Kmer Accent in Music Compositions of Luang Praditphairo (Sorn Silapabanleng)

Abstract

This research was a part of doctoral dissertation in music department, faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Khon Kaen university. The primary objective was to analyze the music characteristics and strategies applied in the composition of Khmer accent songs by Luang Praditphairo (Sorn Silapabanleng). The study was qualitative research. Six Khmer accent songs were selected as the data. The songs were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics. In this research, the Khmer Liap Phra Nakhon song, belonging to the Thao category, was exemplified.
The results revealed that songs with Khmer accent were composed by Thai ancient songs composed by hearing and memorizing the accent. The style of Khmer songs was accompanied by Thai music theory, with certain music characteristics indicating the accent called “Luk Pasa”. In Luang Praditphairo’s (Sorn Silapabanleng) Khmer accent compositions, an identity derived from distinctive compositional techniques has emerged, namely, the melodic creation which combined various rhythmic patterns, the composition of unique melodic lines inserted a song at different points, the creation of melodies linked to others, a gimmick-inserted infusion of novelty in the Tang Kro musical style – called Luk Lor Luk Kad and Tang Plien. Moreover, there were the use of Yok rhythms, sound repetition with the change of rhythmic patterns, as well as using the repeated melodies before separating at the end. This knowledge has well organized and arranged to create distinctive Khmer accent songs.