī ō') of the 'Klong Khek' were replaced by the 'Rammanā' and the reed pipe, and the name 'String Mahorī' was given to this new orchestra. Some orchestras added the xylophone and a set of gongs, and thus we have men's Mahorī replacing that of women (see plate XVI).
But in playing the string-band, later on the number of instruments employed was not fixed. For instance, there can be as many fiddles ("Saw Duang", "Saw Ū") as there are men available to play them. The aim seems to be a greater volume of sound rather than harmony. At present some string-bands use the Chinese
