Ma Nyo Mi Soe … studied cello at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

THE composer and singer, Diramore, is a man on a mission: to raise the profile of traditional and foreign instruments in the recording and entertainment industries.

It’s a mission driven as much by a desire to promote the authentic sound of instruments – rather than the synthesised sounds produced by keyboards – as it is to provide opportunities for other instrumentalists to reach a wider audience.

Diramore, 33, has been striving to achieve his musical mission for more than a decade by composing and arranging songs backed by a blend of traditional and foreign instruments.

His first album, Guitar Shi Lar (Is there a guitar?), released in 2000, highlighted his talents and his vision.

The album featured a selection of songs, including some written by Diramore when he was a student, backed by his arrangements for a small orchestra in which the instruments ranged from the Myanmar harp, pal-wei (flute) and traditional drum ensembles, to violins and guitars.

His orchestra, which since 2006 has been known as Gita Kabyar (Musical Poetry), comprises about 20 musicians and is in demand for background music for movies and arrangements for albums.

Gita Kabyar is busy rehearsing for Diramore’s second album, Kya Naw Hnit Gita (Music and I), which is due for release early in 2008.

“I don’t believe that traditional and foreign instruments should not be played together; music is music and they are all musical instruments,” he said.

“That’s why I don’t hesitate to mix, for example, a guitar and traditional drum ensembles,” said Diramore, who graduated from the University of Culture in 1997 with a BA (Music) and in 2006 was awarded a masters degree by the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

Not surprisingly, Diramore rarely uses a keyboard.

“I feel the sound from a keyboard lowers the quality of my music. I’m not using a keyboard at all in my second album, only traditional and foreign instruments,” he said.

He explains his reluctance to use a keyboard by using a violin as an example.

“The sound from a violin, which is technically difficult to play, is quite different to the sound produced by a keyboard, a machine. I don’t mean that keyboards are not useful, it’s just that they are easier to play,” Diramore said.

For composers and arrangers such as Diramore, it is important that young Myanmar have opportunities to learn foreign instruments as well as those used in traditional orchestras.

But as 33-year-old Ma Nyo Mi Soe found, learning to play some foreign instruments proficiently can be a challenge.

A graduate of the University of Culture in 1998, Ma Nyo Mi Soe studied the violin as part of her BA in music. However, when she joined the National Symphony Orchestra in 2002, she was assigned to play the cello.

“I had never seen a cello before I joined the orchestra,” she said, adding that she had to teach herself to play because there was no teacher of the instrument.

“I used to watch videos of cellists or listen to recordings,” said Ma Nyo Mi Soe.

But that changed in 2004 when she went to China to study the cello at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music on a two-year scholarship from the Ministry of Information.

“I discovered that everything I had taught myself was wrong; so I had to start again from the basics,” she said.

“It was a challenge but my teachers were excellent; in China they begin teaching children as young as three or four to play musical instruments.”

Ma Nyo Mi Soe, whose performances are often featured on MRTV and MRTV-4, hopes that Myanmar music lovers will gradually develop an appreciation of foreign orchestral music.

She also spoke of the importance of holding concerts and workshops to give young musicians opportunities to learn from each other and to achieve greater exposure.

Her opinion on the importance of exposure is echoed by U Moe Naing, 40, the director of the Gitameit Music Centre, on Karya Thukha Lane in Yankin township.

“People usually think you can only learn to play an instrument from a private teacher, but it’s equally important to be able to watch and listen to others playing,” said U Moe Naing, a pianist who studied music at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

“We often invite foreign and Myanmar musicians to give workshops for our students so they are aware of what’s happening in music and to give them the chance to see skilled performers in action,” he said.

Gitameit also arranges for students to perform together once a week because of the value they derive from seeing others play, said U Moe Naing.

He said the popularity of “unplugged” albums in recent years had helped to generate greater interest among young people in learning a range of instruments.