Other instruments of the ensemble include several larger, vertically suspended gongs—some with deep rims, some with narrow ones as well as a tall single-headed drum.
Sally Beamish's Commedia, now 10 years old, is a theatre piece without actors, an imaginary Italian comedy in which the familiar Commedia dell'Arte characters such as Harlequin, Pierrot and Pucinella are represented by instruments of the ensemble.
The main melody instrument of the ensemble is the kulintangan, a single row of seven to nine small horizontally suspended "pot gongs," similar to those of the bonang in the Javanese gamelan of Indonesia.
The lead instrument of the ensemble is the kakko, which is a smaller shime-daiko with heads made of deerskin, and is placed horizontally on a stand during performance.
Among the most prominent melodic instruments of the classical ensemble were tuned circular sets of gongs (khong vong), xylophones (lanat), and a quadruple-reed wind instrument (pi kaeo).
The koto, a 13-stringed zither with movable bridges, has been mentioned as one of the basic instruments of the court ensembles as well as a common cultural accoutrement for court ladies.
"Some tracks, I'm taking the originals, tearing them apart and restructuring them like a remix," says Coyle. "I'll be doing arrangements involving mixtures of instruments from the ensemble and some with the entire group playing together".
Instruments of the Lao classical ensemble were generally distinct from those of rural and regional traditions.
The instruments in the ensemble may be divided into three groups of musical function.
These instruments, one of the first ensembles of instruments yet discovered, include nine lyres, two harps, a silver double flute, sistra and cymbals.
It is considered one of the region's three major gong ensembles, alongside the gamelan of western Indonesia and piphat of Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Laos, which use gongs and not wind or string instruments to carry the melodic part of the ensemble.
