KHAMMU RECORDINGS FROM THAILAND, LAOS AND YUNNAN, 1998-2023 – FRED GALES @ SOUND REPORTERS

Khammu Ou area in South Pongsali Province near Muang Khua

INTRODUCTION

A two-hour compilation of Khammu recordings from Thailand, Laos and Yunnan, nowadays in China made between 1998 and 2023 by Fred Gales of Sound Reporters. Some of the tracks have been earlier published during radio broadcasts and on audio carriers as vinyl but most tracks not. The entire compilation with a length of about 3 hours will appear as the album Khammu on soundreporters.bandcamp.com just before New Year 2026. 

The first track is of a Teum and Rice Wine party. Teum is the main genre of vocal songs of the Khammu for public events and festivities. It has poetic lyrics often of a personal nature. The texts deal with experiences the singer has had. The lyrics are improvised based on sayings and set ways of expressing feelings. It is usually sung by one person. The singer is supported by the other people who attend and regularly voice their cheering and support at the end of lines and strophes.  

The poetic structure consists of various meters, rhythms, diverse forms of rhyme and a number of set melodies which vary from the diverse subgroups of the Khammu being the Kwen, Khammu Yuan, Rok, Krong, Khammu Lue also known as Cwaa or the regions where they live Nam Ou, Meung Ngoy, Luang Prabang, Pongsali and Oudomsai.  And even within each subgroup or area they can vary from village to village.  

The songs can be purely vocal or can be accompanied by instruments. Most used is the mouth organ, the khene or in Khammu language the Sngkuul but also a range of other instruments are used. You will hear in this compilation gongs, cymbals, various percussion instruments, the nose flute or Toot, a long bamboo horn or Lalu and the Pii Koonrok, a hobo like instrument.

The lamet which are more or less surrounded by the Khammu and have a music culture which has many similarities with the Khammu. But they speak a different language which belongs to the Palaungic family of languages. There are two tracks of the Lamet in this compilation, track 13 and 14. Track 14 is about the bronze frog drum which used to be an important part of their culture as well as of the Khammu as described in the book Lamet hill peasants in French Indochina from 1951 by Karl Gustav Izikowits. But since the War in Vietnam, more aptly called the American war, many of the frog drums disappeared or had to be sold to dealers and foreigners who had no idea or respect for what they obtained. This war during which a great part of Laos was bombarded by the Americans even more as Europe or Japan during the second world war. Nowadays people still die of left over bombs and mines of this American war.  

This war is also the subject of the second song in which Jan Pon Sivilai sings about his experiences as a soldier of an American led mercenary army around Vieng Phoukka. He describes how on one day their American officers without warning suddenly disappeared and left them behind at the mercy of the Pathet Lao and the Vietcong. 

The first track is a recording of a Teum and Rice Wine party of which the note book with the names of all the singers and musicians, the village as well as the content of the songs disappeared a few weeks later in Chaing Mai in Thailand. The same is valid for track 11 and 12 except the name of the singer and song leader. So, this information is missing. 

The recordings were made with different machines varying from a Sony MZ-R3 MD recorder, a Sony MZ-NH1 Hi MD recorder, a Tascam HD-P2, a Tascam DR-700 and a Tascam Portacapture X8 recorder with 2 Sennheiser MD 421-U-4 microphones, a Røde NT4 stereo microphone and 2 DPA SKM 4060 microphones. In track 12 one channel had so much disturbance that I had to made it a mono recording. 

All musicians were not professional musicians although some were known in their community as good singers and were also asked to perform on occasions. Only the musicians of track 16 performed Khammu music regularly even internationally with their group named Teum Mu. 

All information was given by the musicians or other people attending the performances in Thai, Thai Lue or Lao and translated by Suphab Yongsuwan who also took care of getting the people to perform and asking them questions. The recordings, pictures and short video clips were done by Fred Gales who also took care of the radio broadcast productions and other publications as  the LP Land of three Fogs by Tropos Records which entails another song of Nang Sün Nai Lang.

TRACKLIST

01 Teum and Rice Wine Party 47'07 47'07

Singers and Khene player unknown (notes lost)

Recorded at a resettled Khammu village near

Luang Nam Tha old airport 6-6-1998.

02 Falang soldier in war time 24'34 64'41

Nai Jan Pon Sivilai

Recorded at Ban Mai, Vieng Phoukka 29-3-2003

Kwen

03 To move to the city is very suffering 4’46-69’27

Nang Sün Nai Lang – voice

Recorded at Vieng Poukkha 2006

Khammu Rok Ou Meung

Ngoy style

04 Song of welcome 3’29 72’56

Po I Tau - voice

Recorded at Ban Mai – Mengla, Yunnan, China, 2006

05 Unity, work together 7’31 80’27

Nang Wong Panyason

Recorded at Vieng Poukkha, 1-4-2003

Khammu Yuan Na Le

06 We never met before 4’09 84’36

Ay Kham - voice

Recorded at Vieng Poukkha, 1-4-2003

Kwen

07 Khap Baw Saw 2’38 87’14

Young man Young Woman

Nang Theun – voice

Nai Som Thong - Khene

Recorded at Ban Somsay, Mueng Oun, Oudomsai, 4-1-2005

Teum Makut

Khammu Ou Oudomsai

08 Khap Teum Peun Mueng 4’36 91’50

Friends of the area - traditional song

Po Taw Kampan – voice

Recorded at Ban Somsay, Mueng Oun, Oudomsai, 4-1-2005

Khammu Ou Oudomsai

09 Yook 2’34 94’24

tease

Nang Khang – voice

Recorded at Ban Somsay, Mueng Oun, Oudomsai, 4-1-2005

Khammu Ou Oudomsai

10 Before poor now more comfortable 2’13 96’37

Nang Theun - voice

Nai Som Thong – khene

Recorded at Ban Somsay, Mueng Oun, Oudomsai, 4-1-2005

Teum Euju, Khammu Ou Oudomsai

11 Teum 1 2’45 99’22

Kham Ket Sitpraseut – voice

Unknown – gong, big cymbals, choir

Recorded at just outside of the new town of

Luang Nam Tha, 5-6-1998

12 Teum 2 3’20 102’42

Kham Ket Sitpraseut – voice

Unknown – gong, choir

Recorded at just outside of the new town of Luang Nam Tha, 5-6-1998

13 We are poor, never see the governor 2’36 105’18

Nang Rieng Lawang - voice

Recorded at Ban Nam Toy, Huay Xai, Bokeo, 28-3-2003

Lamet

14 Frog drum song 5’45 111’03

Bun Soi - voice

Recorded at Vieng Poukkha, 2006

Lamet

15 Orphan 3 7’09 118’12

Po Tau Jen – Pii Koonrok (hobo)

Recorded at Ban Om Mok, Meung Khua, Laos, januari 202

Khammu Ou Pongsali

16 Teum 3 Toot and Lalu 1’31 119’43

Teum MuMae

Chen Sawlangtoi – Toot (nose flute)

Nang Ma Konganan – Lalu (long bamboo horn)

Recorded at Ban Huai Moi, Nan, Thailand, December 2022

Krong

Khammu Ou area in South Pongsali near Muang Khua

All recordings, text and pictures by Fred Gales

All tracks on the Album Khammu https://soundreporters.bandcamp.com/