The Spirit’s Entrance: Free Metric Solo Introductions as a Complex Memory Tool in Traditional Khmer Wedding Music Gisa Jähnichen This study deals with a specific principle of music production in Khmer traditional ensembles that play wedding music. Each piece of the wedding entertainment repertoire is introduced by a free metric solo performance of one of the ensemble’s instruments. This introduction transmits not only the mood of the following piece; it also presents melodic outlines and tonal relationships that remind the musicians of the formal structures and melodic movements. The principle of free metric introductions is widespread among many Asian cultures. Each of them has their own distinctive features. Khmer wedding music seems to reflect practices of classical dance music, when the introductory section features a scene where a “danced” storytelling is accompanied by free metric patterns. This way of thinking is used to explain the rough plan of the following piece. Applied to wedding music, free metric introductions allow the good spirit of a wedding to enter the scene through the act of musical performance. The study examines twelve different parts of the wedding repertoire and contributes new insights into ways of musical thinking and memorising. Introduction Music performances and traditional ceremonies can be variously related to each other. Many ceremonies, such as particular religious or age set ceremonies have a unique musical repertoire that is structured according to chronological and functional needs. The methods for memorising these mostly orally transmitted parts of a ceremonial repertoire often vary extensively. While some parts of ceremonies are closely bound to a small collection of performance patterns, others can have a vast amount of pieces, songs and dances that are grouped according to a hierarchy of different qualities. The most demanding pieces, songs or dances might be those 5
Transcript
The Spirit’s Entrance: Free Metric Solo Introductions as a Complex Memory Tool in Traditional Khmer Wedding Music Gisa Jähnichen
This study deals with a specific principle of music production in Khmer traditional ensembles that play wedding music. Each piece of the wedding entertainment repertoire is introduced by a free metric solo performance of one of the ensemble’s instruments. This introduction transmits not only the mood of the following piece; it also presents melodic outlines and tonal relationships that remind the musicians of the formal structures and melodic movements.
The principle of free metric introductions is widespread among many Asian cultures. Each of them has their own distinctive features. Khmer wedding music seems to reflect practices of classical dance music, when the introductory section features a scene where a “danced” storytelling is accompanied by free metric patterns. This way of thinking is used to explain the rough plan of the following piece. Applied to wedding music, free metric introductions allow the good spirit of a wedding to enter the scene through the act of musical performance.
The study examines twelve different parts of the wedding repertoire and contributes new insights into ways of musical thinking and memorising.
Introduction
Music performances and traditional ceremonies can be variously related to each other. Many ceremonies, such as particular religious or age set ceremonies have a unique musical repertoire that is structured according to chronological and functional needs. The methods for memorising these mostly orally transmitted parts of a ceremonial repertoire often vary extensively. While some parts of ceremonies are closely bound to a small collection of performance patterns, others can have a vast amount of pieces, songs and dances that are grouped according to a hierarchy of different qualities. The most demanding pieces, songs or dances might be those
5
52 Gisa Jähnichen which are hard to memorise for their mere length, their complex nature or their unusual quality. One of these parts will be discussed in this paper: traditional Khmer wedding music that consists of songs and pieces that begin with a free metric solo introduction.
The practice of a free metric solo or the staggered ensemble introduction is widespread in many cultures. Well known are the principles of the taksim in classical Arab music, and the long free metric introductions alap of an Indian raga, as well as the refined traditional ensemble music of China or Vietnam, called dao. These practices are alternately thought to function structurally, as subject of aesthetic discussion or as challenging performance practice. Aside from that, some of these introductions function as complex memory tools for the musicians. They deliver key information about the following piece, song or dance, while describing the subject to be memorised in relation to the actual event. As a result they place the subsequent performances into historical space.
According to Jaques Brunet (1979:210), who first described wedding music of the Khmer in the 1970s, the entire traditional repertoire called phleng khmer, can be divided into phleng kar (kar = marriage), phleng arak or phleng memot (arak and memot = bad spirits), and in phleng boran (boran = ancient). The wedding music of the Khmer as an essential part of traditional music survived in many parts despite all challenges such as wars, genocide and technological evolution. Wedding music is generally called ‘phleng kar’ and it is considered to be “much more sober and includes a lot more emotion than any other type of Khmer music. The music is emotional to give the bride and groom a time to reflect on their childhood, how they were raised, and their blessings. Of course, it is also a time for them to be grateful for one another and the long journey they are going to have together.” (Ah Bee, 2009).
The Wedding Music Ensemble
The traditional phleng kar ensemble consists of at least seven musicians, of which one is a singer who does not perform all parts of the wedding repertoire. In Figure 1, the instruments played in the phleng kar ensemble are underlined. For comparison in a wider cultural space, the corresponding instruments in Thai and Lao music cultures are also named. The feature
Khmer Wedding Music 53 these three cultures share is the Theravada Buddhist religion with elements of Hindu mythology, on which wedding ceremonies are regionally based.
Khmer Thai Lao Type
Roneat ek Ranat ek Lanat ek Higher-pitched xylophone
Skor khek Klong kaek Kong khek Pair of long laced drums
Krabb Krap Pairs of wooden concussion iodiophones
Kong Khong Khong Single hanging knobbed gong
Figure 1: Corresponding traditional Khmer and Thai (Miller & Sam, 1995: 230) instruments. The added column (“Type”) shows corresponding traditional instruments of the Lao.
The ensemble can be divided into groups of instruments with different sound functions. The first group consists of bowed spike lutes of the tro-family and the duct flute khloy. These instruments shape the melodic line. In the second group we find the dulcimer khim and the plucked lute chapei veng, which fill the tonal space throughout the entire ambitus of a piece. As a third group, the drums skor arak and skor rumanea structure the rhythm, while the cymbals chhing mark the metric units and determine the particular tempo and its changes.
Available Recordings
Traditionally, only the oldest and best musicians are allowed to play in the seven man ensemble at a wedding ceremony. After the dark period of the ‘Khmer Rouge’ in Cambodia, only a few musicians survived the violence of Pol Pot’s regime against intellectuals and artists. Some of the experienced musicians among those survivors tried to support a revival of music performances and trained especially disabled students such as the landmine victims to perform professionally. Thus, the most representative phleng kar ensemble consists of seven disabled musicians. They play regularly near the Phnom Bakheng Temple (Filliozat, 1954; Dagens, 1988) to earn an income in
Khmer Wedding Music 55 the Angkor Wat area and are hired for weddings in the surrounding villages (Gaucher, 2002). Normally, they do not engage a singer, who may be added locally by the audience in course of the wedding. This practice also informs us about the different roles of musicians playing musical instruments and the singers, who are not necessarily professionals.
Figure 2: Landmine victims playing traditional Khmer wedding music at Phnom Bakheng temple, August 2008.
Other ensembles are recorded on different occasions among Khmer communities living in other Cambodian provinces, in the United States or in Canada. In this context, the ensemble may include a synthesiser and a bass guitar which take over the function of the plucked lute chapei veng or the dulcimer khim.
For the following analysis, I used multiple recordings of the same set of pieces.
The Wedding Ceremony and its Musical Repertoire
Traditionally, Khmer weddings consisted of ceremonies and celebrations lasting three days and nights. Three is considered to be an especially auspicious number by Khmer people because of its association with the three jewels of Theravada Buddhism: the Buddha, the Sangha (brotherhood of monks), and the Dhamma (Buddha's teachings). According to one of the most complete repertoire lists (Nguyễn, 1981: 199-202) the wedding ensemble has to follow a standard ritual structure during the three day wedding ceremony (Figure 3).
56 Gisa Jähnichen
title of the piece multiple functions
external source such as local folk songs,
court dances
unique function in
the wedding context
THE LEADING OF THE BRIDE’S GROOM TO THE BRIDE’S HOUSE AND ASKING FOR THE BREAKING OF THE FENCE TO GET INTO THE HOUSE
• Preah Thong Neang Neak x
• Chum kre x
• Neakpuon x
• Kat slak x
THE BEGINNING OF THE CEREMONY
• Hom rong x
• Chap kon khleng x
• Lot an tek x
• No nia krang x
• Chak krope x
• Kuos oong re x
• So se x
• Bot son dek x
THE ENTERING INTO THE CEREMONIAL ROOM BY THE BRIDE AND THE GROOM
• Sadek dar x
• Domray sor x
• Preahbat Chum Veng x
• So ban x
• Phuong fear x
• Nyai nyoong x
PROCESSION
• Angkor reak x
BREAKFAST OF THE SECOND DAY
• Phat chiay x
• Konsai krohom x
• Dok krai x
Khmer Wedding Music 57
• Chrong sro ngat x
HAIR CUT
• Sarikakeo x
• Kat slak x
• Sray stor x
• Konsai krohom x
• Phat chiay x
PRAYING TO GOD PELI
• Koong saoi x
• Khloong nery x
PLAYING AN ARTFUL GAME (THE DRAWING OF A SWORD, PERFORMING MAGIC)
• Samon x
• Om tuk x
• Angkor reak x
THE CUTTING OF BETEL FLOWERS INTO PIECES AND SCATTERING THEM ON THE HEADS OF THE COUPLE
• Nieng Neak x x
• Sampong x
• Domray dol day x
INVITING TO CHEW BETEL
• Nieng Nok x
• Soai khnoong vot x
• Khloong on dek x
• Koong saoi x
THE KOWTOWING OF THE SUN GOD
• Nery x
• Sdek dar x
SACRIFICING BETEL BY THE BRIDE AND THE GROOM
• Preah Thoong x x
THE BRIDE LEAVES THE BRIDE’S ROOM (CHANGING DRESSES)
• Phatphai x
58 Gisa Jähnichen BRIDE AND GROOM SIT TOGETHER TO CONDUCT THE CEREMONY
• Preah Thoong x x
• Nieng Neak x
• Neakpuon x
OPENING OF THE MAIN MEAL
• Can no x
• Bon tiay dieng dias x
THE BINDING OF THREAD AROUND THE WRIST
• Baikkhon x
GOING INTO A CIRCLE WITH CANDLES
• Chum kre x
THE BRIDE’S FAMILY OFFERS BETEL
• Kon long thong x
THE ENTERING INTO THE WEDDING ROOM
• Lom nieng x
• Sralay ondet x
THE SWEEPING OF THE WEDDING MAT
• Sray nyai nyoong x
• Neakpuon x
AND THE GREETING OF PARENTS AND RELATIVES
• Baikkhon x
• Phatphai x
• Tuktup x
Figure 3: Table of the wedding ceremony and its musical repertoire in chronological order.
The repertoire can be categorised into songs and pieces with multiple functions. Some of them draw on external sources such as local folk songs or court dances. Others have a unique function in the wedding context. These categories, however, do not imply different levels of musical complexity. The actual shape of each part of the repertoire follows accepted rules of musical structure within melodic, rhythmic and dynamic development.
Khmer Wedding Music 59 The entire repertoire of phleng kar exists in a vocal version (songs, embedded in the given musical structure) and in a purely instrumental version. Singers may be added to the ensemble, while musicians are compulsory.
Understanding the Musical Structure of Songs and Pieces
The musical structures of each piece belonging to the wedding repertoire are unique. They involve scheme-based interpretations that apply a melodic shaping to each piece. Instead of following a linear progression of horizontally serialised pitch, the musical system entails methods of pitch substitution within a group of similar pitch qualities that maintain the unique identity of each piece. Therefore, melodies can differ in their nominal pitch order, but can represent the same piece by exchanging pitches within one group of pitches, of the same quality. Pitch qualities can be categorised into ‘moving’ such as glissando and vibrato, and ‘straight’ such as sustaining tones and straight tone steps. Subordinated pitch qualities include different shapes of pitch movement and their inner dynamics that are characterised by speeding up or slowing down of variable movements between pitches or around a pitch. Further, combinations of pitches quality groups identify modal patterns that contribute to piece identity. This might be the most characteristic feature, which can be observed in the South Vietnamese am nhac tai tu, in Thai court music and in Southern Lao ceremonial music, all of them following a strict metro-rhythmic frame. A real modification of piece identities requires a change of the metro-rhythmic frame.
Pieces played as Khmer wedding music, phleng kar, consist of metric units in duple or quadruple meter and in a square number of units per row1, each of the same length within a piece. Thus, phleng kar can be divided into lengths of 2-units, 4-units, 8-units and 16-units per row. The composite amount of rows may vary through repetitive arrangements and through adding or changing of song texts. Translated into Western understanding, these pieces
1 “Row” here means a musical unit into a specific frame of meter which is interpreted
individually according to given rules (relationship between pitch quality groups) of a piece. Row might be comparable with “row of verses” as commonly understood in literature.
60 Gisa Jähnichen may feature divisions of 2, 4, 8 or 16 bars per musical row and the main emphasis coinciding with the last beat of a bar, of which the last bar is the most important for the identity of that particular section. The structure of each row is identified by rhythmic articulation, as for example in the pieces Angkor reak (Figure 4) and Sarikakeo (Figures 5 and 6). Both pieces are derived from external sources.
Figure 4: The melodic outlines and the rhythmic identification of lines in the piece Angkor reak. The drum notations above or below the line indicate different sounds (through using left or right hand, through closed or open beats).
The piece Angkor reak derives from the classical court dance repertoire. The divisions of rows of uneven length, which are usually played in the court dance repertoire, were adapted to accommodate the rhythmic identification rows in a given mode. Taking the rhythmic patterns of four bars of the transcription (see Figure 4) and placing them in a form with rows of equal length, we may observe some similarities, variants and definite changes in the rhythmic structure:
Khmer Wedding Music 61
First row: 1a + 1b [main identification] Second row: 1ax + 1b [varied main identification] Third row: 1bx + 1ay [varied 1b + repeating last 2 bars of 1a] Forth row: 0 + 2 [off beat filling + new rhythmic ‘cadence’] Fifth row: 1a + 1b [main identification]
To identify melodic pitches, which are interchangeable, and group them into the scheme, we can bring them into a parallel comparison according to identical rhythmic lines. The first and the second half-row 1b are interchangeable. The musicians would consider them as exactly the same. From this observation we learn that the melodic pattern noted here as g4-a4-g4-f4 leading to d4 means musically the same as a4-c5-a4-g4 leading to d4. The more repetitions of the piece, the richer the set of pitch groups. Wedding music seems to be a practice, which requires a special way of acquiring musical knowledge through long term experiences, passive and participating observation.
Figure 5: The melodic outlines and the rhythmic identification of lines in the piece Sarikakeo.
The following piece is derived from the folksong Sarikakeo. We can observe that the rows are of double length compared to the previous example. Melodic patterns of pieces typically deriving from folksongs are marked with a grey box. These patterns require again a fixed rhythmic structure. Moreover, they have an important connecting function between the rows,
62 Gisa Jähnichen thus they appear as ‘overhanging’, if the piece is not repeated in further versions.
Through a number of rules applied on various modal structures, which differ in their interval relationship and in their central tones, melodic lines or modal rows can be memorised through the ordering of these emphasised pitch qualities. The transmission occurs audibly as a free metric instrumental introduction of each piece.
Figure 6: The rough draft of the folk song Sarikakeo as recently practised. The original idea is strongly varied in the wedding repertoire.
Examples: Audiovisual Analysis
In this audiovisual analysis, I try to determine the role of the free metric introduction as an identity marker and as a tool for memorising a piece. One example is the piece Hom rong2. It is played right at the beginning of a wedding ceremony. For the analysis I examined five different recordings:
1. recorded in the 1960s, an item of the Smithsonian archive;
2. classical interpretation of the phleng kar ensemble of the Bakheng temple in Seam Reap, 2006;
3. modern version of this interpretation with a male singer, recorded in Phnom Penh in 2007;
4. modernised version from 1990s recorded in the United States with a male singer;
2 Hom rong [also Horn Rung, Hoan Roang] is an overture (Ungpho, 2011: 287) which is
always played at the official beginning of a ceremony. A piece of the same name exists in the Thai court repertoire with a similar function, though a completely different musical structure. The Hom rong in the Khmer wedding repertoire is unique in its musical structure.
Khmer Wedding Music 63
5. modernised version from 1990s recorded in the United States with a female singer.
Further, I analysed and corrected a transcription made from an anonymous tape recording in the late 1970 by Nguyễn Đình Phúc:
Figure 7: The melodic outlines and the rhythmic identification of lines in the piece Hom rong. The rows are rhythmically structured in 1a+1b / 1a+1b / 2a+1bx / 2a+1bx / 2a+1bx.
In the recordings chosen, the piece Hom rong appears in a 4-unit per row and in an 8-unit per row construction (see Figure 7). The first example is the 4-unit per row version (Figure 8). The introduction is short and seems to leave out some pitch qualities compared to later recordings. The rows are shorter, but the tempo remains similar.
64 Gisa Jähnichen
Figure 8: Free metric introduction of the piece Hom rong, 1st recording (audio example 05-01).
As in other regional repertoires, the tempo of a piece is a remarkable attribute of its identity. If played too fast, certain pitch qualities cannot be produced such as accelerating vibratos or dynamic glissandos. Due to the tendency to keep a stable tempo, a melodic ‘enrichment’ through playing smaller notes relatively fast leads to the redoubling of the musical rows, for example, here the noted 2/4 meter will then appear as 4/4 meter, or the amount of bars will be duplicated to become 16 bars per row. The introduction of the second and the third example (Figures 9 and 10) of the piece Hom rong might be played by the same musician. Small differences occur due to a different instrumentation and the absence of a singer in the classical instrumental version. In this visual comparison, the understanding of free metric creativity becomes obvious (see marked area).
Figure 9: Free metric introduction of the piece Hom rong, 2nd recording (audio example 05-02).
Khmer Wedding Music 65
Figure 10: Free metric introduction of the piece Hom rong, 3rd recording. (audio example 05-03).
If we compare these two versions with the transcription prepared by Nguyễn Đình Phúc, we can see that the marked areas show melodic similarities within a different metric relation, while the melodic lines in the non-marked areas seem to be the same. The pitch groups emphasised in the metrically varied parts of the introduction follow the melodic scheme, which is noted in the transcription’s 4th and 8th main beat as d5–a4, d5–a4, b4-g4, a4-d4- g4.
Figure 11: Free metric introduction of the piece Hom rong, 4th recording (audio example 05-04).
Figure 12: Free metric introduction of the piece Hom rong, 5th recording (audio example 05-05).
66 Gisa Jähnichen The forth and the fifth examples from the introduction of the piece Hom rong are quite different in their melodic line, though not in interval relationships and pitch quality groups. The difference can be explained through different voice characters of male and female singers and through the individuality of the different musicians. The female singer’s version keeps the classical distribution of pitch quality groups in the introduction. Switching into the higher register of the same pitch quality (see marked area in Figure 11) supports the expectation of a high voice.
Additionally it is possible to extend an introduction to give the ensemble more time for preparation. In this case, the introduction repeats certain patterns (Figure 12).
To prove that these introductions are not arbitrary, we should have a look at other pieces for comparison.
Figure 13: Free metric introduction of the piece Sompong, instrumental version (audio example 05-06).
Figure 14: Free metric introduction of the piece Sompong, vocal version with female singer (audio example 05-07).
Khmer Wedding Music 67
Figure 15: Free metric introduction of the piece Sralay ondet, instrumental version (audio example 05-08).
Figure 16: Free metric introduction of the piece Sralay ondet, vocal version with a male voice (audio example 05-09).
A comparison can be made with the piece Sompong, which is played during the cutting of betel flowers into pieces and scattering them on the heads of the couple. We can observe the introduction of two different recordings, one classical instrumental version and one modernised version with a female singer. Both examples seem to be quite different, if we focus only on the nominal melodic shape. But the pitch qualities remain the same as well as the interval relationships. In the second version, the musician evades glissandi that he compensates with regularly ‘running notes’. This playing technique is quite unusual and may imply that the musician used transcriptions or keyboard generated melody models adopted from the khim or chapei veng during his earlier studies.
Another example is the piece Sralay ondet that accompanies the entering of the wedding room by the bride and the groom after the second day of the wedding. The piece is played in another mode than the piece Hom rong. The
68 Gisa Jähnichen introduction gives a clear idea of the structure of the piece, in its classical version (Figure 15), which is played by the long necked lute chapei veng.
A modernised version (Figure 16) with a male singer is introduced with a tro so touch. The identity and construction of this piece —summarised in the introduction—are distinct from the piece Hom rong. The piece Sralay ondet is one of the more complicated pieces, hence, younger musicians who are separated from their homeland, might invent introductions that sound nice but do not function anymore as a memorising tool. These young musicians might use music transcriptions and various audiovisual materials to shape their aesthetic perception, but this shifts their musical understanding from traditional to contemporary ideas. The implications for those concerned with cultural maintenance are obvious.
Outlook
Order systems play an important role for the memorisation and identification of structures represented by musical expression. In the field of musicology, the discovery of those order systems is one of the greatest challenges. The understanding of memorising tools as well as of piece identities in large scale repertoires helps to explain local differences in thinking about sound and music. In the course of this research, we have the chance to learn from past wisdom, and we can observe the alienation of significant elements supporting the piece identity caused by textualisation. Finally, we can utilise the discovered order system to analyse the detection of continuity within a regional cultural phenomenon. In the actual case, we can sense the good wedding spirit’s option to enter the scene or not.
References
Ah Bee (2009) Khmer wedding. Retrieved April 26, 2011 from http://www. khmerarticles.com/music/khmer-wedding-music-phleng-kar/ 23 Sept ember, 2009.
Catlin, Amy & Eran Fraenkel (1992). Text, context, and performance in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam (edited by Dept. of Ethnomusicology). Los Angeles: University of California.
Khmer Wedding Music 69 Chou Ta-Kuan (1992). The Customs of Cambodia (translated by Shuo-fu,
Pelliot and P. Siam Society). Bangkok: d’Arcy.
Dagens, Bruno (1988). Les tours à visages du Bayon d’Angkor et le nombre 108 [The face-towers of the Angkor Bayon and the number 108]. Bulletin d’Etudes Indiennes, 6, 177–199.
Dagens, Bruno (1995). Angkor: Heart of an Asian Empire. London: Thames & Hudson.
Dagens, Bruno (2002). History of the Angkor Site. Museum International, 54(1-2), 1-22.
Douglas, Gavin (2009). Music in Mainland Southeast Asia: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ebihara, May, Carol Anne Mortland & Judy Ledgerwood (Eds.) (1994). Cambodian Culture since 1975: Homeland and Exile. New York: Cornell University Press.
Filliozat, Jean (1954). Le symbolisme du monument du Phnom Bakhen [The symbolism of the monument of Phnom Bakhen], BEFEO, 44, 527–554.
Fletcher, Roland & Christian Pottier (2002). The Gossamer city: A new inquiry. Museum International, 54(1-2), 23-27.
Gaucher, Jacques (2002). The ‘City’ of Angkor. What is it? Museum International, 54(1-2). Retrieved February 6, 2012 from http://unesdoc. unesco.org/images/0012/001266/126680e.pdf
Hamera, Judith (2002). An answerability of memory: “Saving” Khmer classical dance. The Drama Review, 46(4), 65-85.
Jacques Brunet (1979). L'orchestre de mariage cambodgien et ses instruments. Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, 66, 203-254. Retrieved February 6, 2012 from http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/ home/prescript/article/befeo_0336-1519_1979_num_66_1_4015
Miller, Terry & Sam-Ang Sam (1995). The classical musics of Thailand and Cambodia: A study of distinctions. Ethnomusicology, 39(2), 229-243.
Nguyễn Đình Phúc (1981). Âm nhạc dân tọc Cam-pu-chia. Hanoi: Văn Hóa Nghệ Thuật.
70 Gisa Jähnichen Pottier, Christophe (2000). The contribution of the École Française
d’Extrême-Orient with respect of the cultural heritage of Angkor over the past 100 years. The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies, 18, 254–262.
Sam-Ang Sam (1994). Khmer traditional music today. Cambodian Culture since 1975: Homeland and Exile, edited by May Ebihara, Carol Anne Mortland & Judy Ledgerwood. New York: Cornell University Press, 39-47.
Sam-Ang Sam (1998). The Pin Peat Ensemble: Its History, Music and Context. PhD dissertation, Wesleyan University.
Ungpho, Rewadee (2011). Pi nai and saw sam sai: Special instruments imitating the vocal solo. Studia Instrumentorum Musicae Popularis II (New Series), edited by Gisa Jähnichen. Münster: MV-Wissenschaft, 287-296.
