The Music
The orchestra (hsaing-waing) accentuates the dramatic moments of the performance. The musicians open the performance with a sort of overture. By beating the suspended knobbed gong (maung), clashing the cymbals, and beating a fast drum rhythm, a musical interpretation is given of the repeated destruction and recreation of the earth by the elements fire, wind and water.
A set of twenty-one tuned drums in a circular frame is the leading instrument. A shawm and two sets of gongs play the melody. The percussion is played on a large drum (pat-ma), hung in a frame which represents a mythical animal, and a set of tuned drums, as well as on cymbals, large bamboo clappers and a small slit drum.
U Than Chaung, the leader of the orchestra, plays the melody on a set of 21 tuned drums in a circular frame (pat-waing). The drums are beaten with the hands. The drums are hung vertically within the frame so that the musician plays on the upper heads only. The frame of the drum chime is made of vermilion lacquered wood covered by gold leaf, and adorned with traditional designs of flowers and leaves and small pieces of coloured glass.
Set of 18 small knobbed brass gongs (kyi-waing) set horizontally on a circular wooden frame. The sharp-toned gongs are struck with beaters. They support the gong chime by playing the melody.
Set of 18 small bronze gongs (maung-zaing) mounted in rows on straight wooden frames which are laid flat on the ground and propped up against the pat-waing. The mellow-toned gongs are struck with beaters. They support the gong chime by playing the melody.
Percussion: cymbals (yagwin) and a small slit drum (byauk), played with sticks.
Shawm (hne) and large bamboo clapper (walet hkok). The shawm weaves a harmony amidst the staccato notes of the drums and the gongs.
A shawm player may be seen as a glass mosaic in a small building next to a cloister.
Set of drums (pat-ma-gyaung), played with the hands. The drums are tuned by the amount of tuning paste in the centre of the skin surface: a mixture of ash and cooked rice, kneaded smooth.
Singers sing or declaim the texts of the more complicated characters, like the prince and the princess. They have to be able to sing in different styles, deliver the dialogues smoothly and draw on a broad knowledge of poetry and literature.
