English

Alternative forms

• kaen
• khaen
• khène
• kène
• khen

Noun

khene ‎(plural khenes)

1. (music) A traditional musical instrument of Laos, being a type of bamboo mouth organ.
   • 1951, Norman Lewis, A Dragon Apparent, Eland 2003, p. 296:

     There are processions led by dancers with castanets and accompanied by musicians playing the Kène.

   • 1997, Dolly Brittan, The Hmong, Rosen Publishing 1997, p. 32:

     The khene was once used to call warriors to fight. Now it is used for ceremonies.

   • 2000, Simon Broughton et al., The Rough Guide to World Music, Rough Guides 2000, p. 171:

     The Lao khaen, however, is the most sophisticated of all the bamboo mouth organs – it takes great skill to play it properly.

   • 2001, Mervyn Brown, War in Shangri-La, Radcliffe 2001, p. 155:

     I then suggested that he should play a tune on the khène while I improvised an accompaniment on the ukelele.

Translations

See also

• kèn (traditional shawm of Vietnam)