The kèn is an instrument used in traditional Vietnamese music. It has a double reed

Double reed

A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. The term double reed comes from the fact that there are two pieces of cane vibrating against each other. A single reed consists of one piece of cane which vibrates against a mouthpiece made of metal, hardened...

 and a conical wooden body. It produces a powerful and penetrating high-pitched sound, similar to the Chinese suona

Suona

The suona ; also called laba or haidi is a Han Chinese shawm . It has a distinctively loud and high-pitched sound, and is used frequently in Chinese traditional music ensembles, particularly those that perform outdoors...

, the Korean taepyeongso

Taepyeongso

The taepyeongso is a Korean double reed wind instrument in the shawm or oboe family, probably descended from the Persian zurna and closely related to the Chinese suona...

, and the Persian/Indian shehnai

Shehnai

The shehnai, shahnai, shenai or mangal vadya, is an aerophonic instrument, a double reed conical oboe, common in North India, West India and Pakistan, made out of wood, with a metal flare bell at the end...

.

The best-known player of the kèn is perhaps Nguyễn Ngọc Khánh (b. 1956), who is also known as "Khánh of the kèn."

Varieties

• Kèn bầu - with a wooden bell carved in a gourd shape; comes in several sizes
• Kèn đám ma - with a metal bell; used for funerals in northern Vietnam

External links

• http://www.lotusandlightning.com/music/khanh.html (A page with streaming audio samples of Nguyễn Ngọc Khánh playing the kèn)