Traditional and recent performance practice in Asian free reed mouth organs: The sheng and khaen as case studies

Abstract

Mouth‐blown instruments employing a free reed coupled to a pipe resonator have long been used throughout East and Southeast Asia. Details of the origin and development of these instruments are not known, but are closely connected with the history and prehistory of a multitude of ethnic groups. Beginning from presumed folk instrument origins, the free reed mouth organs have been used in a variety of contexts including simple signaling, courtship, local entertainment, civic or military processions, and sophisticated court music. Two instruments operating on similar acoustical principles have had contrasting histories: the Chinese sheng and the Laotian khaen. The sheng has a two thousand year recorded history in China, and in the last century modernized versions have been developed and appeared in the Western concert hall style setting of the Chinese orchestra. The khaen, while remaining a strong cultural symbol of the Lao people, has not undergone similar developments as once prevalent traditional performance styles have almost disappeared.