.

fixing foundation for a cradle

forming of the cradle’s sides

forming of the cradle’s sides

Sayar Mg Htwe who lived Lak kauk bazaar at Mrauk-U invented the Rakhine crocodile zither according to the Rakhine Culture literature which is written by U Aung Thar OO. Marlakon fiddle is influential used to play for the royal ceremony of the ancient Rakhine king. Later it has to be used influentially to the countryside. Nowadays, there is no player who can play the Rakhine crocodile zither of the playing method. Playing method is that right forefinger strikes the string and left forefinger presses the middle fret of the arm of the zither to produce scale. The four Rakhine scales are the song of sea wave , a thunderous song, the echo and the sound of water drop which have to be played the Tha gjin:, Ei: gjin, E: gjin.\nJin Dai’ wood which is the kind of hard-wood tree ( Dalbergia cultrate ) or wood has to be sculpted the shape of crocodile. The head and the trail are decorated with rinceau; scroll-work with floral motif; floral arabesque and the body is made a hallow. Royal crocodile zither is decorated with glass mosaic and gilt. A silk-yarn, a cotton tread-yarn and a metal string (brass string) are put on the back( between the waist and shoulder ).It has to be put on three strings and an extra string. A short stump or a bridge which is called Sein Thee is put on the middle of it so that it can be controlled the middle string of the three strings. A peg is put on it so that the strings can be made tuning. \n-3 feet 9 inches in the length of crocodile \n-6 inches in the width of crocodile\n-3.5 inches in the height of crocodile head \n-8.5 inches in the height of crocodile tail\n-3 feet 6 inches in the length of harp

The earliest mention of the pattala (pa'tala:) is in the Bago Kalyani Sima lithic inscription of A.D. 1479 enumerating the presents exchanged with the king of present day Sri Lanka. It was mentioned by Court official Twinthin Mingyi in 1798 as one of the six instruments of the anyein (non- dramatic dance and comedy) ensemble. F.A Neilly, author of a book on Thailand, wrote " The Thai xylophone is derived from the Myanmar xylophone which the Myanmar play exceedingly well". Thai Research Society Vol 69 Part 1-2 of January- July 1951 carried long article by USA Kent University School of Music Terry E Miller and Music Department of Shrinaken University researcher Jaran Chaichonperut. War between the two countries made cultural exchange of musical instruments. There is evidence to show that the xylophone was extant earlier in Myanmar than in Thailand.\nEarlier, softwood was used for the mallets. Now they are made of teak, padauk, cutch, yindai or pyinkado. The mallets are eight inches long with a soft knob of cotton, felt or velvet at the tip. The resonance box is usually made of teak and decorated with pieces of glass of various colors and gilt. Earlier the box constituted one body. Now it is made collapsible for easier transportation. Thought the slats are generally bamboo, there can also be brass or iron. The Myanmar pattala is tuned to the diatonic scale. However, Myanmar chau' pau' and hni pau' instead of being equivalent to international E and B notes are a semitone each Lower. The Myanmar pattala covers one octave below middle C and two octaves above thereby encompassing altogether three octaves. The Myanmar pattala is composed of the slats, the resonance box and the mallets. The beginner is trained to first play left and right strikers alternately in the "maun nin:" method of play. Then the student is trained to strike the mallets simultaneously using the "zoun" method. Traditionally, the player tearns to keep to the timing beats by playing the short music piece beginning "htan taya tei: shin" . They the player is taught the combined "htan", the combined "dun", the combined "djan" and the detached "djan".

The earliest mention of the pattala (pa'tala:) is in the Bago Kalyani Sima lithic inscription of A.D. 1479 enumerating the presents exchanged with the king of present day Sri Lanka. It was mentioned by Court official Twinthin Mingyi in 1798 as one of the six instruments of the anyein (non- dramatic dance and comedy) ensemble. F.A Neilly, author of a book on Thailand, wrote " The Thai xylophone is derived from the Myanmar xylophone which the Myanmar play exceedingly well". Thai Research Society Vol 69 Part 1-2 of January- July 1951 carried long article by USA Kent University School of Music Terry E Miller and Music Department of Shrinaken University researcher Jaran Chaichonperut. War between the two countries made cultural exchange of musical instruments. There is evidence to show that the xylophone was extant earlier in Myanmar than in Thailand.\nEarlier, softwood was used for the mallets. Now they are made of teak, padauk, cutch, yindai or pyinkado. The mallets are eight inches long with a soft knob of cotton, felt or velvet at the tip. The resonance box is usually made of teak and decorated with pieces of glass of various colors and gilt. Earlier the box constituted one body. Now it is made collapsible for easier transportation. Thought the slats are generally bamboo, there can also be brass or iron. The Myanmar pattala is tuned to the diatonic scale. However, Myanmar chau' pau' and hni pau' instead of being equivalent to international E and B notes are a semitone each Lower. The Myanmar pattala covers one octave below middle C and two octaves above thereby encompassing altogether three octaves. The Myanmar pattala is composed of the slats, the resonance box and the mallets. The beginner is trained to first play left and right strikers alternately in the "maun nin:" method of play. Then the student is trained to strike the mallets simultaneously using the "zoun" method. Traditionally, the player tearns to keep to the timing beats by playing the short music piece beginning "htan taya tei: shin" . They the player is taught the combined "htan", the combined "dun", the combined "djan" and the detached "djan".