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Percussion Instrument Copper
Ray Cooper Percussion-Layla
Thai Drama and Music
By far the most popular dramatic form is likay, a burlesque of lakorn containing elements of pantomime, comic folk opera and social satire. Generally performed against a simply-painted backdrop during temple fairs, likay commonly presents court-derived stories and embellishes them with local references and anecdotes.
Players, garishly costumed in satins, sequins and feathered headgear, andro-gynously made up with powder, rouge and mascara, rely heavily on pratfalls, jarring musical accompaniment and bawdy lyrics. Spontaneous dialogue is freighted with outrageous puns and double entendres. Interaction between characters keeps audiences awake and laughing until the early hours.
Two neglected dramatic forms are nang yai shadow play and hoon marionettes, both regular entertainment in 17th century Ayutthaya. In nang yai, which predates khon and lakorn, intricately fashioned cowhide figures, some two metres tall, are held against a brilliantly backlit white screen. Bearers of the figures dance their parts; their movements were later to provide the pattern for khon and lakorn. The effect resembles a high contrast, black and white television set viewed inside a dark room. Animated silhouettes, the figure-bearing men's gestures and dancing combine with music and singing to bring the spectacle to life.
The nang talung, a more popular shadow play found mainly in the south of Thailand, closely resembles the Indonesian wayang. Beautifully fashioned nang talung figures are smaller than their nang yai counterparts and are often constructed to have one movable part - an arm, a leg, a chin or genitals. Concealed from audien-ces, nang talung manipulators are skilled singers and comedians whose brilliant repar-tee keeps action bubbling.
Hoon (marionettes) are seldom seen. Superbly crafted figures, they differed from European marionettes in that they were manipulated by concealed threads pulled from below, not above. Hoon plays were from the classical repertoire which did nothing to enhance their popularity. A more popular version is hoon krabok (literally 'cylindrical model') which are essentially similar to Punch and Judy-style hand puppets.
Music
Indian, Chinese and Khmer musical traditions were major (as Burmese, Malayan and Javanese were minor) influences in forming Thai classical music. For the most part, Thai music evolved by simplifying its diverse influences rather than embellishing them, and over 600 years of experimentation slowly developed into an integrated, unique system. Some traditional Thai instruments are of Chinese origin, others Indian. Bas reliefs at Angkor Wat show hand cymbals and one-stringed, plucked zithers strikingly similar to certain Thai instruments played today.
Music was important to Ayutthayan courts as an adjunct to ceremonial, official and social functions. Contemporary book illustrations depict classical string and percussion ensembles. A 1688 account of Ayutthayan music by Nicholas Gervaise is one of the first European references to Thai music: 'We heard concerts of a vocal and instrumental nature. The most pleasing of these instruments is somewhat similar to that we hear from two violins playing in perfect harmony. But there is nothing more disagreeable than the small edition of this instrument - a kind of violin with three brass wires. Their copper trumpets resemble in sound the comets our peasants use to call their cattle. Their flutes are scarcely any softer ... bronze gongs which distress those not accustomed to the sound ...'
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