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Jaap Kunst, the man who first used the word "ethno-musicology",
concluded a paper presented to the first Congress of the
International Folk Music Council in September 1948 by saying:
"... I hope you will have got the impression, that Indonesian
music not only deserves interest from a purely musical
standpoint, but also has great value for the history of
civilisation.
It is to be hoped that the musical exploration of the archipelago
- so unhappily interrupted - will be continued as soon as
possible, before foreign influence, so rapidly gaining ground,
has destroyed the object of our studies; then there should be no
cause for future generations to blame us for having allowed this
most precious and perhaps richest of all musical cultures to
vanish unstudied and unrecorded." 1.
This chapter gives an overvierw of the "musical cultures" of the
eastern Indonesian Province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) (see Map
3(i)) and examines some of the foreign influences to be found
in the music and dance forms of the area, many of which were in
evidence long before Kunst made his observations. The only
exception to this are songs sung in certain regions at the time
of death. For this reason the performances are categorised by
region rather than by genre. The chapter may also provide an
insight into how these precious cultures are surviving the
passing of the years, at least in the little studied area of NTT.
The Province of NTT mainly consists of islands which are
Melanesian in character. The largest islands in the group are
Timor (only the western part of this island), Sumba, and Flores.
Within these islands many styles of music and dance can be found.
There are many smaller islands which are also important for their
rich cultural life. These include Sawu (Savu, Sabu) and Roti in
the south and the northern chain of islands along the Banda Sea:
Solor, Adonara, Lembata (Lomblen), Pantar and Alor (see Map
3(i)). In most parts of NTT, the characteristic Melanesian circle
dance can be found, and some of the accompanying music is similar
instrumentally to that found in neighbouring Irian Jaya and the
Melenesian islands of the Pacific. Some of the folk stories told
in NTT are also similar to those of the Melanesian areas of the
Pacific.
This area has long been popular as a source of sandalwood and for
its spices. Traders from Africa probably made contact with this
area quite early: there are many legends about the arrival from
Africa of the seed of the lontar tree, which is common throughout
the province and is the mainstay of life on Roti. "Lontar"
(Borassus flabellifera) is the local name for a member of the
sago palm family. This tree gives a rich nourishing juice which
can sustain life very well. Nowadays it is fed to babies in their
bottles, instead of milk. The sago palm itself is also found in
the area and is called pohon gewang.
The first Europeans to visit the area were the Portuguese, who
established a stronghold in both Flores and Timor over 400 years
ago. Indonesian influences have always been strong. Islam came
to the islands in the middle of the 15th century and with it many
influences from Java (Surabaya was a base for the spread of Islam
to the area). There were also many liaisons between local
princes and those in Java which were based on trade and
protection. Sumba, was for some time under the rule of the Dewa
Agung, the Balinese rulers in Klungkung. With the coming of the
Dutch presence, the Portuguese retreated to East Timor and more
recently, since Indonesian Independence there has been more
influence from the Indonesian cultural world. The influences of
Central Java are evident because many of the teachers of music
and dance came from or were trained in that area. The new nation
brought firstly, national radio and, later, national television,
and the music scene in Jakarta had an impact on the villagers of
NTT. Javanese popular music is performed here as it is in all
other parts of Indonesia: various styles of dance seen on
television are often included in "kreasi baru" (new creations).
Change has been as healthy a factor in the culture of Indonesia
as it is elsewhere. While this book deals essentially with
cultural change and response under the New Order, this chapter
will also look at the changes in the culture of NTT which have
come about over a longer period of time. These outside influences
on the culture are often the result of a change in political
liaison or, in some cases, a direct change of government from
outside. They are also brought about by the various changes in
religious beliefs which have swept across the area. Each religion
or in the case of Christianity, sect brings with it different
attitudes to the use of traditional ceremonies, and the music and
dance associated with such ceremonies. In some cases, the
ceremonies vanish completely; in others, they are adapted to the
requirements of the new beliefs. Indonesia is a nation full of
wonderful examples of such adaptations. It is possible to trace
in the influence of one area on another, the compromise which has
first been made in the conquered area when it accepted the
influence, which it, in turn is now passing on. There is not
space in this chapter to deal with such complex patterns of
adaptation and continuity. The chapter will therefore discuss the
types of music and dance presently performed and the influences
which are more obvious in these performances. The music and the
instruments of the area vary, and here some of the performances
recorded in the author's fieldwork are briefly dealt with.
The adaptation of newer forms into the repetoire goes on and
these take their place alongside the traditional forms or become
the fad of the moment, only to be forgotten as time passes. Since
NTT is a maritime region, outside influences have always been
stronger in the villages near the sea and the older traditions
are often found in the mountainous regions. Strong Melanesian
influences are still found in every part of the province and seem
to survive the pressure on young people to move out of the
villages to pursue education in facilities from their birthplace.
The ?foreign influences? which worried Kunst do not seem to have
had very much impact in this area of Indonesia. If he were able
to visit the area today, he would find few differences from his
last visit.
The Circle Dance and its Accompanying Instruments.
The circle dance is found in most parts of NTT in various forms
and with differing names. As this is the westernmost occurrence
of the dance in the world it points especially to the strong
cultural links with Melanesia and the Pacific where this type of
circle dance is also found. Provinces to the east of NTT, Timor
Timur and Irian Jaya also have the circle dance. This type of
performance is a major factor in differentiating the cultures of
the eastern part of Indonesia from those of other parts of
Indonesia where the culture has its roots in the Malay-Javanese
tradition. The author believes this dance to be the oldest form
of performance still in evidence in the area. It is based mostly
on pantun,2 long epic poems which usually tell the history of the
arrival of the people, or the history of the Raja of the area and
the battles in which his family have been involved. In some areas
for example Sawu, where the circle dance is called Pedoa the
pantun are performed every night for three months during the dry
season and after the harvest. Most people take part in the
performance dressed in their best clothes (traditional costume).
A number of circles are formed which usually consist of about
thirty people. It is an opportunity for the young people to dance
beside the person of their choice and, more so, because it is
performed in the dark, courtship rituals keep it alive for the
young men and women. It is interesting to note that this dance
may in fact be strengthened by the role that it still plays for
the young people in today?s society. The pantun are led by a
singer who stands inside the circle apart from the others. He
sings a verse of the pantun which is then repeated by all the
dancers. He then sings the next verse and it is also repeated. In
many places, the lead singer has a pupil who may sing the verse
after him, always to have it repeated by the dancers who
continually move round in the circle using a different foot
pattern for each locality. All in the circle link arms so that it
is the foot movements which are important. As the feet move they
often give rise to an accompaniment which is made from some type
of percussion sounding instrument which is either attached to the
legs or the feet or both. It is usual in Melanesian performance
to find rattles of various kinds attached around the leg, or to
the ankle or foot. These may be local nuts, or rattles made of
vegetable matter. In NTT the rattles vary in the following areas.
In Sawu a small palm-leaf box is filled with dried peas and
attached to the top of the foot. As the pedoa is danced, the peas
rattle when the foot is moved, and when this sound is amplified
by many feet performing the same movement, the percussion in the
dance is most effective.
In Lamahera, small pandanus-leaf boxes (about an inch cube) are
filled with seeds, and strung together to form anklets. Metal
bells may also be strung together and tied around the upper part
of the leg. In other parts of NTT, the vegetable and plant
materials have also been replaced by bronze-age technology with
small bronze rings giring worn around the ankles. In Timor bells
called giring are used in a number of other dances, but not in
the circle dance, bonet. These bells can be up to twenty in
number and rattle as the foot is lifted and put down. An example
recorded in Solor of the circle dance hanja used only the tambour
called also the bawa a Melanesian type, hour-glass drum, open at
one end, and beaten with sticks to accompany the singing.
The introduction of bronze into this area probably came through
trade, long after it had arrived in Java and Bali. This assertion
is based on the variety of gongs found in the area. Gong types
exist in this area which the author has not seen in any part of
Indonesia. Yet, there is no tradition of gongmaking with the
exception of the modern-day gong made from oil drums. Bronze
gongs are now used in many musical ensembles, but are not played
in the sophisticated manner characteristic of Java and Bali,
where intricate gamelan ensembles with twenty to thirty players
have developed. In NTT, the gongs are normally suspended from a
frame or a tree and one person plays one or at the most two
gongs. Here gongs are not used in rows to produce melodic
patterns as they are in many other areas of Indonesia, for
example, Sumatra and Kalimantan. Gongs in NTT are used to give
interlocking patterns of sound as is common all over Indonesia,
but in much smaller numbers than in Bali or Java. The number of
gongs used in performance varies between three and ten. They are
usually combined with a tambour which is beaten with two sticks
or the hands. This can be replaced by or augmented with the
Muslim drum, rebana, which is like a half sphere in shape, with a
hole in the base and is usually struck with the hands.
A factor which still figures prominently in the Melanesian
culture of the region is bride price; the price paid by a man?s
family to the family of the woman he wishes to marry. Without
this payment no marriage can take place. For example, a young
soldier who had been posted to the area was looking for a wife,
but he could not contemplate the cost of marrying a local girl.
Various places exhibit a specialised type of capital to be used
as bride price. It is rarely money as this custom predates the
use of currency. As such, the capital requirements are still very
much tied to the barter system. In Flores, the major item used in
bride price is ivory. On the islands of Pantar and Alor, bronze
instruments and artifacts are used. These include gongs which can
be in any condition. A cracked gong is still usable, although it
is not worth as much as one in good condition. Gongs are often
seen and used with their boss missing and a hole in the middle.
Perhaps the boss was melted down to make giring which function as
'cents' in the bride price transaction.
On Pantar and Alor, the moko (see Plate 1) is also used as a part
of the bride price. The moko is a bronze hour shaped drum of the
Dong Son3 type, which, for commercial reasons, has been hoarded
by families on these two islands for centuries. It can be used as
a musical instrument in place of a gong; but the moko does not
have a very resonant sound and is mostly beaten with the hand, so
it is not very effective as an instrument. However, as bride
price, its value is very high indeed. One interesting example of
the use of the moko was recorded on the island of Pantar. The
occasion was an upacara sunut, (circumcision ceremony), when for
three nights pantun were sung from sunset to sunrise while the
six people who had been circumcised were sleeping in the midst of
the entire extended family (about 200 people) who took it in
turns to sing in two groups. The pantun was very long and told of
the history of the group?s coming into the area and their fight
to gain control of the land. It was accompanied by a rhythm which
could be clapped. As it was an all-night exercise, people were
sitting down and using whatever was around to tap out the
accompanying rhythm. When the author arrived, people were banging
tin trays, jerrycans, plates, buckets, and anything else which
was readily available. When asked whether the moko might be used
in such a performance, they obligingly produced one and proceeded
to play it along with the rest of the "instruments".
The bronze gongs were probably imported into NTT. The area has
the widest variety of gong types the author has ever seen. While
there are many bronze sets still in use; these days, new sets of
gongs are generally made from iron ("tong"). Gong tong are
frequently made from empty 200 litre drums which are used to
transport bitumenand other liquids between the islands. The iron
gongs have a good sound and are reasonably cheap. They are
manufactured in Waingapu, the capital of East Sumba, and in
Maumere, the capital of Flores. The author has not found any
evidence of bronzesmiths working in the area nor heard any
stories of their presence in the past.
Another instrument quite common in the area is the gambus. This
instrument may be of Portuguese extraction, but it is also
possible that the instrument originated in the Middle East. It is
found especially in Flores and on the islands of Solor, Adonara,
and Lamahera. It is a longish plucked lute which comes in a
three-string or three double-stringed variety, and is used to
accompany many forms of dancing and singing but especially the
dana dani. Quite often it is aalso used to accompany the pantun.
The gambus is usually played while the performer is singing and
often has a drum accompaniment of either the tamboura or rebana.
It is made from a single piece of wood. The opening in the
instrument for the resonator is covered either with a piece of
skin or thin wood. The instrument is, therefore, a rare lute of
the Indonesian type in that it is from only one piece of wood;
but its playing style and stringing are more Western than
Indonesian. 4
A dance performance which may have a foreign influence is found
in many parts of NTT: this dance is performed by crossing two or
more pairs of bamboo poles and hitting each pair together in a
rhythm. Dancers must move their legs into the clicking poles and
out again without getting them caught. On Adonara this dance is
called gaweau, in Sumba it is called dodokali and on Pantar it is
called dodaka. The dance is very famous in the Philippines. The
author has also recorded examples of it in Kalimantan, but with
an accompanying musical group. It is not known from whence it
originated, but it could be an example of a form which has come
from Indonesia?s northern neighbour, the Philippines, or vice
versa.
Another possible influence from the outside can be detected on
both Roti and Sumba. On Roti the dance performance called foti is
accompanied by a male singer who uses a descending vocal pattern
and a voice production which is strikingly similar to that used
in eastern Arnhem land in northern Australia. The vocal
performance is accompanied by a characteristic drone-type
accompaniment on the gongs. In Arnhem land a drone accompaniment
is played by the didjeridoo. While much research would be needed
to establish anything definite, the first impressions of the
music were that it was similar to Aboriginal Australian music. A
second type of music, a lament the author had recorded in West
Sumba, could also be included in this comparison. After hearing
again the similarity to Aboriginal music from the Arnhem land
area the author played the recording to an Aboriginal songman and
asked him where he thought the music came from. His answer was
'the Yirrkala mob' (Yirrkala is a town in eastern Arnhem Land).
The high-pitched chanting of the women?s chorus in West Sumba is
also very reminiscent of styles of Aboriginal corroboree. Both
Sumba and Roti are geographically close to Australia. Thus, the
possibility of contact is not unrealistic. Furthermore the
fishermen of Roti have been sailing down the west coast of
Australia for hundreds of years. 5
NTT, like its neighboring province Maluku (6), seems to be a
melting pot of many races and cultures. Observing the people in
the port cities, one can see Micronesian, Austronesian,
Melanesian, and Indonesian characteristics in the smiling faces
gathered there. It is therefore not surprising to find Melanesian
elements in the music. However, several performances contained
something unexpected: the use of the whistle as a marker in the
dance. The whistle is commonly used in the Pacific to indicate
the end of a measure in dancing. The author has always associated
this feature with the heavy occupation of the area by troops
during the Second World War, it being adopted after studying the
habits of various sergeant-majors and was therefore surprised to
find the whistle being used as an indicator in the dana dani
dance at a village on the island of Lamahera and in Timor. At the
dana dani performance, a plastic bucket was substituted for the
tambour and was quite effective.
TIMOR
An accident of history led to the division of this island between
two European conquerors: the Dutch and the Portuguese. However
the island was not divided according to the local cultural and
language barriers which existed. It is, therefore, interesting to
note that the language and many of the cultural characteristics
of the easternmost section of Timor in NTT, based around the town
of Ayambua in Kabupaten Belu, are carried across the border into
Timor Timur, the neighbouring and newest province of Indonesia.
The local language of the Belu area, Bahasa Tetun, is the most
commonly used language in the western part of Timor Timur. The
circle dance of Belu, tebe-tebe, is also performed in the
neighbouring province where it uses the same general name;
although it sometimes has its own local names, and differs in
that in some areas it is accompanied by a drum. Likurai, a dance
using a small drum placed under the armpit of women performers
and which is said to have originated in the Atambua area, is
found alos in Timor Timur, but here it is called bakadudu. To the
south of Atambua, this performance has also been recorded, but it
is called luk lait.
Kupang, the provincial capital, is located on this island. It is
therefore difficult to find the culture of the Timorese in the
area. Kupang as an administrative centre has many government
employees who come from all over NTT. While these people tend to
live together in kampung (suburbs), the Timorese are spread out
and it is, therefore, necessary to go inland to the villages in
order to locate the Timorese traditions. Here the circle dance is
also found; it is called bonet in the south and tebe-tebe in the
north. The dance is slightly different from those in other areas
in that it, like oha in Solor, does not have any accompanying
instruments or body percussion. Pantun are the basis of the
singing text, but within the circle seven to nine people are
chosen as the leaders and they are spaced amongst the other
performers. These singers take it in turns to lead the singing of
the pantun. Other forms of performances are benet, bilut, bso'ot,
and lagu merin.
The dance bidu which shows the Timorese weaving process and is
danced by girls, is accompanied by more western-style instruments
called bijola (like a guitar with four strings) and heo, in the
local language, or fiol in Indonesian. The latter instrument is
an adaptation of a Western violin. Dance signals were given by a
whistle (the second time the author has encountered this in NTT)
called a suling. It is said that the use of this instrument dates
back to the time of Indonesian Independence. This would coincide
with the coming of Allied troops to the area which could
substantiate the theory that the Allied sergeants, using a
whistle to signal troops, passed on this practice while there.
There is also the use of an earlier suling-type instrument which
is made from cow or buffalo horn which is also referred to as a
suling (flute). Each suling owner plays a special pattern of
sound by opening and closing the hole at the bottom of the horn
while blowing across the top of the instrument. His girlfriend or
his animals can identify him by the particular pattern he uses.
This is not unlike the use of Chimbu flutes in the highlands of
Papua New Guinea.
The bijola is also commonly known as the juke. Instruments exist
which are similar in size, design, and name to the juke or jungga
found in Sumba but they differ in that they have four strings,
instead of three, and are often used for a chordal accompaniment.
The modern bijola is often made in the shape of a guitar, and has
an obvious influence from the early Portuguese settlers. There
are still instruments made from a single piece of wood which
perform the same purpose. Although the author did not see these
instruments being used melodically in performance melodies were
played to him on them after the performances concluded. It is
usual for the bijola or juke to be accompanied by the fiol and
this instrument, which in nearly all cases, was an adaptation of
the Western violin takes on the melody line. The tuning of the
fiol is also the same as for a Western violin; but the bow is
similar to an Indonesian rhebab bow and uses horse hair and is
tightened by the player's hand. An earlier version of this
instrument suggests that bowed stringed instruments may have been
in use before the coming of the Portuguese. This instrument still
had four strings, but was more like a rhebab with a rectangular
sounding box. The sounding box is tucked under the chin of the
player so that it is held in a similar position to that of a
Western violin when played. The use of two bijola and one fiol is
common as an accompaniment to dancing. In one area, these
instruments were not available and the performance went ahead
with normal six-string guitars being used in their place. Apart
from this later style of instrument, which still provided chordal
accompaniment, the other main change was that the melody instead
of being presented on the fiol was presented in sung form by the
dancers. There is a strong tradition of folk singing in NTT which
is possibly associated with the Christian Church. It is,
therefore, not surprising to see the addition of a sung folk
melody which is 'provincial' rather than 'local' in a dance
accompaniment. It is an important example of the type of cultural
change which comes about through the influence of 'outside
factors' and especially appeals to the young people.
Also common in Timor is the use of gongs. Most groups encountered
used five gongs: two pairs suspended and played by one player,
and a single gong. These are accompanied by a tambour . One group
used nine gongs (three sets of pairs and three singles), but
explained that this was 'the old way' and that nowadays they also
normally use five gongs. The gongs are always played exclusively
by women, an unusual occurrence in Indonesia where men often
dominate gong playing. The women play because the gongs are used
especially for the performance of war-dances which are performed
both before and after an encounter, and because the men are busy
performing the dances. An interesting aspect of this performance
was the playing of the tambour. The instrument has to follow the
predominant note being sounded by the gongs (which could be any
one of the five [nine] notes available) and, therefore, has to
move from note to note quickly as the predominant gong note
changes. In order to change the note on the drum, the skin of the
drum must be tightened or loosened, resulting in a glissando
effect. It also means that the player must exert much strength
while simultaneously playing the drum with two hands at a rapid
pace. In order to facilitate this pace the drum is placed
horizontally with its playing face about one foot above the
ground, and three women take it in turns to play. One sits above
the drum, and the others on either side. Listening to the
performance, it is difficult to tell where one player hands over
to the next. The gongs used in Timor are generally a mixture of
bronze and iron and sound very good. Most are at least 'six
generations' old.
ROTI
On this island there are five styles of music which use a number
of gongs ( generally up to ten) and a tambour -type drum which is
usually played with sticks. The styles are lelendok, taibinuk,
foti, kakamusu and teorendak. While the tambour is a variation on
the normal hourglass drum which is found throughout Melanesia the
gongs were introduced from Java or Bali. There is no tradition of
making gongs in this area. The gongs are of both bronze and iron
but those of iron are predominant at the moment. The music played
on the gongs can be performed also on the sasando. The use of the
sasando in this capacity is not found in any other part of NTT
and the idea of a stringed instrument producing all the gong
parts is also quite rare in Indonesia as a whole. That the two
types of performances have existed side by side for a long period
of time is also an interesting feature. The gongs are suited to a
spacious ceremonial area when there is a large audience. In the
presentation of the HUS ceremony which was once always performed
at the beginning of the rainy season, but is now becoming quite
rare up to four or five gong groups may be spread around the area
and each playing its own music with its own dancers. The sasando
is obviously more suited to the family atmosphere of the home and
can be used for small intimate performances.
The sasando has become the symbol of NTT. It is
also used as a national symbol on occasion. A statue of a sasando
being played has been erected in Kupang. They are manufactured
and sold in many sizes to tourists, but today the playing of this
instrument is dying out.
The sasando originated on Roti and combines an Indonesian
instrument of the Balinese guntang type with a lontar-leaf
goods-carrying basket. Guntang-type instruments are found
throughout the Indonesian archipelago. They consist of a bamboo
tube with two membranes still attached which has, in its original
form been sliced so that the skin of the bamboo can be raised
above the tube by the use of a small bamboo pin which acts as a
bridge. The Balinese guntang uses only one string and has a
slit-gong-type hole cut underneath the raised string to allow the
bamboo tube to become its own resonator. Examples of instruments
which are much more like the sasando in that they use a number of
strings can be found in the Bima region of Nusa Tenggara Barat
(NTB) and around Dili in Timot Timur. In the Dili area, the
instrument is called lakadou, but is not used to play the melody
line, as is the sasando. The sasando raises a number of these
strings and then uses a lontar-leaf basket as the resonator. The
bamboo tube is suspended across the middle of the lontar-leaf
basket. In the last few years, changes in the making of sasando
include the addition of steel strings and wooden bridges with
small tuning pegs attached to the top of the instrument. The
instrument is naturally very soft, but this has been adapted for
public performance by one player who made an electric sasando
which is fashioned round a larger bamboo and uses guitar pick-ups
and strings. It functions very well through a 100-watt Fender
amplifier.
While the first five styles of dance mentioned all show
influences from outside NTT, the sixth, kebalai is an example of
the Melanesian circle dance. This dance, like the pedoa of Sawu,
is performed each night for three months during the dry season
and after the harvest. The circle dance here differs from that on
other islands in that the singing is about topical events. Anyone
who wishes to take the lead and add their own jokes or
information can come in at the appropriate time and sing their
verse which will then be echoed by the dancers. Usually three of
or four main singers emerge, competing to entertain the dancers.
Footnotes follow in Part Two
If you would like to ADD some information on any area or pass on a message to the author please contact gobali@polosseni.com
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