Name of a group of xylophones and metallophones of Thailand and Cambodia; the Laotian equivalent is the lanat. The ranāt ēk (in Cambodia, roneat aek) is a high-pitched xylophone with a boat-shaped resonator mounted on a pedestal and 21 (occasionally 22) keys of bamboo or hardwood (for illustration see Xylophone, §4(ii), fig.9). The keys, which range in length from 38 cm to 30 cm, are strung on cords passing through the acoustical nodes and suspended from hooks on the end-boards. A tuning paste of beeswax and lead shavings is applied to the underside of the keys. The instrument has a range of three octaves (F to e'' or f''). It is played with a pair of beaters with either padded ends (for indoor use) or hard knobs (used outdoors). In ensemble playing the ranāt ēk is the leading instrument. Until the early 20th century it provided a fast-moving, rhythmically unchanging variation, in octaves, of the main melody, but later it became used almost without exception for the main melody, sustaining pitches of longer duration by a technique known as kro (rapid alternation of the beaters on bars an octave apart). Virtuoso solos, however, use a dazzling array of techniques.
The ranāt thum (in Cambodia, roneat thung) is a low-pitched xylophone with a rectangular box-shaped resonator, about 125 cm long, and 17 (occasionally 18) keys of bamboo or hardwood ranging in length from 42 cm to 35·5 cm. The keys are strung on cords suspended from hooks on the end-boards in the manner of the ranāt ēk, and a similar tuning paste is used. The ranāt thum has a range of just over two octaves (D to f', or g'). It is played with two padded beaters. In ensemble playing it provides a variation of the main melody, with much use of octaves and 4ths and great rhythmic variety.
The ranāt ēk lek, formerly called the ranāt thong, is a high-pitched Metallophone adopted by the Thai in the 19th century and possibly derived from Indonesian metallophones. The Cambodian equivalent is known as roneat daek. The ranāt ēk lek has a rectangular box-shaped resonator (about 40 cm long) on four short legs with rectangular bronze keys, ranging from 23·5 cm to 19 cm in length, supported at the acoustical nodes on narrow wooden tracks along the tops of the sides of the box. The keys are tuned by filing away part of the metal on the underside. The range and pitch of the ranāt ēk lek duplicate those of the ranāt ēk, whose part it doubles in ensemble playing. Like the latter, it is played with either hard or soft beaters.
The ranāt thum lek is a low-pitched metallophone whose history and construction are similar to those of the ranāt ēk lek, except that it is a little larger. Its range and tuning duplicate those of the ranāt thum, but unlike the latter, it is played with either hard or padded beaters.
See also Pinn peat; Mahōrī; Mohori; Pī phāt.
GEWM, [iv] (‘Thailand’; T. Miller)
D. Yupho: Khrūang dontri Thai [Thai musical instruments] (Bangkok,1957, 2/1967; Eng. trans., 1960, 2/1971)
D. Morton: The Traditional Music of Thailand (Berkeley, 1976)
DAVID MORTON/TERRY E. MILLER