Musical instruments in Cải lương orchestra

1- Kìm lute (Nguyệt): Has 2 silk strings and 8 frets. The player sits toward the theatre, keeping rhythm with Song lang and usually being the one who conducts the orchestra. Sound of Ðàn Kìm is not as "thanh" as that of Tranh, but Ðàn Kìm in harmony with Tranh produces a very nice timbre. Depending on the voice of the actor or actress, Ðàn Kìm has 5 kinds of Hò as follows: Hò nhứt in correspond with the first note of Tiếu scale, Hò nhì  in correspondence with note Xự, Hò ba in correspondence with note Xang, Hò nhì  usually called Chinh scale, in correspondence with note Xê, Hò năm in correspondence with note Cống of Tiếu scale.

2- Tranh lute or (thập lục) : Has 16 steel strings. Its sound is bright with the techniques of accent, vibrato, etc. Like Ðàn Kìm, Ðàn Tranh can change Hò string according to the voice of the actor or actress. Due to its many strings, Ðàn Tranh has 3 compasses: upper, middle and lower compass. Especially, its technique of  "song thinh" produces very soft and gently sounds.

3-Cò lute (Nhị): Has 2 silk strings and a bow, but it has no frets. Ðàn Cò (Nhị) is used most often. It is always included in orchestras of Cải lương, Bội singing, Chèo, Tài Tử singing, Lễ. music, etc.

4- Sến lute: Has 2 silk strings. The technique of accent is rarely applied on Ðàn Sến.

5- Vietnamese Guitar: Its sound is as "thanh" as that of Tranh.  Vọng cổ and Oán scales played with Guitar is very nice, but Bắc and Nam scales played with guitar is not as good as played with Ðàn Kìm.

6- Violin: Has 4 strings and a bow like Ðàn Cò. Vọng cổ played with Violin together with Tranh and Vietnamese Guitar sounds very good.

7- Sáo flute or Tiêu:  Tiêu: Is used in orchestra of Cải lương, but unlike other lute, it has only on kind of Hò.

8-Cây Củn:  Looks like an oboe but has no speaker. It is used in Hồ quảng scale of Cải lương.