Sega music from Mauritius Home Island History Instruments Biblio Links Contact Ti Frere Serge Lebrasse Cassiya Mauritian Sega   . 1 - Worst 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 - Best .   A Taste of the Mauritian Sega (pronounced Saygah) As far back as 1768, travellers to Mauritius were bringing back tales of slaves' singing and dancing which seemed to their entranced eyes so different and special. Bernardin de St Pierre then, spoke of the slaves' passion for music and of the soft harmony of unknown instruments to match songs with every present love themes. Milber, in 1803, spoke of sensual dance steps that clearly show their warm intentions, and Rousselin, in 1860, was one of the many to be inspired to attempt the capture of the atmosphere of slave dancing in drawings. They had all witnessed the magic of the the black shega dance or music, or as it soon came to be known; the sega. They had all heard the music born of African souls soothed in their lost homelands on rapid drumbeats and pounding rhythms. African souls now caught in an island's fragrance and soft beauty. From this unison came the sega. The travellers had heard the bobre, the ravane, the maravane and the triangle. New ingenuous instruments never heard before. The bobre is a long wooden bow kept arched over a large gourd-like, rough skinned, hollow fruit (the calebasse) by a vegetal string, this being hit by a stout wooden rod. Its mournful twang has however, sadly, been lost over the years and it is no longer part of a sega music team. The ravane is a hide, pulled taught over a wooden circular frame. Tightened even more to a vibrant limit over a fire-wood flame, and sometimes ringed with bells, it is at the heart of the sega's beat. Its thrilling husky bark is the beginning of the dance. The maravane used to be a calebasse filled with small stones or dried nuts. The stones or dried nuts have remained but are now shaken in a wooden frame to send dancers on along their catchy beat.The triangle is ever the same metal frame on which a metal rod is beaten, for a high pitched tingling note. The blending of these sounds causes an irrepressible urge to get up and dance. The original instruments are fast disappearing, making way