Mor Lam - Forms

Forms

There are many forms of mor lam. There can be no definitive list as they are not mutually exclusive, while some forms are confined to particular localities or have different names in different regions. Typically the categorisation is by region in Laos and by genre in Isan, although both styles are popular in the other region. The traditional forms of Isan are historically important, but are now rarely heard:

• lam phi fa (ລຳຜີຟ້າ, ลำผีฟ้า, IPA: lam pʰiː faː) — a ritual to propitiate spirits in cases of possession. Musically it derived from lam tang yao; however, it was performed not by trained musicians but by those (most commonly old women) who were thought themselves to have been cured by the ritual.
• mor lam kon (ໝໍລຳກອນ, หมอลำกลอน, IPA: mɔːlam kɔːn) — a vocal "battle" between the sexes. In Laos it is known as lam tat. Performances traditionally lasted all night, and consisted of first two, then three parts:
  • lam tang san (ລຳ ທາງ ສ້ັນ, ลำทางสั้น, IPA: lam tʰaːŋ san) — ("short form") took up the bulk of the time, with the singers delivering gon poems a few minutes in length, performing alternately for about half an hour each from evening until about an hour before dawn. They would pretend gradually to fall in love, sometimes with rather explicit sexual banter.
  • lam tang nyao (ລຳທາງຍາວ, ลำทางยาว, IPA: lam tʰaːŋ ɲaːw) — ("long form"), a representation of the lovers' parting performed slowly and in a speech rhythm for about a quarter of an hour.
  • lam toei (ລຳເຕີ້ຍ, ลำเต้ย, IPA: lam tɤːj) — was introduced in the mid-20th century. Similar in length to the lam tang nyao, it is fast and light-hearted, with metrical texts falling into three categories: toei thammada ("normal toei"), using gon texts in Isan; toei Phama ("Burmese toei"), using central or northern Thai texts and forms; and toei Khong ("Mekong toei"), again central or northern Thai in origin. It uses the same scale as lam yao.
• lam chotkae or lam chot (ລຳໂຈດແກ້, ลำโจทย์แก้, IPA: lam tɕoːt gɛː or ລຳໂຈທຍ໌, ลำโจทย์, IPA: lam tɕoːt) is a variant of lam kon formerly popular in the Khon Kaen area, in which the singers (often both male) asked one another questions on general knowledge topics — religion, geography, history etc. — trying to catch out their opponent.
• mor lam mu (ໝໍລຳໝູ່, หมอลำหมู่, IPA: mɔːlam muː) — folk opera, developed in the mid-20th century. Lam mu is visually similar to Central Thai likay, but the subject matter (mainly Jataka stories) derived from lam rueang (the subgenre of lam phuen) and the music from lam tang nyao. It was originally more serious than lam plern and required more skilled performers, but in the late 20th century the two converged to a style strongly influenced by Central Thai and western popular music and dance. Both have now declined in popularity and are now rare.
• mor lam phoen (ໝໍລຳເພີນ, หมอลำเพลิน, IPA: mɔːlam pʰɤn) — a celebratory narrative, performed by a group. It originated around the same time as lam mu, but used a more populist blend of song and dance. The material consisted of metrical verses sung in the yao scale, often with a speech-rhythm introduction.
• lam phuen (ລຳພື້ນ, ลำพื้น, IPA: lam pʰɯn) — recital of local legends or Jataka stories, usually by a male singer, with khene accompaniment. In the subgenre of lam rueang (ລຳເຣື່ອງ, ลำเรื่อง, IPA: lam lɯːaŋ), sometimes performed by women, the singer acts out the various characters in costume. Performance of one complete story can last for one or two whole nights. This genre is now extremely rare, and may be extinct.