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The ''tro Khmer'' () is a traditional bowed
The ''tro Khmer'' () is a traditional bowed string instrument
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...
from Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
. Its body is made from a special type of coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
covered on one end with snake skin, and it has three strings. Instruments are not standardized, and coconuts vary in size; however the instrument's sound bowl may have dimensions 16.5 cm by 14 cm. In the past the strings were made of silk. By the 1960s, metal strings were in use, and the sound of the instrument changed, becoming sharper.
The ''tro Khmer'' is closely related to a Thai
Thai or THAI may refer to:
* Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia
** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand
** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand
*** Thai script
*** Thai (Unicode block ...
instrument called ''saw sam sai
The ''saw sam sai'' ( th, ซอสามสาย, , , also spelled ''saw samsai'', and occasionally called simply ''sam sai''; literally 'three-stringed fiddle') is a traditional bowed string instrument of Thailand. It is in the ''saw'' family ...
''.
The instrument may be related to the similarly shaped Indonesian version of the rebab, arriving there from Muslim culture, c. 15th century a.d. A difference between the two is the number of stings; where the Indonesian rebab has two strings, the tro Khmer has three.
References
See also
* Indonesian rebab *Tro (instrument)
The ''tro'' ( km, ទ្រ) is Cambodia's traditional spike fiddles, bowed string instruments that are held and played vertically. Spike fiddles have a handle that passes through the resonator, often forming a spike, on the bottom side where i ...
*Traditional Cambodian musical instruments
Traditional Cambodian musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical music of Cambodia. They comprise a wide range of wind, string, and percussion instruments, used by both the Khmer majority as well as the ...
*Music of Cambodia
The music of Cambodia is derived from a mesh of cultural traditions dating back to the ancient Khmer Empire, India, China and the original indigenous tribes living in the area before the arrival of Indian and Chinese travelers. With the rapid We ...
*Huqin
''Huqin'' () is a family of bowed string instruments, more specifically, a spike fiddle popularly used in Chinese music. The instruments consist of a round, hexagonal, or octagonal sound box at the bottom with a neck attached that protrudes up ...
Cambodian musical instruments
Drumhead lutes
Bowed instruments
{{Cambodia-stub