Sarapan Pagi #3: Bamboo & Music
Musical notes from nature.
Every last Monday of the month, we provide you with a free round-up issue, called Sarapan Pagi. We hope you’ll find this third issue educative and fun!
Ubiquitous throughout Asia, bamboos offer an image of tranquility with its luscious green and yellow hues.
Source: Photo by kazuend on Unsplash
Offbeat stories and legends also emerge around this fast-growing plant. In Taiwan, bamboos are said to arrive on earth through the travels of a man from heaven. Meanwhile according to indigenous Dusun communities in North Borneo, bamboos are considered important for fertility and can fend off evil.
Bamboos however act as more than mere landscape decors and mythical stories.
Sturdy yet hollow, these perennials offer solace for humans in the ways they are used to make food, carry engraved poems – and produce sound.
Indeed with its unique built and easy maintenance, bamboos have traditionally been used as musical instruments. Let’s take a long at four types of bamboo-derived music in Southeast Asia.
Bamboo in Southeast Asian Music
1. As wind instruments
– Flute
Balinese Suling by I Wayan Karta
Source: Sanggar Nikamanu
Across Southeast Asia, it’s easy to find soothing bamboo flutes of varying notes, pitches and styles of playing. In Indonesia, flutes are generally known as suling, while in Thai, it is khlui. Pan pipes or pan flutes are also found in the Philippines, and khaen, a type of bamboo mouth organ, can be found in Thailand and Laos. Flutes are often spontaneous and expressive as musicians playfully spin a twist to traditional folk tunes.
2. As shakers
– Angklung
Sundanese Angklung at Tangkuban Perahu Bandung
Source: Jeffri Cen
Often played in West Jawa, Indonesia, sounds are produced from shaking a framed set of bamboos. This collection or pair of bamboo tubes are mounted on a bamboo frame together. With different lengths, each bamboo tube produces a different note and are arranged in octaves. To play, the musician must physically move one’s arms, bodies and the instruments, making angklung fun - and necessary - when played in a group.
3. As string instruments
– Zither-types
Letong (Bidayuh instrument) by Aheng Jun from Bengoh
Source: Dayak Daily
One wouldn’t expect bamboo to act as a string instrument - but this type is found in many pockets of Asia. To pluck sounds from a bamboo, strips of the body are pieced out or detached with its ends still attached. These strips are then plucked as you would with a guitar or zither. Examples of these types of bamboo instruments are found in Borneo, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. A more elaborate stringed instrument (sasando) is found in Nusa Tenggara Timur and Timor Leste.
Sasando (Nusa Tenggara Timur/Timor Leste instrument) by Djitron Pah
Source: KompasTV
4. As percussion instruments
– Xylophones and Jew’s Harps
Banyumas’ Calung by Dawet Ayu Banjarnegara
Source: In Channel
Sounds from percussive instruments are made when the bamboos are struck against each other or by other mallets. For instance, this is found in Bali’s Gamelan Jegog, and Banyumas’ calung instruments. Some of Thai’s ranad ek xylophonic instruments are also made from bamboo. Jew’s harps across Philippines (kubing) and Indonesia (genggong) are also made from bamboo.
Philippines’ Kubing
Source: Alex Reza
Heard a beautiful bamboo-derived music before? What does it sound like?
Read more about music instruments across Southeast Asia:
Bamboo, And Why It Matters to Bali: An Interview with Arief Rabik
Get Fascinated by these 5 Unique Traditional Indonesian Musical Instruments While You Stay at Home
What’s for Breakfast Today?
This month, we list interesting reads on traditional music in Southeast Asia:
· Feature: Sejarah Singkat Bali Record
by I Komang Pasek Wijaya, InsituRec Issue 3
A brief interview (in Bahasa Indonesia) with Bali Record’s Anak Agung Gde Puja and I Wayan Wijana on the music recording label’s history and recording gamelan music in Bali.
· Traces of Salindru in Banjar Lands: Gamalan Banjar in Barikin, South Kalimantan
by Novyandi Saputra, Aural Archipelago
This fascinating feature on Gamalan Banjar, illustrates the music ensemble’s historical links to the long-lasting Majapahit kingdom and influences of traditional gamelan music in South Kalimantan.
· Film Review: The Overture
by Celeste Heiter, Things Asian
Watch The Overture and then read this review on the film protagonist’s musical journey with ranad ek, a Thai xylophone-like instrument.
· Merantau Terbalik: disembodied experiences of Gamelan
by Adam Farhan, Malaysia Design Archive
A Malaysian’s reflection on learning gamelan abroad. His journey (merantau) challenges his preconceived notions of Nusantara music as he encounters diverse American peers who share the same passion for the music.
We keep our newsletters short and sweet. Would you like us to cover more in our issues? We’d love to hear what you think!
Keep a look out for our next issue in October for more bite-sized content about Southeast Asia!
Sampai ketemu!
Cari Makna team