The khaen (pronounced "can" and sometimes also transliterated as 'khene') is a bamboo free-reed mouth organ and relative of the Chinese sheng and Japanese sho. It is considered by the Lao people, who generally live in lowland Laos and Northeast Thailand, to be the predominant traditional musical intsrument and symbolic of Lao identity. It is also played by some of the upland and minority ethnic groups in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. I began research the traditional musics of Thailand in 1994, after encountering them at the Smithsonian American Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. The instruments on which I have concentrated are the khaen and the ranaat ek, the principle xylophone of the Thai classical tradition. I studied khaen with Molam Ratri Srivilai in Khon Kaen, Northeast Thailand and Jarernchai Chonpairot in Mahasarakham University, and ranaat ek with Ajarn Panya Roongruang, of Kasetsart University. I also studied music and Thai language at Wat Thai, D.C. in Washington D.C. I have taught Thai music at the Thai Buddhist Temple of San Diego, and have been a Visiting Professor at Mahasarakham University in Northeast Thailand, and I have lectured at Mahidol University and Kasetart University in Bangkok about my compositions for Thai instruments. I am now considered in Thailand to be among the finest players of traditional khaen music, which is unfortunately in serious decline as Northeast Eastern Thailand has rapidly modernized. I have composed solo and ensemble works for the khaen which build on the foundation of traditional techniques and musical principles and extend into the contemporary Western idiom. I am also collaborating with Marcelo Radulovich (hurdy-gurdy, post-production), Charles Curtis (cello) and Scott Walton (contrabass) as Gunther's Grass, to explore drone-based improvisation on acoustic instruments (audio examples are available on the Gunther's Grass page). In order to promote the khaen as a concert instrument and develop new repertoire, I am soliciting new works from composers. I have performed new works by David Loeb and Sidney Marquez Boquiren, and weclome samples of work or proposals from serious composers interested in writing for khaen. To aid composers unfamiliar with the instrument, I have prepared a bried guide which may be downloaded here. Modern repertoire for the khaen Solo works Christopher Adler, Epilogue for a Dark Day (available on the CD Epilogue for a Dark Day) Sidney Marquez Boquiren, angel music (premiered in 2006) David Loeb, Karin: A Forest of Verses (currently in preparation) Ensemble works Christopher Adler, Three Body Problem, for khaen and cello David Loeb, Three Friends of Winter, for khaen, flute, guitar, cello and percussion Scores of my original compositions for khaen and recordings of my performances of traditional khaen music are available at my store
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On the left is Somaun Noi Lomboon, one of the finest khaen players in Northeast Thailand, performing at his home. Below is Changkhen Somjinda of Baan Sii Kaew, Roi Et Province, widely recognized as one of the best khaen makers. He uses traditional tools to make instruments, including the elephant leg bone in the foreground.
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