Thai Elephant Orchestra

The Thai Elephant Orchestra is a musical ensemble consisting of as many as sixteen elephants near Lampang in Northern Thailand. The elephants play music (essentially as conducted improvisations) on enormous specially designed musical instruments. The orchestra was co-created by elephant conservationist Richard Lair of the National Elephant Institute (formerly the Thai Elephant Conservation Center) and the American musical artist / neuroscientist Dave Soldier. They perform for tourists at the center, and have released three CDs on the Mulatta Records label with an orchestra ranging in size from six to fourteen elephants.

Their musical works are of two general types. The first type features the elephants individually improvising on the instruments with the only human interaction being cues as to when to start and stop. The other type is compositional and requires mahouts to teach or train the elephants to perform human tunes as a hocket. The Thai Elephant Orchestra primarily uses the Lanna Thai five-note scale, and most of the instruments are heavy-duty versions of traditional Thai instruments; additional instruments include drums and harmonica.

Discography

• (2002) – The Thai Elephant Orchestra
• (2005) – Elephonc Rhapsodies
• (2011) – Water Music

External links

• "Thai Elephant Orchestra". Art & Culture. Thai Elephant Conservation Center. — Story, photos and 4-part documentary
• The Thai Elephant Orchestra at Mulatta Records (includes audio samples)
• Kinship with Animals : Thai Elephant Orchestra , article by Dave Soldier
• Video documentary on the Thai Elephant Orchestra by Paul Spurrier
• Scigliano, Eric (December 16, 2000). "Think Tank; A Band With a Lot More to Offer Than Talented Trumpeters". New York Times. Arts.
• "Audio: Elephant Orchestra". Thai Elephants. National Geographic Society. — Includes 3 songs