Music of Thailand

[Braveheart]

Thailand retains cultural connections with the two great centers of Asian civilizations, India and China. Though Thailand was never colonized by Western powers, pop music and other forms of European and American music have become extremely influential. The two most popular styles of traditional Thai music are luk thung and mor lam; the latter in particular has close affinities with the Music of Laos.

 

Aside from the Thai, minorities of Laotians, Lawa, Hmong, Akha, Mien, Lisu, Karen and Lahu peoples have retained traditional musical forms.

 

History

 

Thai music was part of an oral culture and developed no traditional system of notation. "As an integrated, unique system the traditional music of Thailand is probably not more than six hundred years old." The classical or Bangkok period beginning 1782 may be considered "a culmination of musical evolution that probably started, as nearly as can be ascertained from the references, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries with the rise of Ayuthaya as the capital," in 1350. Music flourished for the next few centuries, in spite of occasional oppression from monarchs like Rama I and the burning of Ayuthaya, including its art collections and libraries, in 1767 the result of which is a loss of most knowledge necessary to reconstruct the history of Thai music before the Bangkok period.

 

Genres

 

Pop, Rock, Cultural, Classic, Techno and Spiritual

 

Classical Music

 

The earliest Thai ensembles were called piphat, and they included woodwind and percussion instruments, originally in order to accompany traditional theater and religious rituals. Another ensemble type, khruang sai, consists primarily of string instruments, while the mahori mixes strings with melodic percussion instruments and flute.

 

Fundamentals

 

"Thai music is nonharmonic, melodic, or linear, and as is the case with all musics of this genre, its fundamental organization is horizontal...Thai music in its horizontal complex is made up of a main melody played simultaneously with variants of it which progress in relatively slower and faster rhythmic units." This is known as heterophony or polyphonic stratification: instrumentalists improvise idiomatically around the central melody. Rhythmically and metrically Thai music is steady in tempo, regular in pulse, divisive, in simple duple meter, without swing, with little syncopation, and with the emphasis on the final beat of a measure or group of pulses and phrase, as opposed to the first as in European-influenced music. The Thai scale includes seven equal notes, instead of a mixture of tones and semitones.

 

Traditional or Folk

 

Luk Thung

 

Luk thung, or Thai country music, developed in the mid-20th century to reflect daily trials and tribulations of rural Thais. Ponsri Woranut and Suraphol Sombatcharoen were the genre's first big stars, incorporating influences from Latin America, Asia and, especially, American film soundtracks and country music. Many of the most popular artists have come from the central city of Suphanburi, including megastar Pumpuang Duangjan, who pioneered electronic luk thung. The first all luk thung radio station was launched in 1997.

 

Mor Lam

 

Mor lam is the dominant folk music of Thailand's north-eastern Isan region, which has a mainly Lao population. It has much in common with luk thung, such as its focus on the life of the rural poor. It is characterized by rapid-fire, rhythmic vocals and a funk feel to the percussion. The lead singer, also called a mor lam, is most often accompanied by the khaen.

 

There are about fifteen regional variations of mor lam, plus modern versions such as mor lam sing. Some conservatives have criticized these as the commercialization of traditional cultures.

 

Kantrum

 

The people of Isan are also known for kantrum, which is much less famous than mor lam. Kantrum is played by Cambodians living near the border with Cambodia. It is a swift and very traditional dance music. In its purest form, cho-kantrum, singers, percussion and fiddles dominate the sound. A more modern form using electric instrumentation arose in the mid-1980s. Later in the decade, Darkie became the genre's biggest star, and he crossed into mainstream markets in the later 1990s.

 

Pop and Rock

 

By the 1930s, however, Western classical music, showtunes, jazz and tango were popular. Soon, jazz grew to dominate Thai popular music, and Khru Eua Sunthornsanan soon set up the first Thai jazz band. The music he soon helped to invent along with influential band Suntharaporn was called pleng Thai sakorn, which incorporated Thai melodies with Western classical music. This music continued to evolve into luk grung, a romantic music that was popular with the upper-class. King Bhumibol is an accomplished jazz musician and composer.

 

Pleng Phua Cheewit

 

By the 1960s, Western rock was popular and Thai artists began imitating bands like Cliff Richard & the Shadows; this music was called wong shadow, and it soon evolved into a form of Thai pop called string. Among the groups that emerged from this period was The Impossibles. The '70s alos saw Rewat Buddhinan beginning to use the Thai language in rock music as well as the rise of protest songs called pleng phua cheewit (songs for life).

 

The earliest pleng phua cheewit band was called Caravan, and they were at the forefront of a movement for democracy. In 1976, police and right wing activists attacked students at Thammasat University; Caravan, along with other bands and activists, fled for the rural hills. There, Caravan continued playing music for local farmers, and composed what is now their most famous song, "Khon Gap Kwaii".

 

In the 1980s, pleng phua cheewit re-entered the mainsteam with a grant of amnesty to dissidents. Bands like Carabao became best-sellers and incorporated sternly nationalistic elements in their lyrics. By the 1990s, pleng phua cheewit had fallen from the top of the Thai charts, though artists like Pongsit Kamphee continued to command a large audience.

 

String

 

String pop took over mainstream listeners in Thailand in the 90s, and bubblegum pop stars like Tata Young, Bird McIntyre and Asanee-Wasan became best-sellers. Simultaneously, Britpop influenced alternative rock artists like Modern Dog, Loso, Crub and Proud became popular in late 1990s. In 2006, famous Thai rock bands include Clash, Big Ass, Bodyslam and Silly Fools.

 

Extracted from Wikipedia: Music of Thailand

[ipweb]

Hello I'm looking for someone who can help me to find a CD of Pumpuang Duangjan. I live in France and it is impossible to find. I want to make a surprise to my thai girlfriend who don't have been coming back to thailand for a long time. I'm sure she will be happy when I give it, so please help me, I love her so much.

Thank you for your help.

Regards.

Edited March 9, 2012 by ipweb

[ipweb]

Nobody to help me please ;-(

[xtc]

Hello I'm looking for someone who can help me to find a CD of Pumpuang Duangjan. I live in France and it is impossible to find. I want to make a surprise to my thai girlfriend who don't have been coming back to thailand for a long time. I'm sure she will be happy when I give it, so please help me, I love her so much.

Thank you for your help.

Regards.

 

Here it go.

 

Cheers!!

Pumpuang Duangjan.mp3

[ipweb]

I can't tell you how I'm happy thanks to your help. Have a good afternoon my friend.

[sooksi]

Here it go.

 

Cheers!!

Thanks . Have you any more?

[xtc]

Thanks . Have you any more?

 

No problem mate. Some more for you & ipweb. I hope you like it.

 

Music break all the boundaries and unite human soul.

 

You also might like Vitas. I just love his powerful voice and i don't think any singer has that range. truly amazing!!! It's Russian..

 

 

 

 

"Криком журавлиным" (Crane’s Cry)

Взгляд встречаю твой, мы давно с тобой

I meet your eyes, For a long time Не говорили о любви

We haven't talked about love...

Я ночным дождём, расскажу о том

By a night rain, I will speak it out

Ты шумом листьев говори

And in the rustle of leaves you speak

 

Припев (Refrain):

Крикну клином журавлиным

I will cry with a wedge of cranes:

"Я тебя люблю"

I love you

И отвечу ветром встречным

And will respond with a contrary wind:

"Я тебя люблю"

I love you

 

Нет, не мало слов, как весне цветов

I have enough words, Like spring has many flowers

Только словами, не сказать

Only those words fail to say

Что из всех святил, тех, что я любил

That of all the suns, Which I used to love

Только луна тебе под стать

Only the Moon can compare with you

 

Припев (Refrain):

Крикну клином журавлиным

I will cry with a wedge of cranes:

"Я тебя люблю"

I love you

И отвечу ветром встречным

And will respond with a contrary wind:

"Я тебя люблю"

I love you

 

Но пусть ветра, дожди и крики

Let winds, rains and cries

Птичьих стай вдали

Of the birds' flocks far away

Будут нашим разговором о любви

Be our talking about love

 

И отвечу ветром встречным

And will respond with a contrary wind:

"Я тебя люблю"

I love you

POOMPUANG.mp3

Artit la wun - Pumpuang Duangjan.mp3

Edited March 11, 2012 by xtc

[xtc]

I can't tell you how I'm happy thanks to your help. Have a good afternoon my friend.

 

Not a problem at all and i am happy cos you are. I hope your GF liked it too.

 

You have a great day my friend.

Edited March 11, 2012 by xtc

[Friendly Mak Mak]

Just you tube and search Thai music...Pop Thai music...Rock Thai Music. Folk thai music, can find anything..even those goodies..Thai love songs...

[Eddie9]

I think molam is pretty decent stuff, I like it. I pick up a guitar from time to time. What I noticed going along with an album is the whole goddam song is on one chord. None of this three chord's and you're done, one chord. The chord in question, Em7 shape. I found it fitted the whole album.

Edited May 17, 2012 by wellsa

[squared]

 

"Thai music is nonharmonic, melodic, or linear, and as is the case with all musics of this genre, its fundamental organization is horizontal...Thai music in its horizontal complex is made up of a main melody played simultaneously with variants of it which progress in relatively slower and faster rhythmic units." This is known as heterophony or polyphonic stratification: instrumentalists improvise idiomatically around the central melody. Rhythmically and metrically Thai music is steady in tempo, regular in pulse, divisive, in simple duple meter, without swing, with little syncopation, and with the emphasis on the final beat of a measure or group of pulses and phrase, as opposed to the first as in European-influenced music. The Thai scale includes seven equal notes, instead of a mixture of tones and semitones.

 

Yes, it's fundamental organization is horizontal, and there is significant heterophony or polyphonic stratification. May I sum up the blabber? It's tough to tolerate the dreadful noise that goes for music for people grown up with Beethoven and Led Zeppelin, we can pretend to like it when drunk, but not for long.