The national music of Laos is the lam, where a singer (songs by expert singers are mor lam) uses improvised poetry set to quick tempo music around themes of love, difficulty, and poverty using turns of phrases and subtle humor. Lam is highly regional, and many listeners can determine the setting and themes in the first few lines.
Laos Actor Wearing Khon Masks.
A popular form of lam is basically a battle-of-the-sexes between an expert male and expert female singer to entertain the audience and trip the opposing singer up using humor, innuendo or stylistic flair. Lam can also be used in story telling as a sung form of folk poetry, and forms the oral tradition predating the national epics in literature. Lam used in animist traditions creates a type of chant which is used during ceremonies like the baci.
The most integral instrument for Lao music is the khaen a free-reed mouth organ made of bamboo. Variations on the khaen are found among most ethnic groups in Laos. Laos also uses a number of classical court instruments which show strong influence from China, Cambodia and Thailand. The ensembles include flutes, zithers, gongs, drums, fiddles, lutes, cymbals and xylophones. Modern mor lam also includes electric guitars, synthesizers and electric keyboards.
Traditional Mor Lam.
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