Classical instrumental ensemble of Thailand. It combines melodic and rhythmic percussion with string and wind instruments. Although the term mahōrī originally referred to an exclusively female string ensemble consisting of a kračhappī (plucked lute), a so sām sāi (spike fiddle), a thōn (goblet drum) and a singer who kept time with the krap phuang (clappers), during the 20th century it came to denote a much larger, mixed-gender ensemble that plays the lighter, more tuneful repertory for entertainment occasions. The player of the spike fiddle leads the ensemble, which consists of xylophones (ranāt ēk and ranāt thum), circular gong-chimes (khong wong yai and khong wong lek), two-string fiddles (so duang and so ū), a zither (čhakhē) and one or more vertical duct flutes (khlui), supported rhythmically and metrically by a pair of small cymbals (ching) and one or more drums. Because the xylophones and circular gong-chimes are tuned to a ‘compromise’ seven-note scale of equal intervals, the more flexibly pitched strings and flute must accommodate them. The ensemble’s size may vary greatly, also including instruments such as the metallophones ranāt ēk lek and ranāt thum lek. The xylophones and circular gong-chimes used in the mahōrī are normally smaller than those of the Pī phāt ensemble.
See also Ranāt.
GEWM, iv (‘Thailand’; T. Miller)
D. Yupho: Khruang dontrī Thai [Thai musical instruments] (Bangkok, 1957, 2/1967; Eng. trans., 1960, 3/1987)
D. Morton: The Traditional Music of Thailand (Berkeley, 1976)
TERRY E. MILLER