My trip from Brunei to Kalimantan, one of the main islands of the Indonesian archipelago, was over land and was not too long. It was unusual to travel over land when Indonesia is a country composed of islands, which necessitate the frequent use of boats and planes to maintain the necessary social, political, and economic workings of the nation. Nonetheless, because my main goal was to reach Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, I did finally need passage on a boat in order to reach the island of Java.
On my journey throughout Southeast Asia so far, I have increasingly been aware of the music of this region. It seems that there are many differences, but also many similarities, between the musical traditions of the countries I have visited so far. Indonesia has so far revealed itself as a highly diverse nation with over 300 ethnic groups who reside on over 6000 different islands. While I only have a few days in Indonesia and therefore do not have the time to explore the majority of the cultural elements of Indonesia, music has gained my interest here and my goal for my time in this country is to learn more of this element of Indonesian culture (1).
Once I was settled in my hotel in Jakarta, I expressed my interest in Indonesian music to the receptionist at the hotel and she eagerly told me that her grandfather was quite knowledgeable on this subject and owned a musical instrument shop in the city. After getting directions for her, I ate some lunch I bought from a street vender (which I could only tell was some kind of grilled meat). Once I reached the music shop, I encountered a variety of instruments in the store window, but I had never seen many of them before. I entered and greeted the old man sitting behind the counter, who was eating his lunch but otherwise looked quite bored. I told him of my interest, and he said it was good that I had come during his lunch, as he was not busy and would be happy to give me some information on the music of Indonesia. He started with an explanation of the instruments he had in his store window. He made sure that I was aware that he was just giving me a general idea of the music of his nation because although he was an expert on the many different regional styles, of which there were dozens, he was not proficient in everything. He related that there are several types of instruments that tend to be major components in the music of multiple regions. These include gongs, flutes, percussion instruments, and lutes. These instruments tend to use natural materials and bamboo and wood are popular materials (1). He demonstrated some of them to me, and while the form of the instruments did not deviate drastically in comparison to the western instruments I was aware of, the sound they produced was quite different.
Now that he had my interest, the old man said that he wanted to explain some of the origins of Indonesian music. He told me that it was very important to realize that music in Indonesia tended to have close connections with religion and spiritual practice. While the primary religion of Indonesia is Islam, elements of other religions and animist belief systems also had major impacts of the development of music (1).
An assortment of gamelan instruments.
I was curious to hear about the influence of western music on Indonesian music and so also asked the old man about this subject. He says that while younger people are increasingly drawn to the popular music of the United States and other western countries, for old people the influence of western music is most apparent in the “national” area. He explained by this he meant patriotic songs and the national anthem, which utilize western instruments and organizational style (1).
Indonesians playing in the traditional gamelan style.
After this, the old man said that his lunch break was almost done and the he was expecting a few customers soon, but also wanted to tell me about a particular type of Indonesian music called gamelan. He told me there were multiple variations of this music form, including those from Bali and Java, which are the best known. However, he stressed that the gamelan style has many similarities despite the regional variations. The gamelan style is organized almost like a western orchestra, with different sets of instruments having specific functions in the composition. For example, in the gamelan, there are sets of gongs, gong-chimes, metallophones, drums, flutes, bowed and plucked stringed instruments, and often singers, depending on the style (2, 3). The old man further emphasized the religious/spiritual aspect of this form of Indonesian music. For many who view or participate in the gamelan, the process is sacred and often viewed as supernatural. There are many guidelines associated with the gamelan, and these are often associated with showing respect for spirits instead of offending them (3). Otherwise, gamelan emphasizes community effort and is reserved for special occasions, although it is also used more frequently for entertainment purposes in the modern day (3).
Finished with his short explanation of Indonesian music, the old man tells me of a gamelan performance being conducted the next day in one of the parks in the city. He said it would be a great show and encouraged me to attend it. Thanking him for his time, I departed from the old man to do some more sightseeing in the city.
The next day, I did get the chance to attend the gamelan performance and enjoyed it a lot. It was an interesting show, and was quite similar to this:
My time in Indonesia was very short, but I am very happy I had the opportunity to learn so much in so little time. Indonesia is home to many different cultures, and I will definitely have to come back in the future to learn more about other aspects, as I have just scraped the surface of new, interesting things to learn here.
References
- National Geographic Music, available at http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/country/content.country/indonesia_10
- Indonesian Music, Part 1 by Lewis E. Peterman Jr., available at http://trumpet.sdsu.edu/M345/Indonesian_Music1.html
- Indonesian Gamelan, available at http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Indonesian/budaya_bangsa/Gamelan/Main_Page/main_page.htm#Introduction
