Characteristics of Isan Folk Songs for Creating Music of Symphonic Bands

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to study and analyze the characteristics of Isan folk songs for creating music for symphonic bands. The study was designed in the qualitative approach. The data were collected by analyzing related documents, online data, and interviews. The qualitative analysis was also employed in the interpretation processes of the data. Both music and folk music principles were used in the data analysis with the consideration of the scope of the study. The results of the study were as follows. In terms of song selection, the music was selected considering its popularity in the uses of traditional performances in the Isan region. The selected songs were arranged in the name of “Isan Suite” which was a western composed symphonic consisting of “Seng Bung Fai”, “Mae Hang Klom Look”, “Tei Sam Jung Wa”, and “Lum Plern”. Moreover, transitional theme and composition techniques including rhythm, pulse, scale, melody, transitional theme, drone harmony, and articulation were also studied with a multicultural point of view to present Isan folk music that could be performed in symphonic bands.