Experimental chapei making

Texts, photos, videos : © Patrick Kersalé 1998-2019, except special mention.

The present study of Chapei Dang Veng, entirely published on this website, suffered from a lack of pragmatism as for the instrumental making. In the past, chapei making was the work of professional luthiers or the musicians themselves. But almost all of these actors have disappeared, taking their secrets with them. This is why we wanted to confront the field of chapei making by creating a new center in Cambodia. This makes it possible both to constitute a collection of various instrumental typologies and to rediscover ancient manufacturing techniques.

 Nowadays, the number of makers is very low and the making standardizes, which was not the case before the Khmer rouge revolution. However, as demand is greater than supply (in 2019), manufacturers are currently tailoring, responding piecemeal to the demand of their customers. The latter mainly comes from students of the Community of Living Chapei. So there are no “off the shelf” instruments in Cambodia.

Throughout history, instrument technology has changed simultaneously with the aesthetic and acoustic tastes of musicians. However, a chapei can always be recognized at first glance, whether it is from the 18th or 21st century.

Nowadays, there are less and less old instruments (before 1975) on the market. Since the inscription of the chapei by UNESCO in 2016, awareness has been raised. The owners of ancient instruments keep their treasures like relics. Some, musicians or not, collect them. You can sometimes see old specimens in certain hotels of good standing.

Our goal today is to build a collection of typologies to show both the evolution and the diversity of instrumental craftsmanship between the 19th and 21st centuries. Once completed, it will be presented to the public, accompanied by photographic archives.

To build such a collection, for lack of old instruments available, there is the way of replica. This is what we undertook in Siem Reap. But why in Siem Reap? As part of this research, we met the makers of Phnom Penh (Chum Prosar and Long Bora Rith) who manufacture modern instruments on demand. But during our interviews, we realized that their planning did not allow them to embark on such a project. This is why we returned to the luthiers of Siem Reap with whom Sounds of Angkor has been working for a few years to reconstruct the Angkorian instruments.

In addition, Siem Reap offers two major advantages. First, it is the city where we (Patrick Kersalé) live. Secondly, as there are no luthiers specializing in the making of chapei in this city, we wanted to develop a center of excellence there.

Our goal is to offer Siem Reap professionals, whether they are already musical instruments' makers or just sculptors, the opportunity to develop new skills. As part of the reconstruction of its Angkorian instruments, Sounds of Angkor is already working with several artisans from Siem Reap:

• A specialist in fine wood carving. He currently manufactures the structure and decorations of the Angkorian harps and the decorative parts of the Pre-Angkorian harps.
• A specialist in wood, bone and horn sculpture, turning, growing and carving of calabashes; he also manufactures pre-Angkorian harps and lutes, and replicates old instruments at our request.
• A specialist in large drums.
• A specialist in rattan and its twist.
• A smelter for all our bronze objects (drums, cymbals, end pieces and bells, damaru rattle-drums).
• A manufacturer of protective covers.
• We have also developed a partnership with two French craftsmen, one specialist in natural lacquer and gold leaf, the other in acrylic lacquer.

The manufacture of old chapei requires various skills in the work of materials: sculpture, turning and wood bandaging , bone and horn machining and inlaying, old-style silk strings making.

The major problem facing the factors is the supply of materials. So, given the scarcity of certain species and the ban on the use of ivory, we decided to use woods with similar qualities and colors. Sometimes, bone and resin replace ivory.

This experimental project has several virtues:

• Constitution of a chapei collection
• Creation of exhibitions and events
• Information for the general public
• Creation of a fruitful exchange between former chapei holders, researchers and musicians
• Reappropriation of ancient chapei making techniques by contemporary luthiers.

Two luthiers share the task to replicate the ancient chapei, according to their initial know-how.

 These two craftsmen from Siem Reap had, before 2019, never made a chapei. So we decided to start by replicating a relatively simple instrument, loaned by a private, the time of replication.

We know nothing about this instrument: date, provenance, maker. It is of fairly modest quality with a few diamond engravings around the edge of the soundboard; five staggered holes adorn its center.

This first replica allowed the two luthiers to familiarize themselves with the manufacture of the various constituent parts.

Machines were used for cutting and drilling the soundbox, the handle and the pegs turning. All sculpture operations were carried out manually.

The wood used for all of the pieces was wild jackfruit ខ្នុរព្រៃ.

This second replica was a challenge because we didn't have the instrument. However, in July 2019, we were able, in Paris, to make an imprint of the outline of the instrument, photographs and dimensional surveys. We were also able to access the restoration file containing photographs of the interior of the soundbox.

We have devoted a chapter to this project. Click here.

 In the context of the constitution of our collection of chapei typologies, it happens that generous donors separate from their instruments. This was the case in October 2019 when a French expatriate offered Sounds of Angkor an old instrument bought a few years earlier; the neck was broken and some frets were missing. So we started to restore it. The donor did not know everything about its provenance and its age.

The instrument seems to have already undergone a restoration for the purpose of conservation for decoration because the frets do not occupy a place compatible with the Khmer range of seven notes. Despite everything, we opted for a restoration identical to the last restoration. As the neck was broken, the black coating had disappeared, revealing a difference in color. The colored varnish that covered the entire instrument was assessed by our partner Éric Stocker. We have entrusted him with the complete repair of identical shellac.

Restoration steps: bonding of the two parts of the neck with reinforcement of a wooden stud, addition of wood pulp in the hollows, fabrication and bonding of missing frets, dusting and degreasing, old shellac varnish.