Tro (instrument)

{{short description|Traditional bowed string instruments from Cambodia}} {{Infobox Instrument |name= Tro ({{lang|km|ទ្រ}}) |names= |image=Khmer instruments 04.jpg |caption=Two ''tro'' fiddles with cylinder-shaped resonance chambers. Bows are laid with the instruments, passing between fiddle strings and not separated without taking the strings loose. |classification= *Bowed string instrument | hornbostel_sachs = *321.311.71 *321.313.71 | hornbostel_sachs_desc = *321.311.71: Spike bowl lutes. Stringed musical instruments with a plain handle passing through and protruding from the bottom of a permanently attached, bowl-shaped resonator, played with a bow. *321.313.71: Spike tube lutes. Stringed musical instruments with a plain handle passing through a permanently attached resonator through the sides, played with a bow. |range= |related=The tro ou is similar to the: *Saw u, Thailand *Yehu, China *Đàn gáo, Vietnam The tro saus are similar to the: *Saw duang, Thailand *Haegeum, Korea *Huqin, China *Kokyū, Japan *Erhu, China *Đàn nhị, Vietnam *{{ill|Cò ke|vi|Cò ke (nhạc cụ)|vertical-align=sup}}, Vietnam (Muong people) * Been, indigenous one stringed fiddle of Assam Plains }}

The '''''tro''''' ({{langx|km|ទ្រ}}) is Cambodia's traditional spike fiddle, a bowed string instrument that is held and played vertically.<ref name=sam>{{cite book |last=Sam-Ang |first=Sam |editor1-last=Miller |editor1-first=Terry E. |editor2-last=Williams |editor2-first=Sean |title=The Garland Handbook of Southeast Asian Music |location=New York |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=2008 |page=[https://archive.org/details/guidetolcshinfor00doej/page/95 95] |chapter=The Khmer People of Cambodia |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/guidetolcshinfor00doej/page/95 }}</ref> Spike fiddles have a handle that passes through the resonator, often forming a spike, on the bottom side where it emerges. The family is similar or distantly related to the Chinese erhu or huqin.<ref name=sam/> The instruments have a soundbox at the bottom of the stick, covered with leather or snake skin. Strings run from pegs at the top of the stick and secured at the bottom, running across the soundbox. The larger the soundbox, the lower the pitch range. Instruments in this family include the two-stringed ''tro ou'', ''tro sau thom'', ''tro sau toch'' and ''tro che'',  as well as the three-stringed ''tro Khmer'' spike fiddle.<ref name=sam/> The two-stringed tros are tuned in a fifth, while the three-stringed tro Khmer is tuned in fourths.<ref name=sam/> The tros, with the exception of the tro Khmer, are strung so that the bowstring is permanently placed between the two stings. When the musician plays, the placement of the bow causes the strings to be played at once, one from below and one from above. In contrast, western fiddles (such as the violin) are played with the bow pushing on each string from the outside, as is also the case with the tro khmer.

==Tro family of fiddles== The '''''tro u''''' (Khmer: ទ្រអ៊ូ; also spelled '''''tro ou''''') is a traditional instrument from Cambodia that dates back at least as far as the "Lungvek period," about 1528–1594, and is the lowest pitched tro, with strings tuned in a 5th, approximately ''C''—''G''.<ref name=sam/><ref name=unesco1>{{cite book |last1= Khean|first1=Yun |last2= Dorivan|first2= Keo|last3= Lina |first3= Y|last4= Lenna|first4= Mao|title= Traditional Musical Instruments of Cambodia|url= http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001352/135257mb.pdf|location= Kingdom of Cambodia|publisher= United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|pages= 32, 39, 45, 51, 55, 59 }}</ref> The resonator bowl is constructed from a round-bodied coconut shell that has one end covered with animal skin, such as snake or calfskin. Its two strings are made of silk (not as common now), gut, nylon, or metal, running over a bridge made of bamboo or wood.<ref name=sam/><ref name=unesco2>{{cite book |last1= Khean|first1=Yun |last2= Dorivan|first2= Keo|last3= Lina |first3= Y|last4= Lenna|first4= Mao|title= Traditional Musical Instruments of Cambodia|url= http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001352/135257mb.pdf|location= Kingdom of Cambodia|publisher= United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|page= 59 |quote= Tro Khmer...The bowing method is above the strings, not between the strings as for the Tro Sau and Tro Ou.}}</ref> The coconut may have designs carved into its back-side.<ref name=sam/> It is similar to the Thai ''saw u'', Vietnamese ''đàn gáo'' and the Chinese ''yehu'', although the latter instrument has a wooden rather than animal skin face.

Played in the mohori and ayai ensembles.<ref name=unesco1/> May be used in the Bassac theater orchestra.<ref name=unesco1/>

The '''tro ou chamhieng''' ({{lang|km|ទ្រអ៊ូចំហៀង}}) is played "exclusively" by Cham who live in Cambodia and has a sound-bowl resonator made from a turtle shell.<ref name=sam/> It is played in the Bassac theater orchestra and the yike orchestra.<ref name=unesco1/> It originally came from the ''kanyi'' - fiddle of Cham people in Vietnam. The body of the kanyi is made of a golden tortoise shell. On the body of the golden tortoise shell, there is a small piece of bamboo about the size of a big toe, about 0.65 cm long. At the beginning of this bamboo segment, there are two rods to pull the rope called two kanyi pegs. From two pull rods (two ears) connected to the bamboo by a string is the main string of kanyi. In addition, this pull rod is connected to the bamboo with ponytail that bends like a bow. This is the string that pulls the kanyi to make the sound.

The '''tro sau''' ({{lang|km|ទ្រសោធំ}}) or '''tro sau thom''' is a bowed stringed instrument from Cambodia, with metal strings tuned in a 5th, approximately ''D''—''A''.<ref name=sam/> The ''thom'' is the larger and lower-pitched ''tro sau''; ''thom'' means "big" in Khmer. The cylindrical sound box is approximately 120 mm long and 90mm across the skin head.<ref name=unesco2/><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080705014902/http://www.khmerculturalcenter.org/phlengkar/kcc_trosau.htm]</ref> The neck can measure 620mm long. It is made from black wood but more basic materials were used, such as a hollow bamboo and a tortoise shell. It is used in Cambodian classical music ensembles, the arak, kar, mohori and ayai.<ref name=sam/> It is not the lead instrument in these ensembles.<ref name=sam/>

thumb|right|Possibly the ''trou sau toch'' (small tro), ''tro sau thom'' (big tro), or the ''tro che''.

The '''tro sau toch''' ({{lang|km|ទ្រសោធំ តូច}}) is a Cambodian instrument used in Khmer classical music. It is a two-string vertical fiddle with a hardwood body. The word ''toch'' (តូច) means "small." The sound box (a cylinder) can measure 80mm wide by 115mm long, the neck 760mm. Measurements are approximate as the instruments are not standardized. It is equivalent to the Thai Saw duang.<ref>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Fletcher |author-link=Peter G. Fletcher |title=World Musics in Context |url=https://archive.org/details/worldmusicsincon0000flet |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldmusicsincon0000flet/page/300 300]|isbn=978-0-19-816636-8 }}</ref> Its two metal strings are tuned in 5ths, ''G''—''D'', higher than the larger tro sau thom.<ref name=sam/>

It is used in Cambodian classical music ensembles, the arak, kar, mohori and ayai, as the lead instrument.<ref name=sam/> The '''tro che''' or '''tro chhe''' ({{lang|km|ទ្រឆេ}}) is a member of the tro family of 2-stringed Cambodian fiddles, the smallest member of the ''tro'' family.<ref name=unesco4>{{cite book |last1= Khean|first1=Yun |last2= Dorivan|first2= Keo|last3= Lina |first3= Y|last4= Lenna|first4= Mao|title= Traditional Musical Instruments of Cambodia|url= http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001352/135257mb.pdf|location= Kingdom of Cambodia|publisher= United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|pages= 54–56 }}</ref> Its two metal strings are tuned ''D''—''A'', an octave above the tro sau thom and the highest of the tros.<ref name=sam/> Instrument tunings are approximate in the Cambodian ensembles, and change with key instruments such as the sralay; when the instrument is played in the bassack theatre orchestra (paired with the tro ou instead of tri sau thom, the tro che be tuned the same as the Tro u, one octave higher.<ref name=unesco4/>

Like most of the other members of the family, it is a two stringed instrument. Formerly, silk strings were standard, but now metal wire or cable is used.<ref name=unesco4/> The resonating chamber, a cylinder, is made of hardwood or ivory. There are no standard sizes; however the resonating chamber can be 65–70 mm across and 105 mm long.<ref name=unesco4/> The skin soundboard, is made of snakeskin or pangolin hide.<ref name=unesco4/>

==Gallery== <gallery heights="200" widths="170"> File:Saw u.jpg|Saw u, equivalent to the ''tro ou''. Both the Cambodian and Thai instruments use a coconut shell for the instrument's body, covered with skin for the soundboard. File:Traditional Laplae folk music 4.JPG|A Thai saw u, equivalent to the ''tro u''. File:Musician-khmer.jpg| An unnamed ''tro sau'', possibly the ''trou sau toch'' (small tro), ''tro sau thom'' (big tro), or the ''tro che'' File:Khmer instruments 07.jpg|Two ''tro sau''s with cylinder soundboxes. The instrument on the right has a snakeskin head. File:Khmer instruments 06.jpg|Two ''tro sau''s. The vestigial spike (with strings attached) pokes through the bottom of the resonator. </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.jiras.se/oldsite/pinpeatmusicians/content/_DSC2879_large.html Photo of a tro che] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20181004230731/https://www.farpost.ru/khabarovsk/hobby/instruments/stringed/tradicionnaja-kambodzhijskaja-skripka-tro-che-46579450.html Archived online auction with hardwood cylinder body, advertised as tro che] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20181004230412/https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cambodian-Violin-Tro-Che-with-Snakeskin/142933090301 Archived online auction with coconut bodied instrument, advertised as tro che] *[http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001352/135257mb.pdf UNESCO document, Traditional Musical Instruments of Cambodia. PDF.]

Category:Cambodian musical instruments Category:Bowed instruments Category:Drumhead lutes