Hsaing Waing

The ''hsaing waing'' ( my, ဆိုင်းဝိုင်း, ; also spelt ''saing waing''), commonly dubbed the Burmese traditional orchestra (မြန်မာ့ဆိုင်း), is a traditional Burmese folk musical ensemble that accompanies numerous forms of rituals, performances, and ceremonies in modern-day Myanmar (Burma).

''Hsaing waing'' musicians use a hemitonic and anhemitonic scale similar to the one used by Indonesian gamelan musicians. The ensemble's principal instruments, including the ''pat waing'', ''kyi waing'', and ''hne'', each play variations on a single melody (heterophony).

Origins

The ''hsaing waing'' is the product of indigenous musical traditions, enriched with contact with a diverse array of musical traditions in neighboring Southeast Asian societies. The ''hsaing waing'' ensemble's principal instrument, a drum circle called ''pat waing'', continues to use Indian drum-tuning methods, and is considered the last remaining vestige of Indian instrumentation in Southeast Asia. Similar gong and chime ensembles are found in neighboring Thailand and Laos, where it is called ''piphat'', and in Cambodia, where it is called ''pinpeat''. However, these ensembles do not employ the use of a ''pat waing''.

The earliest pictorial evidence of the ''hsaing waing'' ensemble dates to the 1600s, coinciding with the Burmese invasion of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, which may have introduced additional instruments, principally a gong chime called ''kyi waing''. However, the Burmese ''hsaing waing'' differs greatly in its diversity of instruments and musical style from Thai ensembles. Many of the ''hsaing waing'' instruments are shared instead with the an ensemble of Mon origin, the Thai ''piphat mon'' ensemble, indicating shared origins.

During the British colonial era, Sein Beda, a prominent musician, introduced various innovations to the ensemble, including decorating ensemble stands with traditional Burmese motifs and glass mosaic, introducing a jazz band to the ensemble, creating spotlights, and introducing musician uniforms.

Instrumentation

The ''hsaing waing'' ensemble includes a variety of percussion and wind instruments, including various gongs and drums:

*''Pat waing'' (ပတ်ဝိုင်း) ''or pat lon'' (ပတ်လုံး) - a set of 18 to 21 drums in a circle with a range of more than 3 octaves
*''Kyi waing'' (ကြေးဝိုင်း) - small bronze gongs in a circular frame
*''Maung hsaing'' (မောင်းဆိုင်း) - a gong chime made of larger bronze gongs in a rectangular frame
*''Wa letkhot'' (ဝါးလက်ခုပ်, ) - wooden clappers
*''Hne'' (နှဲ) - double reed oboe
*''Si'' (စည်း) - bell
*''Wa'' (ဝါး) - clapper
*''Si to'' (စည်းတို)
*''Lingwin'' (လင်းကွင်း) - cymbals
*''Sakhun'' (စခွန့်) - a double-headed drum on a stand
*''Chauk lon pat'' (ခြောက်လုံးပတ်, ) - a set of eight tuned drums
*''Pat ma gyi'' (ပတ်မကြီး) - a big drum suspended from a pole frame depicting a mythical ''pyinsarupa''
*''Min pauk'' (မင်းပေါက်, ) - entryway made in the panels, forming the framework of a drum-circle

For more formal and classical performances, the ensemble may be accompanied by the ''saung gauk,'' the Burmese harp, the ''pattala'', a Burmese xylophone, or the piano and violin, both of which were introduced during the colonial era. The Mon version of the ''hsaing waing'' ensemble also includes a crescent-shaped brass gong chime called ''la gyan hsaing'' in Burmese.

Types

Music from the ''hsaing waing'' ensemble accompanies singing, dancing, and dialogues in all types of theatrical performances. Burmese scholarship recognizes 5 main types of ''hsaing waing'' ensembles:

#''Bala hsaing (''ဗလာဆိုင်း) - performed at celebratory occasions such as weddings, Buddhist ordainment rituals (''shinbyu''), ear-piercing ceremonies, funerals, lethwei competitions, and pagoda commemorations
#''Zat hsaing (''ဇာတ်ဆိုင်း) - accompanies traditional dramatic theatre and play performances
#''Yokthe hsaing'' (ရုပ်သေးဆိုင်း) - accompanies classical marionette (puppetry) shows
#''Nat hsaing'' (နတ်ဆိုင်း) - accompanies spirit propitiation rituals
#''Anyeint hsaing'' (အငြိမ့်ဆိုင်း) - accompanies traditional ''anyeint'' performances

The distinct repertoire of recognizable tunes accompanies of each of these types of ''hsaing waing'' ensembles.

Musical styles

Music of the ''hsaing waing'' is characterized by dynamic, lively and sudden contrasts and shifts in rhythm, melody and tempo. The melody typically follows a regular meter of 4 to 8 beats. ''Anyeint'' dance performances, as well as nat gadaw and marionette puppet performances, are accompanied by the music of the ''hsaing waing'', with the sudden shifts in musical rhythm reflected in the dancer's changing poses. The melody is shaped by tones; a complex system of pitches, principal and auxiliary tones, and melodic phrase terminals (cadential formulas), ornaments, and the vocal lines are associated with particular modes, which are context-driven (depending on environment and stage situations) and express varying emotions. The gong instrumentation provide repetitive motifs (see ostinato) during the course of a performance.

By contrast, classical singing of the Mahāgīta tradition derived from royal chamber music, which is characterized by a quieter and more restrained musical style, is accompanied by either a classical ensemble or a single ''saung gauk''.

See also

* Myanmar National Symphony Orchestra
* Pinpeat
* Piphat

References

{{reflist

Burmese music
Burmese culture