Kong ring

The kong ring or gung treng (Khmer: គង់រេង) is a Cambodian tube zither, in which a tube of bamboo is used as a resonator for stings that run along the outside of the tube, lengthwise.[1][2] It has the same musical purpose as the "bossed gongs" (circular gongs that have a rounded bump in the center, like a shield boss) and may substitute for them and accompany singing.[3] Although it is a traditional instrument with a long history, it has been improved on in modern times. The kong ring is represented by similar instruments in other countries of South Asia and the Pacific.

Kong ring គង់រេង

Musician sings and plucks the strings of his kong ring គង់រេង (tube zither), in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.
String instrument
Classification	String instrument Plucked string instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	312.11 312.122 (*Idiochord tube zithers Heterochord tube zithers with extra resonator.)
Related instruments
Đàn goong, Vietnam

Styles

There are two different syles; the traditional uses bamboo to make the sounding strings, and a more modern style uses new materials.[4]

Traditional

Originally, the strings played were created by cutting the outer layer or crust of the bamboo, to separate 7 strings (leaving them attached to the tube at each end), and placing a bridge pressed underneath at each end.[4][2] Resonance holes were cut under the strings, long and narrow.[2]

New materials

Instead of creating strings from the bamboo, metal strings are also be used, attached with pegs.[2][5] A resonator gourd may also be added; this may be less a resonator than a way to stabilize the instrument as it is held against the chest.[3]

Asian and Pacific variants

Variants of the Kong ring can be found Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Madagascar and the Philippines.

Madagascar valiha player with his instrument. This instrument has features found on both the old and new kong ring. Like the new, it uses metal strings. Like the old it uses bridges to tighten the strings, rather than pegs. Like the dinh goong it has the ends of the strings secured inside the bamboo tube.

In Vietnam, a variant exists today, the Đàn goong, that looks like the modern Cambodian instrument, with as many as 17 metal strings and pegs.[6][7] With instruments made with steel strings the Vietnamese instruments have one end secured inside the bamboo tube, the other wrapped around a peg on the opposite end, to add string tension and to lift the stings off the bamboo tube.[7]

In Thailand, it can be found among the Karenni Kayan people, where it may have as many as 8 bamboo strings cut from the resonator.[8] Among the Kareni, it is used for love songs, providing a "delicate rhythmic accompanyment."[8]

Variants in Malaysia, Madagascar and the Philippines resemble the older style of kong ring, with strings cut from the bamboo tube and bridges placed under the strips of bamboo turned into strings.[9] Placement of the bridges, and the ability to move them, allows for the Valiha to be tuned to different scales.[7]

In Madagascar the instrument is called valiha. In East Timor it is the "lakado."[10] In Malaysia it is called karaniing and krem. It is used widely in the Philippines and goes by multiple names including kolitong and kulibit.[9]

Similar tube zithers are believed by some to be the origin of the Chinese Guzheng[11]

References

1. ឆានុន [Chan. "អីយ៉ា!!! ប្លែកអារម្មណ៍ទៀតហើយ! តោះមកមើលឧបករណ៍ភ្លេងនិងបទចម្រៀងរបស់ជនជាតិព្នងវិញម្ដងមើល!!, [Wow !!! Feeling strange! Let's see the Bunnai Music Instruments and Songs!]". Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018. Article from a blog by ឆានុន.
   Image showing modern Kong ring.
2. Khean, Yun; Dorivan, Keo; Lina, Y; Lenna, Mao. Traditional Musical Instruments of Cambodia (PDF). Kingdom of Cambodia: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. p. 59.
3. [not stated], Earle. "MusiKoleksyon, Notes and instruments from a private collection". Retrieved 17 October 2018.
   Picture of Kong ring.
4. "[History of kong ring]". Retrieved 19 October 2018. Text for this source and its images originate from Koh Santepheap Daily, June 21, 2010. The article describes two types of Kong Ring, one made completely of bamboo (including the strings) the other with artificial strings wrapped around chopsticks that were inserted into the tube as pegs.
   Image of Kong ring with strings cut from the bamboo resonator.
   Image of the Kong ring as a bowed instrument.
5. "អីយ៉ា!!! ប្លែកអារម្មណ៍ទៀតហើយ! តោះមកមើលឧបករណ៍ភ្លេងនិងបទចម្រៀងរបស់ជនជាតិព្នងវិញម្ដងមើល!! [Wow !!! Feeling strange! Let's see the Bunnai Music Instruments and Songs!]". maorm.com. Retrieved 17 October 2018. [images 4-6 are pictures of the Gung treng.]
6. "The instruments The tube zither Dinh Goong". Retrieved 19 October 2018. ...tube zither Dinh Goong is an instrument of the GioRai people from the western central mountains of Vietnam...
   Picture of Dinh Goong
7. "Chorophone". phase.com. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2018. The Dinh Goong is a tube zither from Vietnam belonging to the GioRai minority. The basic bamboo is bound to a resonating gourd and can fix up to 17 strings.
   Image: shows how the strings are held inside the Dinh Goong without pegs
8. "Golden Triangle and Bronze drums, Musical instruments of the Golden Triangle, Kayaw tube zither, Karen Kayaw". Retrieved 21 October 2018.
   Image of a Kareni Kayaw tube zither.
9. "Tube Zither From the Philippines". Museum of Arts And SciencesMuseum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Ultimo NSW 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2018. Made in Mindanao, Philippines...This tube zither is representative of music making and instrument making in the Philippines, in Southeast Asia...widespread throughout the Philippines and is known by many names..strings of the tube zither are made from bamboo and are cut from the tube of the instrument and remain attached to it at each end.
   Image of a tube zither from Mindanao, Philippines
10. Bakkalapulo, Maria. "Vandaluna Media, THE WORLD THROUGH MUSIC AND CULTURE, ET5". mariabakkalapulo.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018. Image showing a Lakido tube zither, with sound hole in back
11. Kaufmann, Walter (1976) Musical References in the Chinese Classics. Detroit Monographs in Musicology. Harmonie Park Press. p. 101. "According to the Shuo Wen the cheng was a bamboo-tube zither. […] The bamboo tube eventually was replaced by a larger curved wooden board and while in one or two zither types fixed or movable bridges were used, the noble ch'in remained an unfretted instrument. Despite the fact that the cheng is not mentioned in the Classics, it is mentioned here because of its old age. The movable bridges which allowed variable tunings linked the cheng securely with popular music. It still exists side by side with the distinguished ch'in and se. Since the fourth or third centuries B.C. there existed another form of the se, a zither with five (to thirteen) strings, called chu (M 1375). The instrument is not mentioned in the Classics."

External links

• Video showing kong ring being played.
• Sound clip of Vietnamese dinh goong playing.
• Kayaw tube zither being played with singing, lament over lost love.
• Page has photo of bowed version of a tube zither.