SOUTHEAST ASIA : MUSICAL SYNCRETISM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY

Author(s): Artur Simon

Source: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 57, No. 1 (January-March 2010), pp. 23-34
Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation
Centres (IAML)
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 SOUTHEAST ASIA :
MUSICAL SYNCRETISM
AND CULTURAL IDENTITY

Artur Simon1

English Abstract
The breadth of cultural diversity in Southeast Asia encompasses Hindu, Buddhist, Confucianist,
Muslim, and Christian influences spread over an old stratum of old religious beliefs. Examination of
the nearly 250 different ethnic groups and their differing linguistic behaviour, traditions, social
structure, kinship systems, architecture, music, and dance gives us a wide basis for examination of
musical syncretism and cultural identity.

French Abstract
L'étendue de la diversité culturelle en Asie du sud-est comprend les influences hindo
bouddhistes, confucianistes, musulmanes et chrétiennes qui se sont étalées sur une couche
ciennes croyances religieuses. Examiner les quelque 250 groupes ethniques et leurs comport
ments linguistiques, leurs traditions, structures sociales, liens d'affinités, architectures, musiques
danses nous donne une large base pour en étudier le syncrétisme musical et l'identité culturell

German Abstract
Die kulturelle Vielfalt Südostasiens umfasst hinduistische, buddhistische, konfuzianische,
muslimische und christliche Einflüsse, die sich über die Grundfesten des alten religiösen Glaubens
ausgebreitet haben. Die Untersuchung von beinahe 250 verschiedenen ethnischen Gruppen und
ihrer unterschiedlichen linguistischen Verhaltensweisen, Traditionen, Sozialstruktur, Verwandt
schaftssysteme, Architektur, Musik und Tanz gibt uns eine breite Grundlage für die Betrachtung
von musikalischem Synkretismus und kultureller Identität.

It is not a contradiction that Southeast Asia is, on the one hand, a culturally very homo
geneous region and, on the other hand, a paradise of cultural and ethnic diversify with
Hindu, Buddhist, Confucianist, Muslim, and Christian influences spread over an old stra
tum of old religious beliefs which are most wrongly named as "animistic" by outside re
searchers or perbegu (spirit worshipping) by present-day Indonesians.
About 250 different ethnic groups with their own language live in Indonesia. These
groups differ more or less widely in linguistic behaviour, traditions, social structure, kin
ship systems, architecture, music, and dance. The population reaches from about 70 mil
lions of Javanese (45%) to some ten thousands of the smallest units. Each ethnic group
identifies itself with its own traditional music and adat dances performed at social cere
monies. And even the tonal systems and tuning of the musical instruments differ widely

1. Artur Simon is Professor at the University of Arts (Berlin) and previous head of the Phonogramm-Archiv
(Berlin). Mail: e_simon@arcor.de.

23

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24 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 57/1

from one region to another. In Central Java we find the famou

can be distinguished from those tonal systems preferred by Su
cians. On Sumatra, different tonal systems can even be found with
In parts of mainland Southeast Asia even an equiheptatonic sys
other hand, foreign influences on Southeast Asian culture, rel
Indian with strong impacts of Shivaism and Buddhism and later
nous religious beliefs have created a syncretic culture, which g
certain homogenity. Foreign elements have been adopted, assim
new contexts. This is the case in philosophy, theatre, dance, a
ments from different cultural origins and thus other musical 'l
ified and integrated into established ensembles such as the au
bossed gongs which is played nearly everywhere in Southeast
Philippines. In Mainland Southeast Asia, Sumatra, and West Jav
together with a double reed aeorophone (sarune, tarompet, pi
West Asia and India to this region.
Another West Asian type of instrument is the bowed lute known
integrated into the Javanese gamelan and other ensembles such
tilu. In Thailand, the case is even more complex as three in detail d
lutes are played together in the large mahori ensemble: the saw
bab type; the saw u, the Thai version of the Chinese huhu; and
the Chinese erh hu. It is interesting to note that these instrument
alien but as part of a traditional cultural heritage as a result of
This is even truer as the music and the role these instruments t
environment differ considerably from their places of origin in We
This sometimes implicated a certain modification of organolog
the West Javanese rebab, a mechanism between strings and sou
order to nasalize the sound. This gives evidence of a strongly
sciousness of musical sound. Maybe it was this special liking f
sounds that prevented orthodox Islamic forces from abolishin
Javanese courts. On the contrary, syncretistic ideas led to an a
ings into the Javanese gamelan tradition as will be shown later.
Traces of human settlement in Southeast Asia go back to th
more than tent thousand years ago (Homo wajakensis). Rests of
(Negrito, Veddoid) which must have been widespread before th
Proto-Malays (between 3000 and 1000 B.C.) still survive in remot
technological point of view, Stone Age existed in remote periph
of Enggano or Mentawai nearly up to the present time. Th
tochthonous populations, the Orang Asli as they are called in M
We can assume that their musical culture has been influenced t

2. Erich M. von Hornbostel, "Über die Musik der Kubu", in Bernhard Hagen,
Frankfurt am Main: J. Baer, 1908. Reprinted in the Sammelbände für vergleiche
361-77; Hans Oesch, "Malaysia", in Paul Collaer, Südostasien (Musikgeschich
Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1979; Hans Oesch, Music of the Senoi of Malacca
Asian Music. LP with commentary), Musicaphon BM 30 L 2561, Kassel: Bärenr
of the Negrito of Malacca. (An Anthology of South-East Asian Music. LP with com
L 2562, Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1970.

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SOUTHEAST ASIA: MUSICAL SYNCRETISM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY 25

neighbouring Malays, a process that might have started afte

Proto-Malays had reached Island Southeast Asia and the
instruments, however, played by the Orang Asli of Mal
Sumatra, Sulawesi, and the Philippines belong to the sam
others, which belong to the Proto-Malay group of early
These instruments are different types of flutes, duct e
jew's harps of the Southeast Asian type, and idiochord
Bamboo-tube zithers can be considered as one of the mo
sical instruments of the old neolithic Malayan population
The second wave of migration coincided with the rise o
east Asia (Chou, Dongson). This wave of migrating Deut
about 300 B.C. and Island Southeast Asia at the end of t
about 90% of the Indonesian population belong to this yo
ples. Objects made of bronze were related with magical p
veneration as stated for the bronze axes by van Heekere

The population worshipped the bronze axes as it did the ston

to them and for that reason they were sometimes worn on th
rings to be worn on the index finger when going to war. The
against lightning, and an extract from them as a remedy for f
an axe melted together with some lead would make a bullet,
sistance. Bronze axes were therefore most valuable, and one w
is known, many of these axes fell into the hands of the Dutch a
Macassar on the Island of Buton in 1667, and in the course
hands repeatedly. The common man was not allowed to own t
the ruler.3

Bronze kettle gongs were the musical emblem of this era. They were considered as
pusaka (heirloom) of the ruling classes endowed with kasekten (magical power), as a sym
bol of ruling, military, and political power as well, and carried in battles. There is no doubt
that these instruments had a ritual function related to the old religious beliefs of their pro
ducers. According to Hood, they were already played in sets.4 From these beginnings of
Javanese instrumental court music the further development leads directly to the gamelan
ensembles of today, a development, which passed through several stages of musical and
cultural syncretism. But it is important to note that the beginnings date back to the pre
Hindu period. During this development the new metallic instruments underwent a crucial
metamorphosis. The old Indonesian gong makers refined the sound of the flat kettle
gongs by inventing the knob, hence the knobbed or bossed gong. This enabled them to
tune the gongs in distinct and higher-sounding pitches. A new sound was born which fi
nally led to the creation of unique tonal systems such as pelog and slendro.
Indian colonization began in the first centuries A.D. via the sea trading routes. This
Hindu-Javanese period, which saw the rise and decline of several powerful empires and
dynasties on Java and Sumatra, lasted for more than one millenium up to 1520 when
Islamic rulers caused the fall of Majapahit Empire. New religious beliefs and practises

3. H.Rvan Heekeren, The Bronze-Iron Age of Indonesia, 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1958, p. 3

4. Mantle Hood, The Evolution of Javanese Gamelan, Book I: Music of the Roaring Sea. Wilhelmshaven:
Heinrichshofen, 1980; Mantle Hood, The Evolution of Javanese Gamelan, Book II: The Legacy of the Roaring Sea.
Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen, 1984; Mantle Hood, Paragon of the Roaring Sea, Wilhelmshaven: Noetzel, 1988.

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26 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 57/1

from India, above all Shivaism and Buddhism, had a great influe
cultures. The courts of the Hindu-Javanese rulers were an ideal b
of a rich and colourful musical life, which resulted in the gamelan a
of the archipelago (c.f., Kunst)5.
The musical instruments of this period as depicted on the fa
Borobudur, Prambanan (9th century) and others6 show a great va
them, those of Indian origin such as the bar zither can still be found
anymore in Indonesia. The arched or bow-shaped harp, another v
ment of that time, has only survived in Burma.
Several types of plucked lutes are already depicted at Barabudur.7 T
boat-shaped lute prevails in the archipelago, which is called kec
and hasapi, husapi, kulcapi, and kucapi by the Batak in Nor
stringed instruments are almost completely obsolete in Batakland
arbap, murbap, murdap and had two strings. They obviously pla
in this region when compared with Java, where the two-stringe
strument in the modern gamelan. The name kecapi for the boat-s
Sachs8, is derived from the Indian kacchapi-vina or kacchapa, a Sansk
Cedrela toona. Kaudern provides some ideas about the possible his

The names of all these instruments being derived from the same Sa
origin in common. The presumed Hindoo prototype very likely appea
during the Hindoo period, thus before 1400. Noteworthy is the fact, th
bution of the ketjapi instrument almost is the same as that of the Matja
confirms the presumed Hindoo origin of these instruments.9

Derivates of the name also appear in the Philippines where kud

necklute10, and in Thailand (krajappi, kra-chapey, kaxabpi), as we
chapey), where it designates a long-necked lute. The latter, according
to a Chinese prototype.11 Chinese influence is also to be considere
of some boat-shaped lutes in Sulawesi12 and Kalimantan13—organ
tween the Dayak sapeh or sapei and the Chinese p'i-p'a might a
adds another interesting aspect to this complex. In West Java, howev
of the box zither of the Sianjuran music.
In Southeast Asia, more than 150 million people profess Is
Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei are, in their public image and off

5. Jaap Kunst, "Hindu-Javanische Musik" in Die Musik in Geschichte und Geg

reiter, 1957.
6. Jaap Kunst, Hindu-Javanese Musical Instruments. The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 2/ 1968.
7. Ibid., p. 10,18, 35.
8. Curt Sachs, Die Musikinstrumente Indiens und Indonesiens, Second edition. Berlin: Vereinigung Wissen
schaftlicher Verleger, 1923, p. 125ff.
9. Walter Kaudern, Ethnographical Studies in Celebes. III: Musical Instruments in Celebes. Göteborg: Elanders
Boktryckeri a.b, 1927, p. 192.
10. Jenö Takâcs, 'A Dictionary of Philippine Musical Instruments", Archiv für Völkerkunde 29 (1975), p. 179.
11. Curt Sachs, Die Musikinstrumente Indiens und Indonesiens, Second edition. Berlin: Vereinigung Wissen
schaftlicher Verleger, 1923, p. 133
12. Kaudern Ethnographical Studies in Celebes, p. 192
13. Curt Sachs, Die Musikinstrumente Indiens und Indonesiens, p. 134

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SOUTHEAST ASIA: MUSICAL SYNCRETISM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY 27

all, Islamic states. Islamization began in the twelfth century

(India) founded trading posts at the northern tip of Sumatra
the new trading routes and became important missionaries
Marco Polo, the Italian traveller, visited the northeastern co
1292, he already found an Islamic state. Further northward,
into existence, which in 1345 was visited by the Arabian travelle
China. Islamization of the Islands, with the exception of Bali,
In Aceh, North Sumatra, and in the Sulu Archipelago, Southe
the most Islamized people today. But even here, as all over So
and ways of behaviour were assimilated in a characteristic w
adat which was determined by strictly laid-down rules for s
ship groups and by ancestor worship. Music and dance were
courts and villages as a part of the adat that the existing mu
touched or even discarded. Even the hostility of fervent Isla
activities as known in other Islamic regions had no effect on
of the region. In fact, the large gamelan ensembles from the Cen
formed after the coming of Islam.
Since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Southeast
richest cultural areas in the world of musical traditions. Mantle Hood writes that
There are several indications that the Wali were wisely sensitive to the importance of
the arts as a mode of traditional Javanese religious expression, practices fostered in the
courts of the priyayi and imitated in the villages of the abangan. It is true that the ortho
dox prohibitions of polytheism and the making of images of human beings and animals
put an end to the erection of monuments and temples glorifying princely rulers and the
ancestors. The religious stories and fables of Javanese literature were no longer suitable
subjects for bas-reliefs. The ancestor cult, on the other hand, was not only tolerated but
actually became part of the Muslim ritual.14
One reason for the specific Indonesian development is the fact that musical perfor
mances in many cases are an integral part of the adat. They cannot be considered as pure
music with only an aesthetic function. There are even performances which are not ad
dressed at a human audience at all. Judith Becker mentions such a case from East Java:

Wajang kulit in a pure ritual form occurs every day of the year in East Java at Mount Kawi. On
the side of Mount Kawi is the tomb of a holy man. The tomb and the adjoining mountainside are
felt to be spiritually charged and magically powerful. It is a favorite spot for pilgrims coming to
seek special favors from the gods or to give thanksgiving for a boon granted. On either side as
one ascends the stone steps leading to the tomb are resting houses for pilgrims, restaurants, food
vendors' stalls, beggars, and sheds for wajang kulit performances. Day in, day out, year after
year, the shadow-play performances go on. The dalang sits before the lighted screen, his puppets
arranged on either side of him, a full gamelan playing behind him, and acts out epic stories. Only
one factor distinguishes the performances from any other wajang kulit performances: There is
no audience. The performances are commissioned either to give thanks for a boon or to induce
the gods to grant one. It is for an unseen audience, and no one, busy as they are with their own
concerns on Mount Kawi, pays the slightest attention.15

14. Mantle Hood, The Evolution of Javanese Gamelan, Book 11, p. 100.
15. Judith Becker, Traditional Music in Modern Java. Diss. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1972, p. 1 Iff.

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28 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 57/1

Although the tradition of Javanese gamelan was "an indispe

ceremonials"16 on the arrival of Islam, there are outstandin
also part of music festivities. This is the case with the so-ca
according to Mantle Hood,

" is ... an interesting mixture in function of Islamic and pre-Islamic

It is played almost exclusively during the 'Sekatèn' rituals

during the celebrations for the Prophet's birthday.

Of the two gamelans sekati18 in the Jogyakraton, the oldest, K.

Torrent of Honey),19 is placed, during the sekatèn week, on the s
of the great missigit (mosque), the other one—manufactured in 175
Sultan, and called K.K.Naga (W)ilaga (Venerable Sir Fighting Snak

In Yogyakarta, a repertory of 87 gending (compositions) is e

gamelan sekati. The laras (tonality) of these ensembles is pelog
principal compositions is lima or nem. The instruments of the so
as gender, gambang, celempung, rebab, or suling are not play
of the kendang drum the big barrel-shaped bedug is beaten. The
8 saron (demung, barung, panerus) dominates while one doub
ing instrument of the ensemble. When the sad, melancholy
played the audience seems to hear the despairing lamentation
daughter, on her father's death.

More especially, the beats on the bedug, as heard on the evening

interpret the way Dévi Fatima, in her grief, beat her breast.21

Indonesia is a multi-ethnic society. In a way, Islam and Bah

tional language, seems to verve a unifying bond. On the oth
of the archipelago are proud of their cultural heritage and tr
tural identity, a tendency, which could be characterized as a
and central power, the latter being represented by the centra
inated by Javanese. The condition of being born into a partic
proud of it are two components of the same thing, which is
"ethnicity".
Not all islanders of the archipelago were Islamized. Several enclaves such as Bali and
the Batak Highlands resisted Islam still today. Nevertheless important terms in the Batak
tradition are of Arabic origin, such adat, which stands as the generic term for customs,
practice, ceremonial, and social behaviour and the tradition governed by these. Not only
because of their geographical situation but also as a result of the Islamisation of the sur

16. Jaap Kunst, Music in Java; Its History, Its Theory and Its Technique. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1973, p. 266.
17. Mantle Hood, The Evolution of Javanese Gamelan, Book II, p. 105.
18. In popular etymology, sekati is either considered as on par with suka ati (heart's delight) or as meaning
one kati (680 g), which weight is supposed to be about that of a saron key in this ensemble.
19. This gamelan dates from before 1755, the year in which it was allotted to the sultanate, by the repartition
of Gianti, together with the Munggang, the Kodok ngorék, the K.K.Kanchil belik and the K.K.Surak (explanation
by the author: other gamelan sets of the kraton/palace) (Jaap Kunst 1973: 266).
20. Jaap Kunst, Music in Java, p. 266
21. Ibid.

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SOUTHEAST ASIA: MUSICAL SYNCRETISM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY 29

rounding area, the Batak became culturally isolated to a

fensive posture, which continued until 1861 when Christ
of the Evangelical Rhineland Missionary Society. The num
Lake Toba in the uplands of Northern Sumatra is about
Indonesia, the same portion as the Balinese hold. Approxim
in the countryside areas around Lake Toba within the dis
Simalungun, Asahan, Tapanuli Utara, and, farther to th
many Batak have migrated to the large cities of Indonesi
and Bandung, over the last few decades, the Batak popula
some difficulty. The Batak are generally divided into five lar
Simalungun, Pakpak, and Angkola/Mandailing. In fact it i
far a group is objectively defined as a unit and subjective
separate parts. This is generally something being in a st
stricter cultural delimitation among the Batak subgroups in
a question of standpoint, whether the culture of the An
upon as separate units.

The culture and language of both peoples are so similar that the
little in terms of practical aspects of daily living. Their tradi
sembles as well as the uses and functions of music, are similar
repertoire, titles of pieces and songs, and some aspects of music

Linguistically the Karo come from a northern group al

distinct from an eastern group (Simalungun) and a
Mandailing). All Batak groups have a similar social structu
far, the Toba form the largest group. Compared to them
upon as minorities among the Batak family. They all shar
ligious beliefs, ancestor worship, and kinship relations. H
ences have resulted in many Karo, Simalungun, Pakpak o
they belong to an independent ethnic group rather than t
be seen as a kind of polarization between the Toba and ot
ter of profiling directed against the Toba majority.
One of the most important elements in the ancient relig
belief that the fate of a human being is determined by t
tendi "lives" in every human being, and in fact is residen
completely translated by "soul", the usual translation. In my
as "life force" or "vital force". Nor is it a "spirit", and terms
in the supernatural" are completely out of place in this c
thing alive and is held responsible for the fortune and m
has resulted in the development of a tendi cult.
The other important element in traditional religious belief
is deeply rooted in Batak society, coupled with the belief
a begu or spirit or soul of the dead. The mediator betwee
descendants, are special persons, as the datu in Toba and
called guru sibaso in the Karo. Going into a trance in

22. Margaret Kartomi, The Mandailing People of Sumatra (An Antholog

commentary), Musicaphon BM 30 SL 2567, Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1983.

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30 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 57/1

possessed by a begu, she acts as a medium through which the family

a dialogue or verbal contact with their ancestor (s). The ceremon
music plays an essential role within these processes and ceremon
The other role of this music can be described as a social one b
the dances of the three different kinship groups.23
Two kinds of ceremonial music ensembles had been in use am
groups. The first one, the bamboo-tube zither ensemble, belong
musical instruments, while the second one, consisting of drums
reed aerophone sarunei was introduced more recently. It remain
pened. The instruments could have been brought to Sumatra by
traders, probably around 1400 or a little earlier. The oboe-drum
lished as a kind of official representation music among the loca
cal Melayu, from whom it was taken over by the Batak rajas. We
soldiers who were stationed in Aceh in the sixteenth century. T
by the Ottoman Empire as military support of the Aceh Sultanat
from Malacca. Oboe-drum ensembles formed an important part of T
The Batak gondang music consists of one or sometimes two s
drums, and two to four gongs. Having in mind the historical bac
seems to be a combination of the West/South Asian oboe-drum m
the (pre-) Hindu-Javanese gongs, the latter also being a foreign
Batak have never produced gongs themselves, with one or two
Gongs were always imported from Java or Mainland Southeast A
Toba Batak idiom, which quite clearly refers to the importation

Dao sitompa ogung, daoan ma ho!

[Far away is the creator of gongs, far you be (from us)!]

Although they are historically older, ensembles with tube zith

for the gondang groups with sarunei, drums, and gongs. The soun
and gongs are imitated by small groups, in which tube zithers play a
keteng-keteng music of the Karo. This group consists of one boat-sh
as the melody instrument(s), two tube zithers (iketeng-keteng), a
lain bowl). The parts of the gendang drums and two gongs are pl
the mangkuk. The latter, beaten with a stick, provides the sound
keteng-keteng has two strings, which are beaten with two small
tuned to the lower pitch is provided with a special sound mecha
are attached to the string and vibrate over a sound hole when th
sulting low and slightly longer sounding tone is the substitute fo
second string of the zither, which passes over a bridge, the part
are beaten. Tube zither music had a strong religious function.
spirit possession ceremonies of the old Batak religion. It is still

23. See, for example, Artur Simon, "Altreligiöse und soziale Zeremonien der
schrift ßr Ethnologie 107,2 (1982), p. 177-206; Artur Simon, "Functional Changes in
its Role in Modern Indonesian Society", Asian Music 15,2 (1984), 58-66; Artur
Functions of Batak Ceremonial Music", in Cultures and Societies of North Sum
Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1987, p. 337 ff.

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SOUTHEAST ASIA: MUSICAL SYNCRETISM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY 31

monies are practised.24 In strong Christianized areas

Simalungun, this music is practically extinct.
Considering the oboe-drum ensembles, each of the five
acteristic. The ensembles of the five groups differ consid
the shape of the instruments as well as in the musical str
tween the Pakpak, Mandailing and Simalungun ensembles
between Karo gendang and Toba gondang and between t
spicious that one doubts a common origin, and the quest
of a diversification within a frame of uniformity.
The same can be noticed when considering the adat dan
or rows, one moving, the other standing, while at the K
wards each other.
The tortor adat, the ceremonial dance, is the high point of a feast and it portrays the
dalihan na tolu, the three kinship groups. For the Toba, these groups consist of the don
gan sabutuha (companion from the same body), one's own patrilineal relatives of one's
father-in law, and the boru, the "wife receivers", the patrilineal relatives of one's son-in-law.
Dongan sabutuha is someone with whom one shares the same ascendants on the father's
side. Some of these relatives are called suhut, and they are responsible for the organiza
tion of an adat feast. The religious element of adat dances could be found in the suhut
dances of the first day. While these were performed, spirits of the ancestors were invoked
and some dancers could have become possessed. This, however, has been forbidden by
both catholic and protestant churches. Nevertheless, it could happen here and there that
one of the dancers becomes unwittingly possessed. The old links and power of gondang
music are too strong, and its structure in particular has been predestinated to trigger off
these mechanisms.
The adat dances are accompanied by a series of symbolic gestures which portray the
various roles of the three kinship groups. The suhut has to bless the boru by laying their
hands on the heads of the boru, a gesture made only symbolically when there is some dis
tance between the dancers. The boru ask for and receive blessing by reversing the same
hand movements, as if they were fanning themselves, or they "take" this blessing by cup
ping the faces of the suhut dancers opposite in their hands. The same thing occurs be
tween hula-hula and the suhut, only this time, the roles are reversed, and it is the suhut
who receives the blessing of the hula-hula. Individuality of expression within this role
playing can be observed when gestures and reactions are particularly emphasized or
heartfelt when there is a personal or emotional bond between certain dancers. The ges
tures remain reserved and formal, on the other hand, when one hardly knows the other
person. Some suhut dances obviously refer back to their old religious origin. The dancers
stand still, moving arms and hands only in slow, well-defined movements. The dancers
are arranged in two circles, with the women in their inner circle and the men behind in
the outer circle. The women play a prominent role here as most of these dances are
symbolically concerned with fertility, involving gestures by which the gods (or God) are

24. See, for example, Artur Simon, Gendang Karo; Nordsumatra, Indonesien; Trance- und Tanzmusik der
Karo-Batak [Gendang Karo; Northern Sumatra, Indonesia; Trance and Dance Music of the Karo Batak]. (Mu
seum Collection Berlin-West No.13. 2 LPs with commentary. Berlin: Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv, 1987; reissued
as CD 24/25: Instrumentalmusik der Toba- und Karo-Batak; Nordsumatra, Indonesia / Instrumental Music of the
Toba Batak and the Karo Batak; Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, Berlin: Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv, 1999.

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32 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 57/1

worshipped or asked for blessings.25 The general characteristic

bles is the steady accompanying rhythm played on gongs, their nu
(Karo) to generally four (Toba, Simalungun) and six (Mandailin
(Toba, Pakpak) or small cymbals (Mandailing) are added to the g
The oboe called the sarunei or sarune plays a dominant role
Simalungun groups while it seems to have only a marginal fu
Mandeiling ensembles where the wind instrument is drowned ou
mains unclear why these instruments were added to the drum
shape of the sarunei among the different Batak groups is a mo
could be seen as an important contribution towards a specific c
tity. It is surprising how these diverse kinds of varieties of obo
oped, or modified within such a relatively small area. The len
reaches from 25 cm (Karo) to about 65 cm (Toba). The Toba sa
Near East type with its conical bell, while the very slim Sima
cylindrical bell made of bamboo. The extremely small Karo sar
struction and its acoustic specification should be examined. The
conut palm leaf is approximately 4 to 8 mm wide and 8 mm lon
We do not know if the extreme variety of Batak oboes is due
from outside or to individual creativity of Toba, Karo, and Simalun
it is difficult to find outside analogies for the Karo or Simalung
for an independent development of these instruments is more
postulated for the extremely slim Karo gendang drums and th
of the gordang sembilan ensemble, while the barrel-shaped fo
Simalungun, Pakpak and Mandailing gondang si dua-dua music
similar forms within the Malayan Southeast Asian world. These,
port from the Malayan coast while the more valued larger dru
veloped within the Batak area. In addition, it cannot be excluded th
different groups from Toba to Mandailing were ambitious to h
tational and ceremonial groups of instrumental music. But that
reason for this musical diversification was the striving for cultura
support a specific cultural identity.
The results of this developments are different drum/gong
ingly have completely different musical languages. The Toba go
set of five more-or-less tuned drums called tataganing played by o
an additional bass drum gordang played by another musician.
ganing are mostly playing together in a heterophonic manner.
The larger Pakpak genderang and Mandailing gordang drum
spectively five drums of different size. Three to five drumm
Simalungun have sets of seven or six drums gonrang played by
terlocking single parts played by each drummer lead to drum p

25. Artur Simon, "Functional Changes in Batak Traditional Music and it

Society," Asian Music 15,2 (1984), 58-66.
26. Artur Simon, "Terminology of Batak Instrumental Music in Northern Sum
Music 17 (1985), 133-14; Margaret Kartomi, The Mandailing People of Sumatra
People of Sumatra (An Anthology of South-East Asian Music. LP with comment
Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1982.

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SOUTHEAST ASIA: MUSICAL SYNCRETISM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY 33

most important element of this music. The drum sets form a

Pakpak and Mandailing ensembles while the Simalungun gonran
ensemble of sarunei and drums. A completely different music is th
A virtuoso display of rhythm played by the two drummers on
companies the melodic line of the high sounding sarunei. The K
acterized as the aesthetics of contrast. The sound of an extreme
gong (55 to 100 cm in diameter) alternates with a small high-s
in diameter). The tempos of the music differ from slow to ext
this, the Toba gondang is generally very fast with only some speci
tempo. Ceremonial gondang music is one of the most important sy
besides others as the adat dance, the ulos (ceremonial cloth), a
Karo, the Simalungun, the Toba, the Pakpak and the Angkola/M
specific gondang music in the same respect as they claim a spec
meaning that attaches to it is constituted by the adat, the tradi
iour and kinship relations. It is important to know that the ada
sionary activities. To abolish or destroy the adat would have bee
society and individuals as well. It would have meant the loss of
cultural identity.
It has often been asked how this kind of ancestor worship, as it c
of the re-burial of the deceased relatives, can be reconciled with
day, both can exist alongside each other without a complete divi
answer is that the conversion of the Toba Batak to Christianity
curred as the conversion of a whole marga at once, and that th
cial structure and rules for social behaviour remained as it was. The customs involved in
ancestor worship went far beyond its religious origins and had rooted itself within the sys
tem of social behaviour as a whole. The adat feasts can be regarded in terms of public self
representation of the marga and the kinship groups related to them through marriage.
Here the reason can be found why all efforts by Christians to forbid or abolish the gon
dang music failed. Because the gondang music was an inseparable part of adat and adat
feasts.
Mainly as a result of the Padri wars (ca. 1803-1839), the majority of the Angkola/
Mandailing, the southernmost Batak, were converted to Islam. Besides the traditional
gondang music we find here typical Islamic music genres and instruments.
Some local Muslims disapprove of the pre-Muslim music and dance. They encourage,
instead, the performance of Muslim music stemming from Egypt and the Arab countries,
for example Zikir-rapano ... and nasit... and Zikir songs accompanied by frame drums
rapano are set to religious verse in Arabic or Mandailing/Angkola language and with
Middle-Eastern influence melodies.
Since about 1976, pilgrims (haji) returning from Mecca have brought back recordings
of nasit, and have arranged for troupes of girls to be taught to perform it. To the recital of
solo and choral Middle Eastern Songs in Arabic or Indonesian Language they dance in
various formations to their drum accompaniment (sampring and bemercing and mambo
drum) ,28.

27. Artur Simon, Gendang Karo.

28. Margaret Kartomi, The Angkola People of Sumatra.

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34 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 57/1

The Mandailing drum rapano is called rebana or terbang i

According to Kunst round about the year 1800, this instrum
portant rôle in Central Java.29
Here and, above all, in West Java four terbang accompany
selawatan.
These rapano drums never entered the gamelan. On the island of Lombok larger re
bana ensembles with tuned drums are played as an imitation of gamelan music of the kelé
nang type.

It consists more or less exclusively of small drums (a crossbreeding between frame drum and
kettle drum, but with an opening at the bottom and string tension) ... With the exception of the
kendang players, who at times use gupekan technique, all the other drummers use small sticks.
Great importance is attached to the tuning, after every three gendings the whole orchestra is cre
ated afresh. Terminology and use of the drums is the same as with the kelénang (except the
gender) but notTawa 2; i.e., the biggest drum is called "gong" and is played accordingly, the sec
ond biggest is a "kempul", etc. Each player beats only one tone on his instrument. Thus, in spite
of the total difference of the resulting sound effect, the technique is very similar to that of kelé
nang. Both gamelans are characterised by the splitting up of the figuration into single tones
played by different musicians ... According to the musicians themselves the modern pieces are
generally inspired by kebyar music [from Bali].30

Other forms of musical syncretism as the Portuguese-inspired kroncong or the orkes

melayu or dangdut, which gained popularity after 1945, may briefly be mentioned. This
"Malayan orchestra" consists of a combination of Indian, West Asian, Afro-American,
European, and modern electric instruments. After the introduction of television and mu
sic recordings, the music industry has seen an enormous boom. There are estimations
that in Indonesia between 90 and 100 million music recordings are sold every year. Nearly
every kind of music from the Indonesian archipelago is on the market, from traditional
genres as gamelan or gondang up to modern Indonesia pop as well as Western classical
and pop music.
When dealing with outside influences on the music of Indonesia one should not forget
the reverse. When, in former days, a set of gamelan was sent to foreign regions as
Kalimantan or Mainland Southeast Asia, this happened in order to represent the power
and rule of their Javanese owners. In the last decades, hundreds of gamelan ensembles
have left Java and Bali and travelled overseas representing the local culture. Gamelan in
struments and music have become one of the most important export articles of traditional
Javanese or Balinese culture or—to say it with other words—the best ambassador of
Indonesia to other countries.

29. Jaap Kunst, Music in Java, p, 217.

30. Tilman Seebass, et al., The Music of Lombok. A First Survey. Bern: Francke, 1976, p. 24-26; Tilman
Seebass, Panji in Lombok II. (An Anthology of South-East Asian Music. LP with commentary). Musicaphon BM
30 SL 2564. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1978.

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