Music of Myanmar

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The music of Myanmar (or Burma) (Burmese: မြန်မာ့ဂီတ) shares many similarities with other musical styles in the region. Traditional music is melodic, having its own unique form of harmony, often composed with a ⁴
₄ (na-yi-se), a ²
₄ (wa-let-se) or a ⁸
₁₆ (wa-let-a-myan) time signature. In Burmese, music segments are combined into patterns, and then into verses, making it a multi-level hierarchical system. Various levels are manipulated to create a song. Harmony in Mahagita (the Burmese body of music) is known as twe-lone, which is similar to a chord in western music. For example, C is combined with F or G.

Musical instruments include the brass se (which is like a triangle), hne (a kind of oboe), the bamboo wa, as well as the well-known saung, a boat-shaped harp.^[1] Traditionally, the instruments are classified into five groups called pyissin turiya (ပဉ္စင်တူရိယာ). These instruments are played on a musical scale consisting of seven tones, each associated with an animal that is said to be the producer of the tone. Each tone can be raised, lowered, or played naturally (corresponding to sharp, flat or natural), resulting in twenty-one possible combinations. The pat waing drum circle, for example, consists of twenty-one drums, one tuned to each tone in each possible combination. Similarly, the Kyi Waing, a twenty-one gong instrument is struck with a knobbed stick placed alongside the pat waing.^[1]

Western music gained popularity in Burma during the 1930s, despite the government's intervention. During the socialist era, musicians and artists were subject to censorship by the Press Scrutiny Board and Central Registration Board, as well as laws like the State Protection Law. Classical music was also introduced during the British occupation. Pop music emerged in the 1970s and was banned by state-run radio stations. However, many artists circumvented this censorship by producing albums in private studios and releasing them in music production shops. Rock music, called stereo in Burmese, has been a popular form of music since the 1980s. When the country's regulations on censorship were loosened in 2000, many pop groups emerged throughout Myanmar such as Electronic Machine, Playboy, ELF Myanmar, and the King.^[2] In August 2012, state censorship on music was officially abolished.

Traditional music

Classical traditions

The orthodox

Translated as "great music" in

Burmese music includes a variety of folk traditions. A distinct form of which is called the byaw (ဗျော), often played at religious festivals and sung to the beat of a long and thin drum, with occasional interruptions by the beating of a larger drum.[7]

The traditional folk ensemble, typically used in nat pwe (Burmese theatre, art and festivals) is called the hsaing waing (ဆိုင်းဝိုင်း). It is mainly made up of different gongs and drums, as well as other instruments, depending on the nature of performance.^[8] The ensemble bears many similarities to other Southeast Asian ensembles, although it incorporates a drum circle not found in similar ensembles.^[4] The ensemble is made up of a series of drums and gongs, including the center pieces, which are the hne (double reed pipe) and pat waing, set of 21 tuned drums in a circle.^[4]

Other instruments in this ensemble include the kyi waing (ကြေးဝိုင်း, small bronze gongs in a circular frame) and maung hsaing (မောင်းဆိုင်း, larger bronze gongs in a rectangular frame), as well as the si and wa (bell and clapper) and the recent addition of the chauk lone bat (a group of six drums which have gained currency since the early 20th century).^[4] Hsaing waing music, however, is atypical in Southeast Asian music, characterised by sudden shifts in rhythm and melody as well as change in texture and timbre.^[9]

Popular music

Early beginnings

Western music has gained popularity in Burma since the 1930s. Despite the government's intervention at times, especially during the socialist era, popular Burmese music has seen considerable influence from Western music, which consists of popular Western songs rendered in Burmese and pop music similar to other Asian pop tunes.^[9] Classical music was also introduced during the British occupation. Cult folk musician Nick Drake was born in Burma during British rule.

Rock music, called stereo in Burmese, has been a popular form of music since the 1980s, having been introduced in the 1960s.

When the country's regulations on censorship were loosened in 2000, new pop groups emerged across Myanmar who were able to compose, record and perform original Burmese music. Many pop groups emerged throughout Myanmar such as Electronic Machine, Playboy, ELF Myanmar and the King.[2] In August 2012, state censorship on music was officially abolished. The only government censorship that remains on music is video censorship. Everyone can, in essence, release whatever they want. This has led many on the newly re-grouped Myanmar Music Association to grapple with the idea of forming a rating system to deal with some 'rude words' in music that may not be appropriate for all ages.

After decades underground, a small but enduring punk rock and heavy metal music scene has been increasingly visible in Burma.^[13] Modelling many 1970s and '80s classic Western punk bands and Modern Metal. Burmese punk band metal band shows a musical defiance that has not been seen before in Burma.^[13] In the German made 2012 documentary film "Yangon Calling" over a period of six weeks film-makers Alexander Dluzak and Carsten Piefke secretly filmed, as they documented the Burmese punks life, documenting everything from meeting friends and family, visiting rehearsals and filming secret concerts.^[14]

Websites that have started up in recent years such as Myanmar Xbands have given attention to the Burmese punk scene along with other alternative Burmese music. The site has developed into a hub for artists to display their music to a Burmese and international audience for free download. Most of the Talented Bands Like Last Day of Beethoven, Darkest Tears from My Heart, Fever 109, We Are the Waste are well known by others because of this website. While other Burmese punk bands like pop punk band Side Effect, turned to raising funds on

Burmese music has a wide variety of musical instruments, including the brass se (which is like a triangle), hne (a kind of oboe) and bamboo wa, as well as the well-known saung, a boat-shaped harp.^[1]

Beginning just before World War II, the piano was adapted to the performance of Burmese traditional music, modelling its technique after that of the pattala and saung. The best known performer of Burmese piano was Gita Lulin Maung Ko Ko, known as U Ko Ko (1928–2007).^[16]

The

1. Kyei (ကြေး) - brass instruments
2. Thayei (သားရေ) - leather-covered drums
3. Kyo (ကြိုး) - string instruments
4. Lei (လေ) - wind instruments
5. Letkhok (လက်ခုပ်) - percussion instruments

Tuning

These instruments are played in a musical scale consisting of seven tones, each associated with an animal that is said to be the producer of the tone. Each tone can be played raised, lowered or natural (corresponding to sharp, flat or natural), resulting a possible twenty-one combinations. The pat waing drum circle, for example, consists of twenty-one drums, one tuned to each tone in each possible combination, and the saing saya (maestro) sits in the middle using various parts of his hands to strike the drums to produce a melody. The kyi waing is the gong circle strung up in the same fashion and the gongs are struck with a knobbed stick and in accompaniment to the pat waing.^[1]

Kyay instruments

Kyay or brass instruments feature prominently in Burmese music. They include:

• Linkwin (လင်းကွင်း) - brass cymbals^[17]
• Kyay nin (ကြေးနင်း) - brass gong
• Kyay naung (ကြေးနောင်) - small brass gong
• Maung (မောင်း) - brass gong
• Kyay si (ကြေးစည်) - triangular gong
• Chu si (ခြူစည်) - jingle-like gong
• Kyauk si (ကျောက်စည်) - circular brass gong
• Maung saing (မောင်းဆိုင်း) - a graduated series of brass gongs
• Khaunglaung (ခေါင်းလောင်း) - brass bells
• Thanlwin (သံလွင်) - small brass cymbals
• Pha si (ဖားစည်) - bronze drums used in Mon, Karen, and Kayah music^[17]

Kyo instruments

Kyo or string instruments in the Burmese musical repertoire include the following:

• arched harp
• Mi gyaung (မိကျောင်) - plucked zither in Mon music
• Don min (ဒုံမင်း) - plucked zither