Pattala

The pattala (Burmese: ပတ္တလားpatta.la:, Burmese pronunciation:[pattəlá]; Mon: ဗာတ် ကလာ) is a Burmese xylophone, consisting of 24 bamboo slats called ywet(ရွက်) or asan (အဆံ) suspended over a boat-shaped resonating chamber.^[1][2] It is played with two padded mallets.^[1][2] The pattala is tuned similar to the diatonic scale.^[1]

In modern days, classical Burmese chamber music is accompanied by either the pattala or the saung (the Burmese harp), both of which are capable of performing a harmonic countermelody.^[3] The pattala is also a key instrument in the Burmese ensemble orchestra, the hsaing waing.^[4] The pattala is also prominently featured in Burmese drama, anyeint.^[5]

The Burmese term pattala is a calque of Sanskritvādya (ဝါဒျ, "musical instrument") and Mon (ကလာ, "chest"). The Mon equivalent is called patkala (ဗာတ်ကလာ). In the Karen languages, it is called paw ku.^[6]

The earliest extant mention of the pattala is in the Kalyani Inscriptions, which dates to CE 1479, followed by a reference in a treatise during the reign of Bayinnaung.^[5] During the Nyaungyan era, the pattala was referenced in the poet-minister Padethayaza's verse poem, "Thuza Pyo" (သူဇာပျို့) as an instrument played for royal court affairs. The pattala is similar to other mainland Southeast Asian instruments, including the Thai ranat ek and the Cambodian roneat ek.

In pre-colonial Burma, the pattala was used in royal court music.^[7] In fact, when the piano was first introduced to the Burmese court in the late 1800s, it was tuned to the scale of the pattala.^[7]

Las tablillas de bambú suelen estar hechas de madera de bambú gigante ( Dendrocalamus giganteus ), que es duradera y produce un sonido estable. ^{[ 1 ]} Ocasionalmente, las tablillas se fabrican con latón o hierro . ^{[ 1 ]} Los mazos se fabrican con maderas duras como teca , padauk , cutch negro , yindaik o pyinkado. ^{[ 1 ]} La caja de resonancia está hecha de teca y decorada con incrustaciones de vidrio o pan de oro. ^{[ 1 ]}

Los componentes del pattala tienen nombres especializados en el idioma birmano: ^{[ 8 ]}

• Pallin (ပလ္လင်, iluminado. "trono") - la base del pattala ^{[ 8 ]}
• Phanat (ဖိနပ်, iluminado. "zapatos") - el pie del pattala ^{[ 8 ]}
• Bedaungbya (ဘဲတောင်ပြား, iluminado. "plumas planas de pato") - la cámara de resonancia ^{[ 8 ]}
• Myinmo taing (မြင်းမိုရ်တိုင်, literalmente " pilares del monte Meru "): protuberancias decorativas de la cámara de resonancia ^{[ 8 ]}
• Myinmo peik (မြင်းမိုရ်ပိတ်, iluminado. " Cierre del Monte Meru ") - cualquiera de los extremos de la cámara de resonancia ^{[ 8 ]}

• Ranat ek
• Roneat ek