Iacobus Leodiensis [Iacobus de Montibus, Iacobus de Oudenaerde]

VII. Outer islands

1. Kalimantan.

2. Maluku.

3. Nusa Tenggara Timur (the Eastern Lesser Sundas).

4. Sulawesi.

Indonesia, §VII: Outer islands

1. Kalimantan.

(i) Introduction.

(ii) Instruments and instrumental music.

(iii) Vocal performance.

(iv) New directions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Indonesia, §VII, 1: Kalimantan

(i) Introduction.

The four Indonesian provinces of East-, West-, South-Brunei surrounded by Sarawak and the South China Sea on the northern coast. While sparsely populated at just over 8 million, the 535,000 square kilometres of Indonesian Borneo are home to hundreds of ethnic groups with distinct languages, customs and traditions. The coastal areas and lowland plains are populated largely by Malay-speaking Muslims of local descent. Some of the larger Malay groups include the Samba in the west, Banjar in the south and Kutai and Bulungan in the eastern regions. A significant Madurese population is present in coastal West Kalimantan, while Buginese from Sulawesi have long been established along the island’s eastern shores. Substantial Chinese communities exist in virtually every major city, and the Indonesian government’s recent transmigration programmes have also brought many Javanese families.

The interior regions of the island are inhabited by numerous groups, usually collectively designated as ‘Dayak’ by coastal dwellers of Kalimantan, Indonesians from other islands and the Indonesian government itself. Among the most prominent of these groups are the Mualang (who are sometimes considered a sub-division of the Iban people) and the Kantu’ of West Kalimantan; the Ngaju, Ot Danum, and Ma'anyan of Central Kalimantan; and the Kayan, Kenyah, Modang, Punan and Kerayan of the eastern province. South Kalimantan is largely Malay. Among the non-Chinese coastal populations, Islam is the dominant religion. Chinese communities usually adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. Many of the peoples living in or originating from the island’s interior are Christian, although some groups maintain religious practices that are unique to, and rooted historically in, their own communities.

The extraordinary linguistic and cultural diversity of Kalimantan allows only the broadest of generalizations when discussing a single topic such as music. Further complicating matters is the fundamental lack of documentation, both contemporary and historical, of musical practices in this region. Many early writers, moreover, were apparently unaware of the significance of ethnic differences, and in detailed descriptions of musical activities there are often no references to specific ethnic groups. Further, the musical situation has certainly changed since the 1970s, not to mention the 19th century; consequently, many residents of Kalimantan may not even have heard of the instruments or vocal forms once attributed to their people. The musical profile presented here, then, is necessarily largely historical.

Indonesia, §VII, 1: Kalimantan

(ii) Instruments and instrumental music.

Idiophones are among the most plentiful and varied of the instruments of Kalimantan. Individual bamboo percussion tubes appear to be more characteristic of non-Malay peoples of the interior regions (e.g. Kayan, Kenyah), where they have been linked to specific phases of the rice cycle. A number of Kalimantan groups have maintained xylophone traditions. Coastal Malays played a wooden gambang without accompaniment, sometimes to accompany singing. Some peoples of the interior kept suspended log xylophones in their rice fields, primarily for signalling and warding off pests. Over the past few decades, Kenyah communities of East Kalimantan have developed a small, portable xylophone (jatung utang) for use as dance accompaniment. Idioglot jew’s harps (e.g. Kayan tong, Kenyah uding, Iban ruding sulu) have been documented in most parts of the island; those without a string (for plucking) enjoyed a wider distribution. Most jew’s harps are made of bamboo or palm-wood, although some peoples of West Kalimantan, such as the Mualang, used heteroglot metal varieties. Playing the jew’s harp has been a women’s activity among some interior groups; especially when played by both men and women, the jew’s harp has often been associated with courtship.

Various types of gongs are found throughout the coastal and upland areas of all four Kalimantan provinces. Malay coastal communities, as well as some of the non-Malay peoples of the inland regions, have used gong-chime ensembles to accompany ritual and recreational dance, agricultural festivities, shamanic activities and theatrical performances. The gemurung ensemble of the Kantu’ of West Kalimantan features a single row of gongs, which resembles the kulintang of the southern Philippines. Similar traditions include the kangkanung ensemble of the Ngaju of Central Kalimantan and the Tunjung klentangan of the eastern province. Gamelan ensembles similar to those found in Java – and usually imported from that island – are present in most of the larger coastal cities. The more elaborate ensembles were usually owned and maintained by the former sultanates (e.g. Kutai, Berau). In South Kalimantan, the Banjar Malays have performed Javanese-influenced shadow-puppet plays with gamelan accompaniment.

Gong-chimes have not been common among the groups living in the most mountainous areas of Kalimantan. Moreover, gongs and the structure of gong music have not held as central a position in these communities as they have among coastal peoples and the populations of the islands of Java and Bali to the west. In the highlands, the striking of hanging gongs in ensemble has usually been restricted to specific ritual circumstances. Purely recreational music has not typically involved gongs or been based on the same structural principles. Unlike the gamelan orchestras of the Malays, highland gongs have not usually been tuned to specific pitches. When combining instruments in ensemble, pitch contrast has been of primary sonic importance. Kin-relations have also been significant in determining which instruments will be played together, since the instruments have normally been collected from several households. The overall size and composition of a group of instruments in the upland stratified societies has typically depended on the social status of the individual for whom the ritual was to be held. Gongs themselves, whether used as sound instruments, stools, pedestals for dance, ritual paraphernalia, payment or decoration, served as symbols of rank and status in many of these communities.

In contrast to the idiophones, the membranophones of Kalimantan exhibit comparatively little structural variety. The predominant means of securing and tightening the skins of the drums, regardless of body shape, is through cord and belt lacing with wedge bracing. Large, single-headed conical drums have been documented primarily among the Modang (tewung), Kenyah (jatung) and Kayan (tuvung), of the interior of East Kalimantan. A principal function of such drums has been to signal village emergencies, death or meetings, with different rhythms indicating the particular circumstances. Drums have also been used for certain rituals and ritual dances, sometimes sounded together with hanging gongs or other idiophones. While the Tunjung and Benuaq of the eastern interior have employed double-headed drums in their gong ensembles, such drums have tended to be more common in the coastal regions. Among the Malay groups, these have usually been part of the gamelan orchestra. Double-headed drums have also figured prominently in the mixed ensembles accompanying various Malay folkdances known as jepen. Most drums are played by men, but some of the goblet-shaped drums of the western and north-western regions have been played by women in shamanic activities, often accompanied by drums of various types. Frame drums have been played alone and in ensemble to accompany song and Muslim recitation among the Malay populations.

Tube zithers, spike lutes and necked box lutes appear to be the most common chordophones. The Kenyah, Kayan and Punan of the interior highlands have been known for their plucked tube zithers with three to six strings. Generally associated with women in these communities, the tube zither has been played alone or in ensemble for entertainment or to accompany dance. Some of the Iban-related groups of West Kalimantan have also used tube zithers, which were usually played by women. Coastal Malays make little use of plucked tube zithers. Bowed spike lutes, on the other hand, have been quite prevalent in these societies. Two-string models have been played together with a zither as dance music in some of the Malay communities. Similarly, two-string instruments have been played by some of the Iban peoples of the western region, but one-string versions have also been popular, as has been the case among most other non-Malay groups of the lower-lying areas.

The plucked box lute, usually with a short neck, is associated with many of the non-Malay, inland peoples of Kalimantan. With some exceptions, most of these instruments are known as sapé' or a closely related linguistic cognate. Older varieties of these lutes had two strings, but three or four are now preferred by many players. The frets, typically placed under one string only, have changed from fixed to movable in Kenyah and Kayan communities, and have increased in number from three to 16 on some more recent models. The sapé' has been strongly bound to recreational dancing in most communities, but older two-string lutes were also closely associated with shamanic activity. Men have been the sole performers of the instrument in some societies, but women have been prominent players in others. Coastal Malays do not use the sapé'. However, the Gambus, a bowl lute of Middle Eastern origin, has been played with gongs and drums for dancing in some Muslim areas.

Perhaps on account of its organological uniqueness, the gourd-and-bamboo mouth organ (Kayan Keledi, keredi; Kenyah kediré') has received the most attention of all aerophones in Kalimantan. Whereas other forms of reed instruments are relatively rare, mouth organs have historically been prominent among a number of peoples of the mountainous interior, including the Kenyah, Kayan and Punan. Iban-related groups the north-western area and similar groups living inland in the northern part of East Kalimantan have also cultivated mouth organ traditions. The instrument has been used variously to accompany ritual and recreational dance, to accompany singing, aid in courtship and provide personal entertainment. Its players have usually been men. Coastal Malay populations do not appear to have used mouth organs, but a single-reed instrument played in ensemble with a gong has been reported in South Kalimantan.

End-blown flutes are scattered widely throughout the island. Both internal and external ducts are common. Nose flutes have been encountered among many of the inland groups, but this instrument is evidently foreign to most coastal populations. The sound of a flute has often been associated with mourning, especially among peoples of the interior. In some communities, the death lament was said to have been performed on the flute, its sounds imitating the quality and words of the human voice. Side-blown flutes have not been common in Kalimantan until relatively recently. Among the Kenyah of East Kalimantan these instruments were said to have been introduced for use in Christian church services.

Of the instruments and ensembles that are tuned, various types of pentatonic scale (with and without semitones) have predominated. Some traditions have employed different pentatonic units (or suggestions thereof) in adjacent registers on a single instrument: many Kayan and Kenyah plucked lute (Kayan: sapé') melodies, for instance, employ semitones in the lower registers but use an anhemitonic tuning in the upper registers. There has also been a tendency among these groups and others in the highland regions towards homogenous ensembles of melodic instruments; formerly it would have been unlikely that a reed instrument (e.g. a mouth organ) would be combined in an ensemble with a lute and a xylophone. Non-melodic or non-tuned instruments, however, have often been used in heterogeneous ensembles (e.g. gongs with drums). Until recently, vocal and instrumental musics have been mutually exclusive among some interior groups. A cappella singing, particularly with soloist and chorus alternating in responsorial style, has been common especially in non-Malay communities. In contrast to the situation in many of the inland societies, heterogeneous ensembles including both melodic and non-melodic instruments have been an ongoing part of coastal Malay music, accompanying the performance of pantun verses and other vocal forms.

Indonesia, §VII, 1: Kalimantan