Thailand

Thai

Wood, bronze, fiber rope, metal
ca. 1800’s
Diameter: 46 inches
Idiophones – Struck Idiophones – Gongs

 The Thailand ‘Khong Wong’ was played in courts and temples with historical evidence indicating their presence as early as the 13th century.  They symbolized prestige and spiritual significance, during royal ceremonies.

 Today, the ‘Khong Wong’ remains the main instrument of the Thai music band, both in the orchestra and piphat ensemble.  The piphat ensemble is considered the primary ensemble of the kingdom’s classical music during the Ayutthaya period (1351–1767 – referred to as Siamese Kingdom), a time when Thai classical music flourished and court ensembles attained remarkable levels of sophistication. The Thai classical repertoire included Thai theatrical and dance forms such as ‘khon’ (masked dance-drama), ‘lakhon’ (classical dance), and shadow puppet theater. The khong wong is also used to accompany Buddhist invocations (‘sathukan’), as well as the suites called ‘phleng rueang.’ 

In Thailand, ancient musicians adopted and refined their musical instruments.  This khong wong gong is made of thick rattan and mahogany, with a convex central shape.  At the end are slender, pointed ridges in the shape of a Bodhi leaf.  This early khong wong has eleven (11) bossed gongs, each generating one key sound.   Today, the khong wong generally consists of two sizes:  The larger Khong Wong Yai with 16 lower pitched gongs; and the smaller Khong Wong Lei with 18 smaller high-pitched gongs. Nevertheless, the khong wong can be found with varying numbers of bossed gongs throughout the Southeast Asian regions, typically ranging from six up to eighteen graduated gongs.  Overall, the number of gongs determines the instrument’s melodic range and shapes the structure and character of the musical pieces played on this instrument.

The player sits in the center of the circle with folded or crossed legs to play the khong wong with padded mallets.

Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khong_wong