Panpipe, the "soulful melody" of the Thai people

(Baonghean) - The treasure of Thai ethnic musical instruments is quite rich with a system of pi, khen, xi-x lo, dan tap tinh, gongs... But perhaps the most unique and attractive is the khen be!

The materials for making the Khen Be are very simple and familiar. They are 14 small bamboo pieces of different lengths and are joined into 7 pairs lying parallel to form a block. This bamboo block is connected together by a wooden gourd. On the bamboo pieces, the artisan creates air holes and attaches copper slats. Simply put, making and using the Khen Be is not an easy task. Because the Khen Be is a quite versatile musical instrument, sometimes it plays soulful, deep melodies like the sound of a gentle stream; sometimes it plays a bustling, exciting sound like a festival season; sometimes it is as excited and throbbing as the hearts of young men and women when they first date their lovers...

Therefore, it requires the user to be truly skillful, delicate and emotional, in other words, to have an artistic soul. Those who are good at making and using the Khen Be musical instrument are considered artisans by the locals. In Nghe An, there was once a person who was awarded the title of Folk Artisan for making and using the Khen Be by the State.



Teaching how to use the panpipe in Mon Son (Con Cuong)

That is Mr. Vi Dinh Cong (deceased) in Chan village, Thach Giam commune (Tuong Duong). We also know another person who is quite skilled, Mr. Lo The Luc in Tong Xan village, Thach Ngan commune (Con Cuong). There are not many Khen Be artisans left now, making and using this musical instrument is not easy, so the young generation often lacks perseverance and is influenced by modern means. Preserving and promoting the value of Khen Be in modern musical life is facing difficulties, requiring more attention from the cultural sector and local authorities.

The birth of this musical instrument is associated with a touching love story of a Thai couple. The story goes that long ago, there was a handsome man and a beautiful woman who had been married for a long time but there was still no sound of a child crying in the house. While their happiness was not yet complete, disaster struck when the husband unfortunately contracted leprosy, a disease that the Thai people at that time feared very much. The village lord did not allow him to stay in the village, forcing him to go deep into the forest to build a hut to live isolated from the village. The wife at home could not avoid the stalking, watching and flirting of the village leader. To maintain her loyalty and chastity to her sick husband who was living alone in the deep forest, the wife decided to leave the village and go somewhere unknown. In the deep forest, living a life of exile, suffering and loneliness, the husband only knew how to be friends with wild animals. Having nothing to do, he cut down small bamboo pieces of different lengths and combined them into blocks, like a bamboo raft, then carved small holes, whittled the bamboo ribs to attach them. He lifted it up and blew, and from the panpipe came a stream of sound, sometimes low, sometimes high, sometimes shrill, sometimes humming, sometimes excited, sometimes melodious. His panpipe called more and more birds and animals to be his friends. One day, someone from the same village went hunting, heard the charming sound, he followed and found the shack of the leper boy. When he returned to the village, he told the whole story and the villagers went into the forest one by one to find out the truth. When he heard the news, Tao Ban also went deep into the forest to listen. The sound of the panpipe from the leper boy purified his soul, making Tao Ban no longer have evil thoughts. He immediately had the villagers build a small house at the end of the village for the leper to live in and every day confide his thoughts into the panpipe. The good news spread far and wide, the sound of the panpipe of the leper son reached the young wife's ears. From afar, she immediately returned to the village to reunite with her husband. One night, the wife saw a fairy appear, showing her precious medicinal herbs to cure her husband. In the morning, she went into the forest to find medicine. After a while, her husband recovered. Not long after, the wife became pregnant and gave birth to healthy and beautiful children. Their family was happy for the rest of their lives and was always filled with the melodious, deep sounds of the panpipe. Since then, young Thai men have come to learn how to make and use the panpipe in the hope of finding a beautiful wife...

Many times, remembering the story of the Khen Be, we suddenly think, the artist Vi Dinh Cong passed away earlier this year, Mr. Lo The Luc is also old and weak, so who will be the worthy successor to the path of those who came before? And tomorrow, will the Thai people be able to preserve the "soul melody" of their people?

Cong Kien