Unusual Talent Results in Unusual Project in Oak Forest HS Physics Class

Oak Forest High School physics teacher Steve Hogan had no idea what he was in for when freshman student Wirada Kornkrasunk walked into his class early one morning, lugging her musical instrument in a heavy black case.

Students were working on a unit where they were researching various stringed instruments to build and display. The objective Hogan wanted them to learn was that a higher pitch is attained by a shorter string and a lower pitch is attained by a longer string.

Wirada asked if she could show the class her instrument and Hogan agreed, not knowing that the instrument she was bringing was a Thai instrument, the khim.

The khim is an interesting instrument, consisting of a trapezoidal base with brass strings across it. It is played by striking it with a khim stick, or a mallet. However unusual the khim instrument may seem, Wirada explained that it is also played in American but it is called by another name. Wirada said, “The khim is also called a dulcimer in America.”

Wirada gave an impromptu concert in both Hogan’s class and in the Oak Forest High School Instructional Materials Center. Hogan said, “Wirada explained how the pitch of the instrument changes with the length of the [brass string]. Also, she showed how the mallet determines the pacing of the song.”

Wirada has been playing the Thai khim for five years, mostly as a way to honor her Thai heritage. She goes to her Buddhist temple in Bridgeview to study the khim with her teacher on Saturdays and then again on Sundays to study Thai dancing.

Wirada said that she will use her knowledge of the khim to build a homemade version of the khim as her project for Hogan’s physics class.