Elephant jam session

Marimba, harmonica, cymbals, bells, chirps, roars, barks and thuds; the versatile tools of elephant musicianship.

Click button to listen to Elephant Music to download

CLASSICAL, No junk inside those trunks, The Elephant Orchestra is back, delivering some unique sounds by Ung-Aang Talay

The Thai Elephant Orchestra, resident at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, has returned to the studio for their third and, allegedly, final album. Handel may have beaten them to the title, but the music the elephant ensemble offer here has less to do with the River Thames than with our seasonal rains, at least if we go by the titles of the individual pieces on the programme (were the elephants consulted about these.

As in the two previous releases, the ensemble is more a chamber group than an orchestra. The packaging lists 14 elephant performers, but although the individual players are not listed for each track, I get the impression that it is only rarely, if ever, that all of them play at once. The elephants perform primarily on percussion instruments, some built especially for them, although the reedy sound of a harmonica-like instrument sometimes shines through the drumming and chiming.

This third programme is, in a way, the purest of the three because human participation is at a minimum, with almost all of the music-making left to the elephants themselves. But one exception, and a beautiful one, can be heard in the opening pieces, Invocation, when mahout Boonyang Boonthiam intones a healing riak khwan chant, after an introduction of ringing percussion sounds. The accompaniment gradually diversifies to include wood sonorities and weighty thuds.

Six minutes into the track the chant ends, and the elephants are one their own. The texture quickly thickens to included tam-tam like crashes and sizzling cymbal-like interjections. At times the animals become so exuberant that they join in with chirps, roars and barks, and at the end the instruments drop away completely in favour of the elephant vocals. Humans are heard again playing rainsticks in the second and third pieces on the programme (Rainsticks proved unsuitable for the elephant trunk, a note on the disc's packaging explains.

Each of the tracks has a different sound and mood. The Last Monsoon of Summer, for example, starts off with natural sounds - rain and muted thunder - then the elephants take over with music far sparser in texture than what was heard in the most spirited parts of Invocation, and gradually subsides to some spare tappings and a couple of farewell elephant chirps.

Two Rainbows although brief at 1min 35secs, is full of bright sonorities (including what sounds like a happy little girl chattering in background). The elephants make metal bells ring brilliantly and execute what sound like glissandi on a marimba or ranaat-like instrument. 

Listening to the rapidly-repeated notes in Bathing in the River, I kept being reminded of some other piece of music, and finally realised that it had the same obsessive energy as some of Conlon Nancarrow's player-piano studies.

One thing that I noticed throughout the programme was the elephants' ability to sustain a pulse. Many of the pieces are driven by a beat so perfectly timed that I suspected the presence of a human percussionist in the ensemble (listen, for example, to Gathering Storm Clouds). I asked Richard Lair about this, and he said that the rhythmic precision was completely elephant musicianship, and that they often struck their instruments in strict rhythm.

Sometimes the elephant music sounds almost composed. Listen to Clouds Cover the Sun, where the constant alternation of the pitches C and G gives the music a tonal feeling and dissonant chords played on what are evidently elephant-sized harmonicas contribute to an eerie atmosphere

After a gentle start - a solo on a mallet instrument that suggests a vibraphone - Monsoon Tempest, the final piece on the programme, gradually picks up energy. The Nancarrow-like repeated notes, perfectly in rhythm, kick in and continue until the end, and a whole spectrum of metallic timbres flash their colours. But overall it is a delicate piece that ends beautifully with a wash of ringing sound - the tempest of the title feels more like a sun shower.

But what does all this music-making mean to the elephants? Do they use their instruments to communicate anything at all, to their mahouts, to each other, or to the forests around them? I wonder if we will ever have an answer to that one.

Listening to this album, even more than with its predecessors, I sensed that the animals were enjoying themselves. When the instrumental sounds are not enough to satisfy their excitement they "sing" - the disc is full of roars and chirps - and there is often a happy kick to their playing that I've rarely picked up in the more theory-freighted percussion music of the classical avant-garde.

So get hold of this disc, listen to it a few tracks at a time, and remember that it is being played by elephants whose feelings about what they are doing may be light years away from yours as you listen to it. Trying to appreciate what the music means is one of its pleasures, together with the often-thrilling sonorities of the instruments and the obvious joy of the performers. Incidentally, this Water Music will make the perfect gift for musically-inclined friends, and one you can be fairly sure they don't already own

It can be ordered online from mulatta.org. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be available in its entirety as a download.

WATER MUSIC

Thai Elephant Orchestra. Invocation; The Last Monsoon of Summer; Gentle Monsoon; Gathering Storm Clouds; Two Rainbows; Bathing in the River; Sun Breaks Clouds; Clouds Cover Sun; Teak Forest Mist; Monsoon Tempest. The Thai Elephant Orchestra supervised by Dave Soldier and Richard Lair. Mulatta Records MUL020.

(Source: Bangkok Post, CLASSICAL, No junk inside those trunks, The Elephant Orchestra is back, delivering some unique sounds, 23/08/2011, Ung-Aang Talay, link) 

Music and Elephant Vocabulary

Thai Elephant Orchestra - (See Wikipedia and composer Dave Soldier)
Thai Elephant Conservation Center - works to develop "elephant conservation in a sustainable way and preserve local traditions for future generations. The Institute also aims to improve the tourism business, in which there is an extensive involvement of elephants in tourism-related activities, for the benefit of elephants as well as tourists," renamed "The National Elephant Institute" in 2002 (See Wikipedia)

elephant - (See Wikipedia)
elephant trunk - the very long nose of an elephant that it uses to lift food and water to its mouth (See Wikipedia)
trunks - same as "elephant trunk" 
mahout - elephant handler, the person who drives an elephant and who takes care of an elephant (See Wikipedia)

elephant musicianship - the ability and skill of elephants playing music 

ensemble - a group of people (musicians) playing music on musical instruments
elephant ensemble - a group of elephants playing music on instruments

unique - very special, unusual or good ที่มีลักษณะพิเศษ เป็นเอกลักษณ์
unique sounds - very special and unusual sounds

chirp - the light quick sound that a bird makes
roar - the loud frightening sound that a lion makes 
bark - the sound that a dog makes
exuberant - happy, excited and full of energy ร่าเริง เบิกบาน

pitch - level of sound ระดับเสียง
constant - continuous; all the time ต่อเนื่อง
alternation - A then B, then A again, B again, and so on ....
constant alternation of the pitches C and G  

timbre - the quality of a musical sound or voice as distinct from its pitch and intensity (See Wikipedia and Google Definitions)
spectrum - a wide variety, many different types
metallic timbres - sounds of metal being hit in different ways, different kinds of metal sounds
spectrum of metallic timbres - a variety of different sounds from metal 

wash - a thin layer of colour or light
wash of ringing sound - a thin layer of ringing sound

eerie - scary, frightening
atmosphere - the mood or feeling that exists in a place บรรยากาศ
eerie atmosphere - when a place makes you feel strange and uneasy (a strange mood or feeling)

a tonal feeling - musical notes that fit into the traditional "tonality" way of writing music, which sounds pleasing and "harmonious" to the ears (See Wikipedia)
dissonant chords - musical notes that fit into the "avat-garde" or "atonal" way of writing music, which does not sound pleasing to most untrained ears (See Wikipedia)

note - a sound made in a musical piece (at a certain level or pitch) (See Wikipedia)
rapidly-repeated notes - musical notes played quickly

sonority - the deep and rich quality of a sound
wood sonorities - deep and rich sounds from a wooden musical intrument (such as a flute)

thud - the dull sound, when a hard object hits a soft object
weighty thuds - thuds with a very heavy object

texture - the quality of something (usually felt by touch) เนื้อ
the texture quickly thickens - the music gets more complicated with more complicated sounds

tam-tam  
tam-tam like crashes  

cymbal - a musical instrument with two flat metal plates struck together making a very loud noise  
interjection -  interruption (happening during another activity, stopping or interferring with that activity)
cymbal-like interjections - very loud cymbal sounds that interrupt or disrupt the music being played

chime - a musical instrument made of bells (See Wikipedia)

tap - to hit something softly (example: she tapped the table softly with her finger)
spare tappings - hitting softly spaced out over time

bright - very clever or intelligent ฉลาด
bright sonorities - clear and high musical pitches 

chatter - talking quickly without stopping (usually about unimportant things) 
background sounds - not the main sounds, additional sounds you can hear "in the background"
chattering in background - additional chatter sounds you can hear (in addition to the main sounds) 

metal bells ring brilliantly - metal bells make a loud and clear sound

chant - to keep shouting or singing a word or phrase many times, again and again การสวดมนต์ หรือ ร้องเพลงสวด, โห่ร้อง ร้องเพลง

invocation - a prayer made at the beginning of some activity or event
intone - spoken with a slow and serious sound with all the tones at the same pitch

khwan - Khwan comes from Tai (Central Thai, Tai Yuan, Laos, Shan, etc) spiritual beliefs "that pre-date Buddhism. For some Tai groups, including Lao and Northern Thai, there are 32 separate khwan present in your body, each with a separate function in overseeing organs and physical capacities....The 32 khwan reside in different places all over the body, but they enter and leave via the crown of the head, supposedly at the fissure in the skull thats partially open when one is a baby".(See source #1 , not many online sources, the Siam Society library is full of sources on this topic)

riak khwan chant - a ceremony to call the "khwan" back, performed when someone is sick, an example: "Today at my temple is a large ceremony to 'riak kwan' call the spirit.
It is to be held for our Abbot who has been sick for more than a month with hepatitis B in hospital. They have arranged the usual Three-legged poles into a triangle like at a house=warming ceremony with bananas and other things around each leg. Sacred white cords go everywhere and to a Photo of the Abbot in the centre with a set of his robes. Important monks in the area are coming to chant at the ceremony...." (Source: #2)

intones a healing riak khwan chant

natural - found in nature (not made in a factory by humans) ตามธรรมชาติ
natural sounds - sounds from nature (example: a falling tree, a monkey swinging through the leaves of the jungle, Jane nagging Tarzan to get the treehouse repaired, etc)

thunder - the sudden loud noise which comes from the sky especially during a storm ฟ้าร้อง
mute - reduce the loudness and strength of sound
thunder - the loud noise from the sky after a flash of lightning ฟ้าร้อง
muted thunder - thunder with loudness reduced

studio - recording studio, a building with equipment for recording music (See Wikipedia)

individual - relating to or involving a single thing or person แต่ละบุคคล
individual pieces on the programme - the pieces of music being performed

release - a CD, DVD (or set of songs downloadable from the internet) of music made by a musician or musical group
previous release - the last CD or DVD of music that they made

track - one song on a CD or DVD

packaging - the container or covering for a product while it is waiting to be sold in stores

percussion instrument - a musical instrument that is played by striking the instrument with a "mallet" (See Wikipedia)
ringing percussion sounds

mallet - a rod or stick used to hit a musical instrument and make a sound
ranat - the Thai percussion instrument or "xylophone" with bars made of hard wood or bamboo ระนาด (See Wikipedia)
marimba - a musical instrument like a ranaat or xylophone with wooden bars, a percussion instrument (See Wikipedia)

glissandi - a continuous slide upward or downward between two notes (See Wikipedia and Google Definitions)
glissandi on a marimba - a continuous sliding up and down notes on the Marimba
vibraphone - another "percussion instrument" like the "marimba" and "ranaat" (See Wikipedia)

reed - a piece of a plant that makes the sound heard in the clarinet, oboe and the traditional Thai oboe or Pi () (See Wikipedia on reed instruments and the Thai oboe)
reedy sound - the sound of the clarinet, oboe
harmonica - a reed instrument with air blown into it, becoming famous with "blues" music in the US (See Wikipedia)

orchestra - a large group of musicians playing many different kinds of instruments, playing classical music (See Wikipedia)

classical music - "music written in the European tradition during a period lasting approximately from 1750 to 1830, when forms such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata were standardized," the violin and piano are two of the most important instruments in classical music (See Wikipedia and  Google Definitions)

chamber music - music played by a small group of instruments (See Wikipedia)
chamber group - a group playing "chamber music"
players - the people "playing" the music on musical instruments (musicians)

Handel - a famous English composer of classical music who lived from 1685 to 1759 and wrote Water Music which is the name this elephant music CD (See Wikipedia)
River Thames - a river in the UK, Water Music by Handel was first played on the River Thames on 17 July 1717 (See Wikipedia)

accompaniment - a person playing music together with another person (supporting them and helping them musically) (example: a piano provided accompaniment to the songs)

elephant vocals - elephant singing
mood - the way you feel at a particular time อารมณ์

monsoon - monsoon rains, rainy season rains in Southeast Asia (See Wikipedia)
season - one of three to four periods of time during the year (Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring) with different weather conditions
seasonal rains - the "monsoon" rains in Southeast Asia that come during the "rainy" season

the elephants take over - the elephants start doing it (making music) and the humans stop

sparse - a few things, spread out or spaced out (opposite: dense)
music far sparser in texture - music with fewer notes, less complicated

spirit - energy, liveliness
spirited parts - the parts of the music that are lively and full of energy

gradually subsides to - lowers slowly to

reminded of - made you think of ... , made you remember ...
finally realised that -

obsessive (adjective) - thinking of only one thing
obsessive energy - great energy directed at doing only one thing

player piano - a piano that plays itself, using a machine inside and music on scrolls (See Wikipedia)
player-piano studies - musical pieces written for the player piano

sustain - to continue; to keep something going รักษาไว้
pulse - a regular repeated sound (like the regular "pulse" of blood passing through the blood vessels of the human body)
sustain a pulse - to continue a pulse; to keep a pulse going

beat - 1. hitting a drum or other musical instrument to make a sound; 2. the rhythm (regular series of sounds) in a piece of music
driven by a beat - a regular series of sounds keeps the music moving forwards

perfectly timed - a very exact repeating of sounds

suspected - thought to be something เป็นที่สงสัย
presence - when someone or something is in a place การอยู่ในสถานที่หนึ่ง (ของบุคคล)
suspected the presence of a human percussionist in the ensemble  

rhythmic precision - a very exact repeating of sounds

strict - very careful and exact เข้มงวด
rhythm - a regular repeated series of sounds or movements ท่วงทำนอง
strict rhythm - a very exact regular repeated series of sounds

composed - wrote music for future "performance" or playing, compose music 

solo - when one person does some activity alone (plays a musical instrument alone)

kick in - start (example: when the water storage tank fell to a low level the pump kicked in and filled it up again)

delicate - 1. acting in a soft, careful, and sensitive way; 2. easily broken
delicate piece - a musical piece with soft, careful and sensitive notes

communicate - let other people know about something (information, ideas, feelings, etc)

pick up - hear, feel or perceive something (example: the radio signal was so weak that our radio receiver could not pick up the signal)

theory - one or more ideas that explain how or why something happens สมมติฐาน
classical - of recognized authority or excellence because it came from the most highly developed stage of an earlier civilisation and its culture
theory-freighted - weighed down by the "theory" or "idea" behind the music, used to create and generate the music
avant-garde - the most advanced and experimental artists in an art (such as music), pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable (See Wikipedia)
theory-freighted percussion music of the classical avant-garde -

thrill - make you excited (full of energy and enthusiasm)
thrilling sonorities - musical sounds that make you excited

inclined - tend to or often behave in a certain way (or do a certain activity)
musically-inclined - often doing music activities (listening, playing, etc)

General Vocabulary

junk - garbage

resident - a person who lives in a particular place ผู้อาศัยในบริเวณ ผู้พักอาศัย, ผู้อยู่อาศัยในบริเวณ ประชาชนที่อาศัยในท้องที่
allegedly - claimed, but not yet proven ที่ถูกกล่าวหา

title - the name of the piece of music, a book, article, etc ..

consulted - asked for their opinion and feedback about an issue, or a decision to be made หารือ ปรึกษา

impression - an opinion or feeling that you have about someone or something ความรู้สึก,ความประทับใจ
I get the impression that ... - I have a feeling that this is true (but I didn't ask anyone, or read this anywhere, I am not sure)

rarely - not happening often นานๆ ครั้ง, ไม่บ่อย
only rarely, if ever

participation - when a person joins an activity (actively involved in the activity, instead of just watching)
human participation is at a minimum - only elephants making music (no humans)

exception - something that does not follow the general rule ยกเว้น ข้อยกเว้น เป็นที่แตกต่าง ที่พิเศษออกไปจากกลุ่ม

diversifies - makes a greater variety (creates things that are different)

favour - to give an advantage to someone or something ช่วยเหลือ
X disappears in favour of Y - X is replaced by Y

couple - about 2 or maybe 3
farewell - saying goodbye

execute - to do or perform something, especially in a planned way ดำเนินการ
brief - for a short time

evidently - used for saying that something is obvious เห็นได้ชัด
contribute - to make a regular payment

X contributes to Y - X adds to Y 

predecessors - people who came before you in the same position

light years away - very far away (very different) 

obvious - clear; easy to see, recognise or understand ชัดเจน
incidentally, ... - meaning: mentioning something that is off-topic,  unrelated, irrelevant

entirety - the whole of something
supervised - overseen; watched over to ensure that things are done correctly อยู่ในการควบคุมดูแล