Khaen
The khaen is the free-reed mouth organ of Laos, built from rows of bamboo tubes bound around a wooden wind-chest, whose drone-and-melody sound is the soul of the Lao folk song called lam. The player breathes in and out through a single mouth-hole while covering the finger-holes of the tubes, producing the interlocking melody and drone that lam singers improvise against, and the instrument accompanies courtship, festivals, and ritual across Laos and northeastern Thailand. Lao tradition says that the khaen shaped the speech and poetry of the people, and the instrument is central to the great cou