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Sega music

 
Sega Music

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Sega music



 
 
Sega music is an evolved combination of traditional Music of Mauritian
Music of Mauritius

The island of Mauritius and the island of Rodrigues is known for sega music, alongside the nearby R?union island, though reggae, soukous and other genres are also popular....
, Seychellois
Music of Seychelles

The Seychelles, which is an independent island chain in the Indian Ocean, formerly a colony of both UK and France has a distinct kind of music. Folk music incorporates multiple influences in a syncretic fashion, including England contredanse, polka and mazurka, French folk and pop, sega music from Mauritius and R?union, taarab, soukous mouty...
 and Réunionnais music
Music of Réunion

R?union is located east of Madagascar and is a province of France. Its population is mostly Francophone blacks, with some Indians and French minorities....
 with European dance music
Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dance. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement....
 like polka
Polka

The polka is a lively Central European dance and also a musical genre of dancing music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in the Czech lands and is still a common genre in Swedish, Lithuanian, Czech Republic, Poles, Germans, Hungarian, Austrians, Russian, Slovenian and Slovakian folk...
 and quadrille
Quadrille

Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dance. It is also a style of music....
s. Sega is especially similar to the Réunionnais folk dance maloya. Another form of dance similar to the sega is the Seychellois moutya. In its modern form, sega is also combined with genres like soukous
Soukous

Soukous is a musical genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa....
, zouk
Zouk

Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti, Dominica . Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local creole language of French with English influences....
 and reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
.

The Sega music originates in Réunion
Reunion

Reunion may refer to:...
, followed by Mauritius
Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius, , is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar....
 and then the Seychelles
Seychelles

Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an archipelago Country of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
; later the theme spread quickly through the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
.


evolved out of the culture of the Western Indian Ocean islands, in the mid-18th century.






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Encyclopedia


Sega music is an evolved combination of traditional Music of Mauritian
Music of Mauritius

The island of Mauritius and the island of Rodrigues is known for sega music, alongside the nearby R?union island, though reggae, soukous and other genres are also popular....
, Seychellois
Music of Seychelles

The Seychelles, which is an independent island chain in the Indian Ocean, formerly a colony of both UK and France has a distinct kind of music. Folk music incorporates multiple influences in a syncretic fashion, including England contredanse, polka and mazurka, French folk and pop, sega music from Mauritius and R?union, taarab, soukous mouty...
 and Réunionnais music
Music of Réunion

R?union is located east of Madagascar and is a province of France. Its population is mostly Francophone blacks, with some Indians and French minorities....
 with European dance music
Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dance. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement....
 like polka
Polka

The polka is a lively Central European dance and also a musical genre of dancing music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in the Czech lands and is still a common genre in Swedish, Lithuanian, Czech Republic, Poles, Germans, Hungarian, Austrians, Russian, Slovenian and Slovakian folk...
 and quadrille
Quadrille

Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dance. It is also a style of music....
s. Sega is especially similar to the Réunionnais folk dance maloya. Another form of dance similar to the sega is the Seychellois moutya. In its modern form, sega is also combined with genres like soukous
Soukous

Soukous is a musical genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa....
, zouk
Zouk

Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti, Dominica . Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local creole language of French with English influences....
 and reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
.

The Sega music originates in Réunion
Reunion

Reunion may refer to:...
, followed by Mauritius
Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius, , is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar....
 and then the Seychelles
Seychelles

Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an archipelago Country of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
; later the theme spread quickly through the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
.

Sega

Sega's origins

Sega evolved out of the culture of the Western Indian Ocean islands, in the mid-18th century. Traditional instruments include the rattle
Rattle

Rattle may mean:* Rattle * RATTLE magazine, an American poetry journal* Bird-scaring rattle, a Slovene device used to drive birds off vineyards and a folk instrument...
 maravanne, hand drum moutia, ravanne
Ravanne

The ravanne is a large tambourine-like instrument used in sega music of Mauritius....
, triangle and the bow bobre. The music's traditional form was largely improvised
Improvisation

Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings....
 and intensely emotional and expressed the tribulations of a subjugated, initially enslaved, people. It was also used as a dirge
Dirge

ExamplesExamples of dirges include:*Dies Irae*The Lyke-Wake Dirge*"Quiet Please" radio drama theme*Caoineadh Airt U? Laoghaire*Just a Closer Walk With Thee...
 and as part of traditional exorcism
Exorcism

Exorcism is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual being from a person or place which they are believed to have Spiritual possession....
s. Sega is most often considered originally Mauritian, with some specifically citing Rodrigues Island
Rodrigues (island)

Rodrigues, named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius. With a peak elevation of approximately 355 meters, it is located 560 km east of Mauritius island, in the middle of the Indian Ocean....
. However it has older origins in Réunion, where proto-Sega type music was common before the colonisation of Mauritius.

Modern varieties

Though primarily a form of Mauritian music, sega is now popular across the islands of Réunion
Reunion

Reunion may refer to:...
, Seychelles
Seychelles

Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an archipelago Country of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
, Comoros
Comoros

The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel between northern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique....
, Mayotte and Rodrigues
Rodrigues (island)

Rodrigues, named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius. With a peak elevation of approximately 355 meters, it is located 560 km east of Mauritius island, in the middle of the Indian Ocean....
, along with parts of Madagascar
Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
.

Santé engagé


Segastronics


Segastronics was a variety common in 1970s Mauritius; this was typically sega performed to heavy rock-like music. In modern times, however, this style has become outdated and replaced by Seggae.

Seggae


Seggae is a fusion of sega with reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
, a kind of Jamaican popular music
Music of Jamaica

The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall and related styles....
 that is very popular across sega's range. Seggae musicians include Ras Natty Baby, Sonny Morgan and the man seen as being the founder, Kaya
Kaya

Kaya may refer to:...
. Kaya, whose real name is Joseph Reginald Topize, was at the height of his career in 1999 when he was found dead in a prison cell. Riots followed soon after causing one of the major social upheavals in Mauritius. Kaya's music is, however, still very well alive and popular and has inspired contemporary musicians to expand the Seggae genre.

Regional varieties

In Reunion, sega is relatively slow, and is danced by couples who are not as physically close as on Mauritius. The traditional form is called maloya. Mauritian traditional sega is sega ravanne and has an accentuated beat compared to Reunionais sega. Traditional Rodriguan sega is sega tambour (or segakordeon), and it is extremely swift compared to other varieties. Sega tambour is sung mostly by women, and is danced only by one couple at a time, accompanied by clapping
Clapping

A clap is the sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often in a constant drone to express appreciation or approval , but also in rhythm to match sounds in music and dance....
 or the use of improvised percussion instruments like table legs and glasses. Seychellois sega is moutya, and is similar to Réunionnaise sega. Seychellois music is influenced by Western ballad
Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative story and set to music. Ballads were characteristic of particularly British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the nineteenth century and used extensively across Europe and later north America, Australia and north Africa....
s, and especially country music
Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
 .

See also

  • List of Mauritian musicians
    List of Mauritian musicians

    This is a list of musicians and bands from Mauritius*Vollard Combo, Musician*Yela, Musician*Sylvio Lynx, Musician*Tapok, Musician*Roger Augustin, Musician...
  • List of Réunionnais
    List of Réunionnais

    This is a list of prominent people from R?union....
  • List of Seychellois