[4] According to Ouknha Moha Thipadei Meas Ni, the chief of Cambodian Royal Orchestra, this type of Roneat was modeled from Javanese gamelan musical instrument called Gendér since the reign of Khmer king Jayavarman II.
Because of their weight, the bars cannot be suspended on cords but are laid in stepwise order on pads over a rectangular trough resonator.
In its shape and size, the bars resemble those of the roneat ek, but they are tuned by scraping or firing away part of the metal.
[4][6] A variation on the instrument was the roneat thong (Khmer: រនាតថោង) which was made of a reddish-brown brass or bronze, similar to gold.
"[5] However, equivalent Thai metallaphone instruments can help illustrate possibilities; the Ranat ek lek had a golden and a blackened iron version.
[7] [8] The similarity in their name may attributed to the Thai annexation of Northwestern Cambodia from late 18th century and ended in 1907 as the age of this Khmer musical instrument was thought to be much older than this.