Music of Myanmar
Traditional music is melodic, having its own unique form of harmony, often composed with a 44 (na-yi-se), a 24 (wa-let-se) or a 816 (wa-let-a-myan) time signature.
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.
However, many artists circumvented this censorship by producing albums in private studios and releasing them in music production shops.
[4][5] A prevailing one is called yodaya (ယိုးဒယား), which is essentially a class of Burmese adaptations to songs accompanied with the saung gauk and come from the Ayutthaya kingdom (modern-day Thailand) during the reigns of Bayinnaung (1551–1581) and Hsinbyushin (1753–1776), which brought back a variety of cultural traditions including the Ramayana.
The indoor form is the chamber music ensemble, which basically comprises a female singer accompanied by a traditional ensemble consisting of the saung (စောင်း), pattala (ပတ္တလား), migyaung (မိကျောင်း, a zither), palwe (ပလွေ, a flute) and in the past also included the tayaw (တယော, a fiddle) and hnyin (a small mouth organ).
[6] Translated as "great music" in Pali, the Mahāgīta is an extensive collection of Burmese classical songs called thachin gyi.
[7] The traditional folk ensemble, typically used in nat pwe (Burmese theatre, art and festivals) is called the hsaing waing (ဆိုင်းဝိုင်း).
[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).
However, many artists circumvented this censorship by producing albums in private studios and releasing them in music production shops.
However, after the State Law and Order Restoration Council usurped power in 1988, the Press Scrutiny Board was reformed to censor specific political and social issues, including poverty, the sex trade, democracy, and human rights.
Popular musicians including Zaw Win Htut and Sai Htee Saing have produced propaganda albums written by military officers such as Mya Than San.
[11] Hip hop and rap emerged in the late 1990s and is now the prevailing genre of music among Burmese youth today.
There are also many underground rock and metal bands such as All Else I Fail, Last Day of Beethoven, Temper Level VIII, Tha Ta Lin Chate, Idiots, Offkeys, We Are the Waste, The Last Secret, etc.
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.
After decades underground, a small but enduring punk rock and heavy metal music scene has been increasingly visible in Burma.
The site has developed into a hub for artists to display their music to a Burmese and international audience for free download.
[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.
During the Konbaung period (1752–1885), courtly musicians included Queen Ma Mya Galay, Princess Hlaing Hteikhaung Tin, Minister Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa, and King Nat Shin Naung of Taungoo.
