Description: The
gaeng, Qeej, Miao Hulusheng or Kenh as it’s called by the Viet people
it is a free reed instrument. Each tube has a very thin
single brass reed. Today the geang have six tubes in which have a
finger-hole for each tube. The Gaeng is used during funeral rights in
which the players perform melodies to confuse the spirits of the dead.
In the Hmong culture, the gaeng players often demonstrate some level of
athletic movement. Only the men play the gaeng amongst the Hmong, the
Hmong also tie a string to the gaeng.
The gaeng is found through out South East Asia, in
Vietnam, Thailand and Southern China (near the golden triangle boarder
area). The mouth piece can vary in size even up to a meter long. Brass
reeds are usually found on this instrument. The gaeng is in the same
classification "free-reed" and same type, and family as the "keluri" in
Borneo played by the Iban and the Orang-Ulu people on the Island of
Borneo.
Anatomy of the Gaeng:
Some of the newer instruments (my specimen) have been numbered from the
base per tube, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The materials used in construction
are a kind of cane or light wood material, (for whole body) and the
pipes are of a cane material, and the reeds are single lamellaphone and
are hand cut of brass. The rings wrapped around are some kind of bark
(not sure of what species). For ornamental reasons the specimen of
geang in my collection is wrapped with a kind of inner tree bark? This
feature also provides a source of structural strength for the extended
playing tubes and the mouth piece.