Pi chum

A pi chum (Thai: ปี่จุม) is a musical instrument from northern Thailand. It is like an oboe.^[1] It is found in the provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampoon and Lampang. People play a pi chum for their activity.^[2] The word ‘chum’ in Thai means ‘group’ ,so when people play a pi chum, they play as a group.

Construction

The body of the pi chum is made from bamboo. The pipe and the reed are made from copper.^[3] A pi chum has seven holes on the body that are used to set the tone of played,There are four types of pi chum that are separated by size, length and voice. The first one is the pi mae (Thai: ปี่แม่) which has a length of 70–80 cm. It is larger than other pi chums and has a bass voice. The second one is the pi krang (Thai: ปี่กลาง), which is smaller than the pi mae. It has a length of 60–65 cm. and it has a balance voice. The third one is pi koy (Thai: ปี่ก้อย), which is smaller than the pi krang but bigger than the pi tad. It has a length of 45–55 cm. The voice of the pi koy is treble. The last type is the pi tad (Thai: ปี่ตัด) or pi lek (Thai: ปี่เล็ก), which is the smallest pi chum. It has a length 35–40 cm. The voice of pi tad is treble but higher than the pi koy. A group that has all four instruments is called a ‘pi chum si’ (Thai: ปี่จุมสี่) and a group that has three instruments is called a ‘pi chum sarm’ (Thai: ปี่จุมสาม).

References