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Khong-vong (Roneat Khong) |
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| History and background of Court Dance |
Khong-vong are gong-chimes with bossed gongs that are placed on circular rattan frames, these musical instruments are very ancient and are believed to have been of Indonesian origin from the gamelan orchestra of many centuries ago. There are carvings on the bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat of Angkorean musicians playing gongs set on racks or frames during the 12th-13th century A.D. There are two kinds of gong-chimes, khong-vong toch (small gong-chime) and khong-vong thom (large gong-chimes) are both used in the pin-peat orchestra. Each gong is made from bronze and varies in sizes. Each gong are suspended horizontally from leather straps that pass through holes in the metal gongs and placed over a frame of about 30 centimetres off the floor. The gongs are arranged with the lowest pitch on the player's left while the highest pitch on the player's right; the player would sit in the middle of the frame. The players of the khong-vong uses two mallets to strike each gong on the raised boss. There are two types of mallets, the soft and the hard. The soft mallet are used for indoors; while the hard mallet would be used for outdoors. Each of the mallet has a handle about 15 centimetres long and both disks are padded with clothe or elephant hide.
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