Thai harmonicons: Ranat ek and khong yai (xylophones) and ta'khay. . Chromolithograph from an illustration by William Gibb from A.J. Hipkins' Musical Instruments, Historic, Rare and Unique, Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh, 1888. Alfred James Hipkins (1826-1903) was an English musicologist who specialized in the history of the pianoforte and other instruments.