Sein Beda ( my, စိန်ဗေဒါ; also spelt Sein Baydar; 10 November 1882 – 8 October 1942) was a prominent Burmese classical musician based in
Mandalay
Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census).
Mandalay was fo ...
,
Burma (now Myanmar).
Career
Sein Beda was known for his expertise in the
hsaing waing, the Burmese musical ensemble, ranging from traditional instruments such as the
saung,
mi gyaung, and
pattala, to Western instruments like the
violin,
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
,
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
,
concertina, and
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...
.
Sein Beda began performing at the age of 16.
He was a favorite musician of
Thibaw Min, the Konbaung dynasty's last reigning monarch, and was conferred the title of Nemyo Bala Kyaw Thu (နေမျိုးဗလကျော်သူ) and an appanage of a large village by Thibaw Min for his musical talents. He became the first Burmese ''hsaing'' musician to perform in
British India, after being invited to the housewarming of Thibaw Min's residence in
Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for ...
.
During the British colonial period, Sein Beda introduced various innovations to the ensemble, including decorating ensemble stands with traditional Burmese motifs and
glass mosaic, intro