Ethnomusiological education for a humane society: ethical issues in the post-colonial, post-apartheid era

In this paper I want initially to discuss some ethical problems which we educators have on the whole somewhat neglected: firstly, ethical issues that need to be incorporated into the education of students of the traditional and popular musics of the world at the secondary and tertiary level in this post-colonial and post-apartheid era, and secondly, the related ethical issues affecting the work of ethnomusicologists as they study and record the musics of traditional communities throughout the world, and especially the recent transformation of field recordings made by ethnomusicologists and others into the commercial product which we know as 'world music', or music that is, or is claimed to be, based on traditional music but has been adapted to a popular musical idiom and has thereby been made 'palatable' for commercial exploitation

Performance, Music and Meaning of Réyog Ponorogo

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Gamelan Digul di Balik Sosok Seorang Pejuang : Hubungan Antara Australia dengan Revolusi Indonesia

Buku Kartomi tentang gamelan buatan di kamp tawanan dan pembuatnya ini berbicara tentang masalah-maslah yang tidak hanya sekedar gamelan berkotak kayu kasar, yang dibuat di kamp tawanan para tapol di Indonesia di Papua tahun 1930-an. Gamelan digul telah menjadi metonim untuk perlawanan indonesia terhadap kekuasaan kolonial Belanda, dan akhirnya juga dukungan australia para kemerdekaan Indonesia. Pontjopangrawit, pembuat gamelan ini, tidak hanya mewakili barisan kaum nasionalis antikolonial yang nama-namanya hilang dari sejarah, tetapi juga seorang ahli musik kraton jawa yang besar dari masa lalu, yang riwayatnya tidak tercatat karena kehidupannya sebagai hamba kraton tidak pernah memerlukan inskripsi

Sigalegale

For male participants. Puppet-dance theatre genre of the Batak Toba ethnic group: a performance of sigalegale in Tomok. This theatre form was traditionally part of the elaborate funeral ceremonies of the parbegu (animist) religion. Sigalegale uses one of two life-size puppets carved from the wood of the banyan tree. Legend has it that the first sigalegale was made in a man's image by his widow mourning his death. She is said to have hired a dukun (shaman) to bring his soul to heaven and a dalang (puppeteer/storyteller) to manipulate the sigalegale puppet. The custom spread and at funerals a puppet was decorated with the deceased's possessions, after which the puppeteer invited the soul of the deceased to enter it. Nowadays, however, performances are given at weddings, and only rarely at funerals. Sigalegale is accompanied by an ensemble comprising a xylophone and drum, with optional flute and gongs

Siti Zubaidah

Audio 7.11: Audio Example 11 in Chapter 7 of book: Margaret Kartomi, ‘Musical Journeys in Sumatra’, Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012.The “Siti Zubaidah” tale from “One Thousand and One Nights” serves as the basis for one of the plays in the “Abdul (Dul) Muluk” repertoire. “Dul Muluk”, a theatre genre with a Muslim, Middle-Eastern flavour, has spoken dialogue alternating with musical items. All performers are male; and when playing female roles, their voices remain unchanged rather than assuming a higher pitch. Songs are usually accompanied by an all-male “Abdul (Dul) Muluk” ensemble comprising three violins (“biola”), a bass drum (“jidur”), two double-headed drums (“gandang”) and a small gong (“ketawa”). Four excerpts have been extracted here from the many songs that are part of the “Siti Zubaidah” performance. The first is very lively with a Middle-Eastern feel and is the source for the short interludes that are played between changes of mood and scene; the second has a striking resemblance to “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and includes vocals by a soloist then chorus; the third also includes a solo vocalist and has a joyous quality; the fourth is slower and more pensive in mood with the vocal soloist negotiating repeated interjections by other performers. The show was presented by the Sinar Harapan Sandiwara troupe of which Bp Nawani was the leader, and recorded in December 1971.Duration: 4 min. 06 sec. [Excerpt 1: 1 min. 20 sec; Excerpt 2: 0 min. 35 sec; Excerpt 3: 0 min. 50 sec; Excerpt 4: 1 min. 15 sec.

Rejunk (cang-incang verses)

Audio 7.3: Audio Example 3 in Chapter 7 of book: Margaret Kartomi, ‘Musical Journeys in Sumatra’, Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012.The vocal practice called “rejunk” involves the singing of responsorial rhyming quatrains or “cang-incang” for a particular, desired affect. This example of “cang-incang” is a song of advice and praise, sung by Bp M. Denin Jakub during a Komering wedding in Kayuagung. Ibu Sri Cik Timah, an elderly female (not recorded), responds to his often improvised verses. Recorded December 1971.Duration: 1 min. 29 sec

Rapa'i daboh

For male participants. The rapa'i (a medium-size frame drum) is used in the performance of daboh (Arabic: dabbus, awl) in which religiously inspired performers stab themselves with an awl or dagger, with no pain felt, to show their religious concentration and invulnerability. Daboh is accompanied by mass rapa'i playing and songs of praise of Allah and the Prophets. This image presents a close-up of one of the men playing the rapa'i in a competitive performance of daboh between two groups

Dangedria theatre

A male participant. The traditional southwest Acehnese theatre form, dangedria, is usually performed by a single storyteller who narrates, in verse or prose or song, a local legend (for example, an origin myth involving romance, humour and fighting) all night for several nights at weddings and other celebrations. He accompanies himself on a range of instruments (for example, flute, jews harp, frame drum) and illustrates his stories with realistic properties. He may put on a particular head covering if playing the part of a king and change to a different head covering when he plays the part of a princess, and other for the role of pirate, etc. He may freely choose other properties such as bells. The late dangedria storyteller P. M. Toh, who was born in southwest Aceh, renamed his form of dangedria after the name of a bus stop, P. M. Toh, and gave himself the same name. His performances ranged from the serious to the very comic. In this image, P.M. Toh is surrounded by the instruments and dramatic properties he needs to use in his presentation of dangedria; he is playing the flute during the part of the performance captured by the camera

Ratip

Audio 6.4: Audio Example 4 in Chapter 6 of book: Margaret Kartomi, ‘Musical Journeys in Sumatra’, Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012.The “Suku Mamak” forest-dwellers of the Indragiri area, near Rengat in mainland Riau, practice healing ceremonies in which a shaman (“gumantan”) invokes the spirits of the ancestors, Allah and the Prophet Muhammad in songs called “ratip”. The shaman in this November 1984 excerpt, Bp M. Nunus, is accompanied by a man playing a large single-headed, low-waisted cylindrical drum called “ketebung” that is suspended from the ceiling of the shaman’s house. It is only allowed to be played at healing ceremonies. The people combine their indigenous religious beliefs with Islamic beliefs and practices.Duration: 1 min. 36 sec