The ploy (Khmer: ព្លយខ្មែរ) is a Cambodian wind instrument.[1] It is constructed of a gourd body with 5 to 7 bamboo tubes protruding from the body, and a bamboo pipe set at a right angle to the gourd.[1] Musicians blow air in through the bamboo tube, which fills the gourd "wind chest" and exits through the other bamboo tubes.[1][2] Each of the bamboo sound-tubes has a metal rod inside, that vibrate in the air passing through the tube.[1]
As well as blowing air out of the instrument, the musician can also suck air in, producing a different tone.[1] Notes are produced by covering and uncovering holes cut into the bamboo sound-tubes.[1]
The instrument is primarily rural, found mainly Mondulkiri Province among the Phnoung and Tampuan peoples.[1] The instrument may be related to a Laotian instrument, the caen.[1]
Distant origins and relations
According to music historian Curt Sachs, the Chinese sheng was originally made with a gourd.[2] Over time the gourd was designed out of the Chinese instruments, but the earlier gourd types continued to exist "in the south and east of Asia."[2] He detailed one in Bengal, a "shêng" that used a bottle-shaped calabash" in which the calabash's neck became the pipe where the player put his mouth.[2] The calabash serves as a "wind chest" and was pierced by the sound pipes.[2]
