Vung Phleng Kar Band : Traditional Wedding Music Band of the Kingdom of Cambodia

Abstract

There are 2 objectives of this research on Vung Phleng Kar Band: The musical band played in
wedding ceremonies of Cambodia as follows: 1) to study on types of musical instrument and musical
arrangements in Vung Phleng Kar Band; 2) to study on songs played in Vung Phleng Kar Band and
procedures of music playing in weddings. The research methodology of this research was qualitative
research whereas conceptual frameworks and theories were applied. Data were collected by conducting
survey, field research, observation, in-depth interview, and focus group. Obtained data were analyzed
based on the objectives of this research by using Descriptive Analysis based on procedures of research
methodology.
The results revealed that types of musical instrument played in Vung Phleng Kar Band
consisted of 3 types of musical instrument including: 1) plucked string instrument, i.e., Tae Kae
(zither); 2) bowed string instrument, i.e., Trua Sor (treble fiddle) and Trua U (alto fiddle); 3) percussion
instrument, i.e., Khim (Chinese cymbalo), Sa Kua (drum), and Ching (small cup-shaped cymbals).
Moreover, there were also 1-2 singers in Vung Phleng Kar Band. Songs played in Vung Phleng Kar
Band were over than 24 songs and each song had 3 procedures of playing based on wedding
procedures as follows: 1) music before starting wedding ceremony; 2) music played during Chong
Dai ceremony or wedding ceremony; 3) music after Chong Dai ceremony. Vung Phleng Kar Band was
necessary because it was necessary for wedding ceremonies of Cambodia to have music in ceremonies
that had been inherited from the ancient time to present.