Texts, photos, videos: © Patrick Kersalé 1998-2019, except special mention.
The 2019's Chapei Festival, which took place from 27 to 29 November 2019 in Phnom Penh, was an opportunity for the Community of Living Chapei to question the durability of the instrument and its practice.
The UNESCO ranking does not solve all the problems related to the future of intangible heritage. It only helps implement mechanisms such as education and promotion. It is therefore up to the Community of Living Chapei, accompanied by the public authorities, to find the right way.
The stakes of today (2019) are not the same as those of yesterday. In the past, chapei was set in a routine that satisfied the cultural life of cities and countryside. Today, like everything else, it has become a cultural commodity promoted by CDs, radio, TV, the Web and festivals. It's already good!
A first question arises: if the actors of the Community of Living Chapei are correctly identified, what is the potential clientele interested in the instrument, on the one hand as a listener, and on the other one as potential actor?
Then a second one: as chapei does not live without the songs it accompanies, what contents are supposed to interest this potential clientele?
A country, whatever it is, puts on its youth. This youth is above all school and student. So why not concentrate efforts towards school, place of education, among others, social and societal virtues?
Cambodia suffers from a number of ills that only individual and collective consciousnesses could improve. These evils engage the future of new generations, especially:
Compared to the general cost of ignoring these basic measures, funding for the training of chapei players to carry the good word in schools seems an attractive idea. There are some musicians, even within the Community of Living Chapei, already partly trained, competent and voluntary. A rapprochement of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts with that of Education seems necessary.
The other virtue of this measure, in turn, would be to promote the chapei and its practice among the youth.
The chapei is made of wood, sometimes inlaid with bone or resin looks like ivory. If its aesthetic linked to the old tradition is not debatable, its attractiveness towards the youth is perhaps.
It is worth recalling, for example, the economic troubles of Apple, today one of the world's leading companies, in the 1990s. In 1999, to remedy its economic difficulties, Steeve Jobs operates a technological and aesthetic revolution. It puts on the market, for the first time in the world, a series of computers with fruity colors that will make take off again its sales. Also, changing the look of the instrument can help make it more attractive to youth. However, do not touch the fundamentals of the chapei, namely its high frets (low frets, guitar type, already exist on the phin of Laos, a cousin of Chapei and Thai krajappi). As for the soundbox, it will probably have to undergo modifications, and those for several reasons:
Here are some ideas for reflection that deserve to be complemented with other opinions.
We suggest launching an instrumental manufacturing competition, as is already the case in a number of countries around the world. Several prizes would be awarded: Audience Award, Jury Prize (consisting of professional musicians; makers themselves would be excluded due to their low number in Cambodia), Innovation Prize (aesthetic, technological, acoustic).
Several criteria would be analyzed and listed on a scoring grid:
Members of the Chapei Community wonder about the international success of the guitar. They are right because the guitar is the most popular instrument in the world. It is present in all musical forms, traditional or modern. Guitar is at the same time a melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and melodico-rhythmic instrument, but it is chromatic. Its price varies according to its acoustic and aesthetic qualities, from a few tens to several thousand dollars. Sometimes, those who do not have the few dollars necessary to buy it, make it with recycled materials as the waiting and the dream aroused are great.
Compared to the guitar, the chapei presents a major handicap to internationalize: it is only heptatonic (seven notes), which allows him to play only Khmer music (pentatonic and heptatonic).
At the national level, in Cambodia, there is a place for everyone in a wide variety of expressions:
The purely instrumental chapei music seems to have had little importance for the older generations. In Thailand, it is now privileged for lack of sung tradition. A repertoire of instrumental music could be created, like the practice of takhê for example, since these two instruments are similar in nature (strings and high frets). The high level of virtuosity of takhê players could be taken as an example.
The chapei, with its virtuous melodic component, could find its place as an individual soloist; but it could also be accompanied by a traditional Khmer or classical orchestra with ad hoc compositions. The recent and brilliant opera Bangsokol composed by Him Sophy, allowing a chromatic pin peat orchestra to play with a Western classical orchestra seems to be a base of inspiration. Heptatonic and pentatonic compositions could be created with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. An annual competition, bringing together composers and chapei players, could be organized as part of the Chapei Festival, or independently. The competition could be open to composers of the Cambodian diaspora abroad and to non-Khmer people.
Some Cambodian chapei players started singing in English. It is obviously a solution to export, especially to the English-speaking Cambodian youth diaspora (USA, Australia essentially) with little or no control of Khmer language. The creation of benefits to tourists would be a way to make the instrument known and for artists to get money from their work.
The Community of Living Chapei asked me to pronounce on this question: “The singers of chapei must they interpret hip hop?” Hip hop is today one of the most listened music around the world. The narrative song of the chapei players is quite close in spirit and form to hip hop. I invite the singers to continue singing according to the Khmer tradition and to impose their aesthetic on the world. Cambodia will look elsewhere for ideas while having a musical potential of its own. For once, please develop and impose your style: Black Africa did it, the Arabs did it, the Europeans did it, the Americans did it ... So why not the Khmer! In hip hop as in the song of the chapei, what counts above all is the text. I personally regret that hip hop so often uses shocking, insulting words, especially against women. Cambodia is a country of respect. Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is keeping watch. The motto of Cambodia is "Nation, Religion, King"; these three foundations must therefore be respected. The remarks of the singers of chapei must remain irreproachable. Because the instrument and its practice have been classified by UNESCO, the whole world looks at you and listens to you. More than anyone, you are the voice of Cambodia's values. Today, the Internet makes immediate the dissemination of ideas. A singer who speaks badly about his country and his culture, would harm the reputation of all. Beauty attracts, ugliness repels. Are not we attracted to fresh flowers rather than faded flowers? Tourists from all over the world admire the temples and the glorious Khmer past. You, singers of chapei, are the spokespersons of this beauty and this greatness of the past with your ancient legends, your Buddhist philosophy which has been proven for 2,500 years. Show the world the beauty of the Khmer soul. Create texts and songs that carry that beauty and music that is good for wearing it, and then the whole world will respect you and love you.
Edited by Cambodian Living Arts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
© Cambodian Living Arts 2018-2023, © Patrick Kersalé 1998-2023