Samphor
Camphor • Illustration — A Cambodian boy plays a samphor (Khmer:សំភោរ). The samphor (also romanized as sampho) is a small, 2-headed barrel drum indigenous to Cambodia, approximately.35 meter wide by.5 meter long. It has two heads, with one drumhead being larger than the other and is played with both hands.
Also recorded as sampho
Samphor
Dion Hinchcliffe · CC BY 2.5
- Field
- barrel drum
- Region
- Cambodia
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Samphor. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q7410116 · wikipedia · Samphor
In this article
Overview
Overview
Depending on the ability of the musician, the samphor can make as many as 8 different pitches. The player of the sampho leads the pinpeat (a classical ensemble of wind and percussion instruments), setting the tempo and beat. It is also played at freestyle boxing evens, accompanying the sralai. The samphor is analogous to the taphon used in Thailand. The samphor is made by hollowing out a single block of wood into a barrel shape. Both ends are covered with calfskin, tightened by strips of leather or rattan. One head of the drum is larger than the other to allow differing tones. Traditionally, the maker "tunes" each head by applying a circle of paste made of rice and ashes (from a palm); however a new resin paste is available today. The pitch to which the skin head is tuned becomes lower with a thicker layer of ash. The drummer makes use of four distinct strokes: an open and closed stroke for each head. Each of these four sounds has a Cambodian name: • Open stroke, small head (ting) • Closed stroke, small head (tip) • Open stroke, large head (theung) • Closed stroke, large head (tup)
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Cambodia
Country
Samphor is associated with Cambodia.
Country
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Samphor, revision 1338478240 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Samphor is connected to 2 other published records in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
Within the Encyclopedia
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Collectables
20,755 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Sammy Sosa High Heat Baseball 2001Work
- SamorostWork
- Samorost 2Work
- Samorost 3Work
- samplerTerminology
- Sampras Tennis 96Work
- SamsaraWork
- Samsung Galaxy Buds 2Terminology
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Samphor?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.