Pong Lang

Pong lang ( Thai โปงลาง ) is a xylophone made of hardwood panels that is played in the Isan region of northeast Thailand .

The pong long consists of 7 to 14 sound bars, which are lined up in parallel on two strings and hung almost vertically. Instead of hanging it on a tree, which used to be the norm, the xylophone for concert use is now attached to a post frame with the largest sound plate at the top and the smallest plate at the bottom of the base so that the row of plates sags in the form of a chain line. The game is played with two hardwood mallets.

The instrument is played solo or in an ensemble for entertainment, usually together with the oral organ khaen , the plucked long-necked lute phin , the large beaker drum klong hang , the cymbal sing and the counter-strike sticks kap kaep . It is especially popular in Kalasin Province .

literature

• Panya Roonggruang: Thailand . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . Volume 25, Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, p. 335