Plants for musical instruments making

Last update: December 5, 2023

Several types of plant are used in instrument making in Cambodia: different species of white and red wood, bamboo, rattan and calabash.

One can distinguish the white woods ឈើ used for monoxyle instruments (drums, harp), the red woods and precious black woods for some drums (skor daey), the xylophone blades (roneat) and the structure of the fiddles (tro, tro Khmer). Let's not forget bamboo, or rather bamboos, of which various species are used in the making of instruments by both Khmers and ethnic minorities, and calabashes khlok ឃ្លោក.

• anhchéy អន្ជ័យ: or, more correctly lêang céy; this name covers two species: Buchanania reticulata Hance and Buchanania siamense Mig. (Anacardiaceae)
• beng បេង: Afzelia xylocarpa Craib (Caesalpiniaceae).

• chankiri ចាន់គីរី : ?
• chhlik ឈ្លីក : Shorea obtusa (Dipterocarpaceae)
• khnor ខ្នុរ nang: Artocarpus integra (Thunb.) Merr. 1917. This jackfruit tree is the variety bearing fruit with firm flesh.
• khnor prei ខ្នុរព្រៃ, wild  jackfruit tree. 
• koki  គគីរ: Hopea odorata Pierre.
• kranhung ក្រញុង: Several species of the genus Dalbergia are used, particularly: Dalbergia cochinchinensis Pierre
, Dalbergia cambodiana Pierre (Papilionaceae), whose wood was formerly reserved for the needs of the king.

• krakah: Sindora maritima Pierre or 
Sindora cochinchinensis Baill.
• krasang: Feroniella lucida (Scheff.) Swingle. (Caesalpiniaceae).
• neang nuon នាងនួន: four species of equal quality can be used: Dalbergia lanceolaria L., Dalbergia dongnaiensis Pierre, Dalbergis mammosa Pierre, Dalbergia bariensis Pierre.
• roluoh រលួស: Erulhrina orientalis (L.) Merl'. (Papilionaceae).

• samrong សំរោង: There are several samrong in Cambodia but only one is used seems to be used for musical instruments: Sterculia foetida L. (Sterculiaceae).
• thnong ធ្នង់: Pterocarpus macrocarpus
• trayoeung  ត្រយ៉ង: Diospyros pilosanthera Blanco var. helferi (C. B. Clarke) Bakh. 

russey ឬស្សី: large bamboo growing in bunches (roneat ek/thong xylophone blades, jew's harp).

pok: fine bamboo notably used for the khloy flute of the Khmers.

As part of the reconstruction of the Angkorian instruments, we used phtaw ផ្តៅ rattan to make the two frames on which the timila hourglass drum heads are glued. This material is also used in contemporary construction for the gong chime frames of the kong skor (kantoam ming) ensemble and those of the pin peat ensemble.

Two types of calabash (khlok ឃ្លោក), of the genus Lagenaria, are used in instrument manufacture. The Khmers don't seem to distinguish them by differentiated terms. The first, robust, is used by ethnic minorities to make the resonators of their zithers (stick zither, tube zither with metal strings). The second, fragile, is used as a sounding board for the Khmer kse diev zither. Both are also consumed.