Khim

The khim is a hammered dulcimer that has it origin from Thailand and Cambodia. The khim is produced of wood; it is trapezoidal in shape and has brass strings that are laid across the percussion instrument. There are 14 groups of strings that are on the instrument and each of the 14 groups has about 3 strings that are contained in it. Totally, the khim has 42 strings and it is played with two flexible bamboo sticks that have softer leather at the tips of the stick to give out the soft tone of the instrument. The musical instrument is used both as a solo and group instrument.

Tuning this musical instrument can take a lot of time but it is very easy to tune the khim. The player puts a type wrench on the prongs that comes up from the sides, although only turns the prongs on the left side; tuning the prong on the right side is capable of breaking the string, then the player turns the wrench that tightens or loosens the string to the needed pitch. The internal parts of this instrument are hollowed chambers, which are used for sound projection and there are ornamented acoustic sound receivers on the two side of the instrument. The khim can be played both while standing or the player can decide to seat down on the floor and perform with the instrument, the player places the khim on the floor also as he is playing it seated or by sitting on a chair or standing while the instrument is placed on a stand. The khim gives out a bright and communicative sound when it is being played.

The instrument came into Thailand and Cambodia from the Chinese empire where a similar instrument known as “Yanggin” is played. The difference is that the khim makes a significantly softer sound. Traditional khim have only two bridges, but in the later part of the 20th century, some producers of the instrument started producing the khim using larger instruments with more bridges on it.