Tradition

Ayai

Ayai is a sung tradition of Cambodia in which, as a rule, two singers improvise in rhyme and in prose.[1]

Two microphone stands face out from a low wooden stage with a reed mat between them, under a string of paper lanterns at dusk, with a two-string fiddle and small cymbals on a cushion and stilt houses by the water beyond
Illustration inspired by a village festival stage set for two ayai singers.

Music

The ayai singers are skilled improvisers, and mohori music is at times performed with them.[1] One mohori piece is played in the style of the ayai dance ensemble.[1]

Wordplay

Like the Khmer songs of the 1950s and 1960s and the Chapei, ayai carries double meanings.[2]

References 2
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Folkways Records, Cambodia Traditional Music Volume II: Tribe Music, Folk Music and Popular Dances (1979)
  2. ↑ The Cambodia Daily, In Risque Music, Meaning Left Up to Listener (April 19, 2016)


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This page was last edited on 13 November 2026, at 22:36.