The Seung (Sueng or Sung), a Plucked Fretted Lute from the Northern Region of Thailand

Ezra Alfandy, M Duin and Sinin, Hamdan and Khairul Anwar, Mohamad Said and Mawar Suhaila, Ab Razak and Aaliyawani Ezzerin, Sinin (2025) The Seung (Sueng or Sung), a Plucked Fretted Lute from the Northern Region of Thailand. BioResources, 20 (2). pp. 3234-3251. ISSN 1930-2126

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Abstract

The seung instrument is played in one key (minor key) because the fret spacing creates a diatonic scale. Due to the fact that the frets are not uniformly spaced on the fretboard, the fret spacing produces a diatonic scale (do-re-mi-fa, etc.) instead of a chromatic scale of a guitar, where all the flats and sharps are available. The partial frequency (Hz) versus harmonic number for string 1 and 2 are very linear. The gradients of the linear equations fit very well with the fundamental frequency of the open string 1 and 2 and fret 1 to fret 9. The sounds were digitally captured using a PicoScope oscilloscope and were subsequently examined utilizing PicoScope software, emphasizing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The Time Frequency Analysis (TFA) was obtained via Adobe Audition. The notes for open string 1 and 2 are A4 followed by B4, C5, D5, E5, F5, G5, A5, B5, C6, and D4 followed by E4, F4, G4, A4, B4, C5, D5, E5, F5 from the 9 frets respectively. The 10 notes up to the 9th frets for string 1 and 2 are A4 to C5 and D4 to F5 respectively.

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