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Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. Details recorded here should be sourced; unknown information is left blank.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| Copy thachin | |
|---|---|
 Popular Burmese copy thachin band Iron Cross | |
| Etymology | "Copy song" |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1980s, Burma |
Copy thachin, (Burmese: ကော်ပီသီချင်း, kawpithăchin: IPA: [kɔ̀pìθət͡ɕʰɪ́ɴ]; Burmese for "copy song"), also known as "copy song" or "copy music" in English, is a genre of music in Myanmar that originates from the early 1980s. It merges the melody and instrumentals of international songs with Burmese vocals. Proponents of copy thachin argue that the style is separate from cover songs due to it having unique vocal arrangements and lyrics.[1]
A small portion of copy thachin songs are direct translations of their foreign counterparts, while the vast majority often have different meanings.[2][3] Additionally, copy thachin is known to change locations from Western landmarks to local Burmese locations.[2] Thukamein Hlaing, Min Chit Thu, Maung Thit Min, and Win Min Htway were known to use clever wordplay and innuendos to refer to deemed "explicit" or banned content such as gang violence or premarital activities.[2]
As of 2023, fewer than 140 vocalists recorded the more than 3,000 songs that make up the copy thachin repertoire. According to available data, just 22 bands accompanied half of all these songs. Notably, the band Iron Cross worked on a total of 660 songs.[2]
During the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma period, the ruling Burma Socialist Programme Party heavily blocked the importation of foreign media and restricted VISAs for foreigners, which caused the large absence of Western music for a long period. However, officials such as diplomats and scholars were allowed to bring Western instruments, songbooks, and cassette tapes into the country, which were often slowly spread through small circles, often through teenagers.[2]
Copy thachin takes much inspiration from the heavily psychedelic "stereo music" genre popularized by artists such as Naang Naang and Sai Htee Saing.[4] Playboy Than Naing's Shwe Thachin Myar or "Golden Songs" is considered to be the first copy thachin album. Released in 1975, the album had versions of songs by Western artists such as The Beatles and The Doors along with that of Indonesian artist Vivi Sumanti.[2]
Despite the government of Myanmar attempting to censor copy thachin throughout its history, it can widely be heard today in many public spaces. Most copy thachin was released during the 1990s. However, it has seen a level of decline in recent years. This decline can be attributed to younger artists taking pride in making their own unique music, the influence of music producers who have taken a disliking to copy thachin, and stronger copyright law being passed into law under the military regime since 2019.[1] For much of the country's history, the Copyright Act 1911 was the only copyright law relating to artistic and musical creations. The law didn't include any protections for foreign media, it wasn't until Burma joined the World Trade Organization and signed the TRIPS Agreement in 1994 that the nation began to enforce foreign copyrights.[1] There is a perceived stigma around copy thachin in modern-day Myanmar, as many musical critics and artists view it as embarrassing and as a cheap replication of original music.[5][6]
In the 1984 Burmese film, Achit Hlay starring Playboy Than Naing, he sings a song named "Sate Kuu Yin Eain Met" meaning "Fantasy Dream" in which the instrumental is directly taken from John Lennon's "Imagine". The title itself, "Fantasy Dream", is a reference to Lennon's 1980 album Double Fantasy.[2] Naing Myanmar's "Kabar Ma Kyay Buu" is a copy thachin and protest song borrowing the composition of "Dust in the Wind" by American rock band Kansas.[7]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Copy thachin, (Burmese: ကော်ပီသီချင်း, kawpithăchin: IPA: [kɔ̀pìθət͡ɕʰɪ́ɴ]; Burmese for "copy song"), also known as "copy song" or "copy music" in English, is a genre of music in Myanmar that originates from the early 1980s. It merges the melody and instrumentals of international songs with Burmese vocals. Proponents of copy thachin argue that the style is separate from cover songs due to it having unique vocal arrangements and lyrics. A small portion of copy thachin songs are direct translations of their foreign counterparts, while the vast majority often have different meanings. Additionally, copy thachin is known to change locations from Western landmarks to local Burmese locations. Thukamein Hlaing, Min Chit Thu, Maung Thit Min, and Win Min Htway were known to use clever wordplay and innuendos to refer to deemed "explicit" or banned content such as gang violence or premarital activities. As of 2023, fewer than 140 vocalists recorded the more than 3,000 songs that make up the copy thachin repertoire. According to available data, just 22 bands accompanied half of all these songs. Notably, the band Iron Cross worked on a total of 660 songs.
"Kabar Ma Kyay Buu" (Burmese: ကမ္ဘာမကြေဘူး) is a Burmese song written by composer Naing Myanmar (also known as Naing Myint Oo). The song is a copy thachin (adapted song) that takes its melody from the 1977 song "Dust in the Wind" by the American rock band Kansas. First gaining prominence during the 8888 Uprising, "Kabar Ma Kyay Buu" has become one of the most significant songs in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement. It was revived during the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état as a symbol of resistance against the military regime.
Kalaga (Burmese: ကန့်လန့်ကာ) is a heavily embroidered appliqué tapestry made of silk, flannel, felt, wool and lace against a background made of cotton or velvet indigenous to Burma (Myanmar). The word kalaga, which means "curtain," comes from the Burmese language, although Burmese refer to such tapestries as shwe gyi do (ရွှေချည်ထိုး; lit. 'gold thread embroidery'). These tapestries use a sewing technique called shwe gyi (ရွှေချည်) This artform emerged during the Konbaung dynasty in the mid-19th century and reached its zenith during the reign of Mindon Min, when velvet became fashionable at the royal court. In a typical tapestry, padded figures are cut from various types of cloth and sewn onto a background, usually red or black cloth to form an elaborate scene, traditionally from Burmese classical plays (e.g. Ramayana, Jataka). The figures are sewn using a combination of metallic and plain threads and adorned with sequins, beads and glass stones.
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 44 (na-yi-se), a 24 (wa-let-se) or a 816 (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. 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. 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. In August 2012, state censorship on music was officially abolished.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
