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or hold it upright like the contra-bass. But these various instruments originate from the primitive lute, and are grouped by the Sangitaratnākara under the 'Tata' category which the Siamese call 'Khruang Dīt Si' (stringed instruments "pinched" or 'scraped," see plates I and II).
Instruments belonging to the 'Sushira' group or wind instruments are also numerous and comprise flute, hautboy, bamboo organ, trumpet, conch-shell, and all the pipes or horns which one blows (see plate VII).
Instruments coming under the 'Avanaddha' group comprise the different varieties of drums: those which have only one face which the Siamese call 'Thap' (or 'Thon'), 'Rammanā', and 'Klong yao'; those which are covered on both sides with skins held together by means of bands (straps) such as the 'Bandoh'; the 'Thon' (or 'Taphon'); the 'Poeng Mang', the 'Klong Chana', Malay and Javanese tom-toms; and finally those which are covered on both sides with skins nailed down like the tom-tom used in 'Khon' and 'Lakhon' (see plate VI).
Instruments belonging to the 'Ghana' group proceed from the clapping of hands for marking time to instruments which are made of metal and are very varied: there are alto cymbals, basso cymbals, small bells, hand bells, and gongs. Those which are made of wood, such as castanets for instance, are also to be classed under the group 'Ghana', because they too mark time (see plate III). It seems that several instruments which play the melody are developed from those used for marking time. For instance, the 'Khong Vong', or a set of gongs, seems to have been evolved from a single gong: first the single gong became a pair of gongs of different notes called 'Khong Khū' (which figures in the Norā orchestra); then we had the 'Three-gongs' (which figures in the 'Rabeng Olapho'), then other gongs were added producing seven different notes which led finally to a set of sixteen gongs, which is really an instrument capable of playing the melody. The 'Ranāt' or xylophone must have undergone a similar evolution begining with the castanets. All these instruments existed in Ancient India. (see plates IV and V).
