Jähnichen, Gisa. 2019. Playing the Serunai in Kampung Stong, Kelantan. Double Reeds along the Great Silk Route. Edited by Gisa Jähnichen and Terada Yoshitaka. Berlin: Logos, 119-132. Playing the Serunai in Kampung Stong, Kelantan Gisa Jähnichen Abstract This paper analyses the use of the serunai in a small ensemble accompanying silat (martial arts) in Kampung Stong, a larger village in the mountainous area of Kelantan, Malaysia, which was founded following new settlement policies in the late 1960s. The serunai is the only wind instrument used in this village. It is also the only instrument carrying a melody over a time longer than a period of a few bars. However, the instrument is regularly replicated and also sold to neighbouring villages. Beginning with the story of the village and its instrument maker, player, and cultural activist Ramli bin Yusof, the musical analysis of a silat performance relates a specific rule system that guides the ensemble as well as the performing fighters. Technical characteristics and playing techniques are part of this analysis. Finally, aesthetics in performance and their relation to sound symbolism are discussed. The author has conducted extensive field work in this area and provides first-hand information. Keywords: Martial arts, serunai, Malay peninsula, Kelantan, gendang silat Introduction The tradition of silat in the small village of Stong, where it is performed as a wedding performance, is not as strong as in some other places, where certain silat schools dominate. Strong silat schools usually have an indicative repertoire of special movements, music, and an individual ideological mindset, which are often added to the general interpretation of silat as an art of attack and self-defence. Focusing on the double reeds along the eastern coast and the interior of the Malay Peninsula, I was able to make various observations about the contextual use and melodic lines provided by the serunai in silat sessions. But before reporting on these observations, I must add that double-reed instruments have been present in this region for many centuries, and that they play an important role as carriers of melodic features within traditional music genres for very similar reasons as the religious and ritual events described for South Asia and in North Africa. The historical background must unfortunately be left to pure speculation. However, I would assume that quite a number of double-reed instruments were used in order to have a strong melodic instrument to be played outdoors. The shape and provenance of the instrument may have been of secondary importance, and depended on the