Karen Musical Instruments

With origins that even now remain a mystery, the Karen bring to the cultural crucible of Southeast Asia an astonishing palette of distinctive musical sounds and styles—percussion instruments that include the rare bronze drum and xylophone; a range of flutes and pan flutes; plucked zithers and harps; lutes and fiddle; a free reed horn; songs based on scales that hark back to other lands and times; even a shawl that sings. Musical ritual is one of the infinite strategies the Karen have devised to safeguard collective memory over the ages, thereby preserving culture and identity.