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Intellectual Cultural Heritage
45
Wong Salo So Pin, a term used to indicate a type of
folk music and singing band of Nan Province, features two
types of musical instrument: salo and pin (sueng), while so is
a unique method of singing in Lanna culture.
Salo is the Northern Thai folk musical instrument. It is
a bowed, two-string instrument. The hair of the bow passes
over the strings, in similar fashion to the three-string so of
the central Thai musical culture.
There are two types of Nan Province’s salo: the salo
klom and the salo kop.
Salo klom is a traditional folk fiddle, similar to the
two-string so of Chiang Mai Province. The differences
between the two styles of salo,
which also reflect the intellectual
heritage of the Nan people, can
be found, for example, in the
ways that the tuning pegs are
positioned, the coconut shell was
cut, the strings are strung.
Salo kop is a fretted salo.
A salo kop may have as many as
9 to 11 frets. These frets make
it easier to learn and play this
type of salo, particularly for the
children who want to learn how
to play the instrument.
Pin, or Sueng, is a plucked pair-string musical
instrument of the Lanna culture. It is a well-known folk
musical instrument with two pairs of strings -- the upper
pair and the lower pair. Pin can come in any of the three
sizes -- small, medium or large. The large ones give a deep
tone that is best for accompanying the so singing.
So singing is the Nan people’s traditional folk singing
style that is unique in its characteristics and acclaimed for its
beauty. Nan-style of
So
singing is generally slower in tempo
than the Chiang Mai-style
So
singing, hence the saying, a
tongue-twister in Thai: “Nan people speak fast, but sing
slow; while Chiang Mai people speak slow, but sing fast.”
Nan-style so singing has a repertoire of standard
tunes that is characteristic of the style and should be
preserved, learned and passed on for generations, such as
the
Dat Mueang Nan
tune or the
Long Nan
tune, which
dates back to the period when Nan administration center
was at Pua. In addition to that there are a large number of
old traditional songs that have been passed on through
generations, some of which might share the same name as
the traditional folk songs of other localities in the Lanna
region, but Nan songs have their own specific characteristics,
for example,
Klom Nang Non
song,
Mae Mai Kom
song,
Mae
Mai Kruea
song,
Tin Tum
song,
Tin Haep
song,
Lap Laeng
or
Lap Lae
song, and
Pan Fai
song.
Wong Salo So Pin
Folk
Musical Band (“
wong
” means
“[musical] band”) is a precious
heritage of the Nan, Lanna and all
the Thai people–an outstanding
her i tage, wi th di st inct ive
character i st i cs that the Nan
people are rightly proud of, since
thei r ancestors have created,
improved on, developed, and
passed it on through generations.
Nan people inc lude mus i c in
several traditions and customs,
which it has become an integral part and these traditional
practices have continued until today.
Examples of prominent performers of the Salo So Pin
Folk Mus i cal Band are Pho Chai langka Khrueasaen,
Pho Nannueangdi Thepphas i t , and Nat ional Ar t i st
Pho Khamphai Nu-ping.
Wong Salo So Pin