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Siamese Musical Instruments.
The majority of Siamese musical instruments are modelled after those of Ancient India, which also provided prototypes for the instruments of Cambodia, Pegu, Burma, Java and Malaya. That the people of the above countries have copied the musical instruments of Ancient India may be seen from the similarity of their instruments to-day.
The Sangitaratnākara (a Sanskrit work) divides the Indian prototypes into four different groups, viz.,
| 1. | Tata | … … … | Stringed instruments. |
| 2. | Sushira | … … … | Wind instruments. |
| 3. | Avanaddha | … … … | Instruments covered with skin. |
| 4. | Ghana | … … … | Instruments clapped together to produce sound. |
The Sangitaratnākara explains the use of these instruments as follows:—
Instruments belonging to the 'Tata' group (stringed instruments) and those belonging to the 'Sushira' group (wind instruments) are used for playing the melody; those of the 'Avanaddha' group (instruments covered with skin) are used for accompanying, and those of the 'Ghana' group (instruments clapped together) are used for marking time.
Each group contains a large variety of instruments. For instance, amongst the Stringed instruments the monochord lute (or gourd lute, examples of which exist in this country) represents the oldest type. Later on, several strings were added to the instrument and we have lutes with two, three, seven, nine, and even twenty-one strings, all bearing different names. But all these lutes of different kinds are used to accompany songs, the singer accompanying himself. Thus in the Story of Kāki the Gandharva who makes fun of the King of Birds is represented as singing and playing on the lute at the same time. As the number of strings on the lute increased the instrument naturally increased in size and weight. In some cases it became impossible to hold it; and in order to play it it was necessary to place it on the floor (hence the instruments of the 'Chakhe' type),
