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| นิตยสาร สารคดี: ฉบับที่ ๒๒๔ เดือนตุลาคม ๒๕๔๖ | ISSN 0857-1538 | |||
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| Story: Kesorn Sittiniw Photos: Pravej Tantrapirom |
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The heavenly sweet music of Lanna string instrument Phin Pia might have become just a legend if Ui (Grandpa) Bunma Chaimano did not revive it from a half-century hiatus. Born in 1922, Bunma grew up surrounded by music as it was an integral part of the village life in Northern Thailand. After a long day of work in the field, people rested and mingled. For young men, the evening was the time of courtship. With no electricity, the village at night was dark. Young men played instruments as they walked to avoid being mistaken as thieves and to announce their presence to young maidens waiting inside their houses. Most young men knew how to play at least one musical instrument. But few people knew how to play Phin Pia. |
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Phin Pia, or simply Pia, is a plucked string instrument that has 2-7 strings anchored the instrument neck and a body that is made of half a coconut shell. The open part of the shell is held against the musician's chest to form a variable sound box, creating different musical tones. Being one of the most difficult instrument to play, Pia earns the reputation "to learn Pii (Thai oboe) takes three months but to learn Pia takes three years". Having mastered almost all folk instruments since a young age, 15-year-old Bunma, along with his two cousins, set out to learn Pia from his grandfather. It took young Bunma only 3 months to learn his first song on Pia. From then on, everyone could identify him by the pleasing tunes of his Pia. His mastery of Pia won him attention of many young women. But in addition, older folks, male and female, were so captivated by the music that some of them offered him their daughters. |
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Like other Northern men, Bunma had no time for music after he started a family, With social changes brought about by electricity and modernity, music was no longer the tool of the courtship and young men became less interested in playing traditional musical instruments. Bunma's Pia was put way in his rice silo, untouched until over four decades later... Prompted by renewed interest in the lost art of Phin Pia, Ui Bunma dusted his Pia and offered to teach anyone interested in learning it. Almost half a century had passed, but Ui Bunma's unmatched techniques and skills could spell magic on his Pia as before. Now 81, Ui Bunma is still devoted to passing on his techniques to younger generations. He wishes to have many Pia musicians so the beautiful sound of Pia is not lost forever. It remains to be seen whether his wish will come true. |