Music-Culture of Indonesia

The music of Indonesia is as largely unique and beautiful as the country itself. 

"Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" is a national motto in the old Javanese language that means, "Unity in Diversity." Variety of styles is a trademark of Indonesian music.

The music of Java, Sumatra, Bali, Flores and other islands have been documented and recorded, and research by Indonesian and international scholars is ongoing. The music in Indonesia predates historical records, various Native Indonesian tribes often incorporate chants and songs accompanied with music instruments in their rituals. Today the contemporary music of Indonesia is popular in the region, including neighboring countries; Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Musical Instruments

The musical identity of Indonesia as we know it today began as the Bronze Age culture migrated to the Indonesian archipelago in the 2nd-3rd century BC. Traditional music of Indonesian tribes often uses percussion instruments, especially gendang (drums) and gongs. Some of them developed elaborate and distinctive musical instruments, such as sasando string instrument of Rote island, angklung of Sundanese people, and the complex and sophisticated gamelan orchestra of Java and Bali.

            Gamelan

The most popular and famous form of Indonesian music is probably gamelan, an ensemble of tuned percussion instruments that include metallophones, drums, gongs and spike fiddles along with bamboo flutes. Similar ensembles are prevalent throughout Indonesia and Malaysia, however gamelan is originated from Java, Bali, and Lombok.

The role of the gamelan orchestra throughout the Indonesian archipelago is very important. Gamelan music is connected with public events that serve as an important transitional point in a person's life or community rather than simply serving as just entertainment. For example, gamelan music is used to commemorate a day worth remembering. Important family events that include gamelan music are the birth of a child, a circumcision, a house warming, a wedding, an anniversary, a death, etc. But gamelan music may also be used for different forms of entertainment that are often connected with other performing arts.

The gamelan orchestra can function as a complement to actors/dancers in theater as well as to go along with the art of singing with dancing. 

In Indonesia, a srimpi or bedhaya, which includes gamelan music accompanying a group of dressed female dancers dancing to different musical styles, is very popular. Indonesians also use gamelan music to support the puppet theater, which is held in the highest respect by the people of Indonesia.

            Throughout Indonesia, it’s very common to find the gamelan orchestra used for related purposes from one place to the next. However, it is also clear that gamelan music are different from one region to another. One of the biggest competitions in gamelan music takes place between the neighboring islands of Java and Bali. 

Traditional Indonesian gamelan music and instruments were first developed on the islands of Java and Bali, whose inhabitants made two different main styles of gamelan. Although an untrained Western ear wouldn’t hear the subtle differences between the two cultures' music styles and instruments because there are a lot of similar things between the two, the cultures are different in terms of tunings, instruments, and playing styles.

            Even though Indonesian vocal and instrumental music have clear cross-regional similarities, the large difference between music-cultures from one island to another or with many regions on one island has also become socially and culturally difficult. For example, the musical styles of the Batak people from North Sumatra are really different from Javanese music that the two cultures cannot find each other's music pleasant to hear. 

For example, the Batak musicians enjoy the constant busy clicking sound made by the bamboo keteng-keteng percussion instrument. Though keeping a strong musical texture may be common among many gamelan works all throughout Indonesia, the Batak's nonstop clacking of bamboo parts found in the traditional forms of Batak music is not considered as music to the Javanese. 

One music example from Sumatra that may not be considered as music in Java is gendang keteng-keteng, which features a smaller group consisting of two bamboo tube zithers called keteng-keteng, a kulcapi, which is a small two-stringed boat-shaped lute, and a mangkuk, a porcelain bowl. The Batak people don’t seem to care for the music of the Javanese gamelan.

            The rich and loud gamelan orchestras around the Indonesian archipelago are by far the most important and well-known traditional forms of Indonesian music. Although gamelan orchestras are also common in Malaysia and to a smaller degree in the Philippines, they are found throughout most of the populated Indonesian archipelago, with the roots of the gamelan orchestra, which symbolizes traditional indigenous Indonesian music, established in three neighboring islands: Java, Bali, and Lombok.

Other Musical Instruments

Kecapi suling

Kecapi suling is a type of instrumental music that is highly improvisational and popular in parts of West Java that employs two instruments, kecapi (zither) and suling (bamboo flute). It is related to tembang sunda.

Angklung

Angklung is a bamboo musical instrument native to Sundanese people of West Java. It is made out of bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved so that they have a distinctive resonant pitch when being vibrated. Each angklung only plays one note.

Sasando

Sasando is a plucked string instrument native of Rote island of East Nusa Tenggara. The parts of sasando are a bamboo cylinder surrounded by several wedges where the strings are stretched, surrounded by a bag-like fan of dried lontar or palmyra leafs (Borassus flabellifer), functioned as the resonator of the instrument.

Tapanuli ogong

Musical performance from Tapanuli area of Batak of North Sumatra. Tapanuli ogong is a form of dance music played with a type of lute, trumpet and flute.

Kulintang

Kolintang or kulintang is a bronze and wooden percussion instrument native to eastern Indonesia and also The Philippines. In Indonesia it is particularly associated with Minahasa people of North Sulawesi, however it also popular in Maluku and Timor.

Kulintang belongs to the larger unit/stratum of “knobbed gong-chime culture” prevalent in Southeast Asia. It is considered one of the region’s three major gong ensembles, alongside the gamelan of western Indonesia and piphat of Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Laos, which use gongs and not wind or string instruments to carry the melodic part of the ensemble. Like the other two, kulintang music is primarily orchestral with several rhythmic parts orderly stacked one upon another. It is also based upon the pentatonic scale. But, kulintang music differs in many ways from gamelan music, mainly in the way the latter makes melodies within a framework of skeletal tones and prescribed time interval of entry for each instruments. The framework of kulintang music is more flexible and time intervals are nonexistent, allowing for such things as improvisations to be more prevalent.

Because kulintang-like ensembles extended over various groups with various languages, the term used for the horizontal set of gongs varied widely. Along with it begin called kulintang, it is also called kolintang, kolintan, kulintangan, kwintangan, k’lintang, gong sembilan, gong duablas, momo, totobuang, nekara, engkromong, kromong/enkromong and recently kakula/kakula nuada. Kulintang-like instruments are played by the Maguindanao, Maranao, Iranun, Kalagan, Kalibugan and more recently the Tboli, Blaan and Subanao of Mindanao, the Tausug, Samal, Sama/Badjao, Yakan and the Sangir/Sangil of the Sulu, the Ambon, Banda, Seram, Ternate, Tidore, and Kei of Maluku, the Bajau, Suluk, Murut, Kadazan-Dusun, Kadayah and Paitanic Peoples of Sabah, the Malays of Brunei, the Bidayuh and Iban/Sea Dayak of Sarawak, the Bolaang Mongondow and Kailinese/Toli-Toli of Sulawesi and other groups in Banjarmasin and Tanjung in Kalimantan and Timor.

The kulintang is played by striking the bosses of the gongs with two wooden beaters. When playing the kulintang, the Maguindanao and Maranao would always sit on chairs while for the Tausug/Suluk and other groups that who play the kulintangan, they would commonly sit on the floor. Modern techniques include twirling the beaters, juggling them in midair, changing the arrangement of the gongs either before or while playing, crossings hands during play or adding very rapid fire strokes all in an effort to show off a player’s grace and virtuosity.

Conclusion

Based on the instruments that the people from Indonesia use, one would say that it is very much alike the ones we used in the Philippines. The gongs, the stringed instruments, and the bamboo apparatus itself is very similar to what the Philippines utilize.

It is enjoyable to see that not all countries are different. There is always a similarity in which one country and another are the same. That way, we see how connected we really are in this world. Art and music is secretly reuniting us as one.

Advent Reflection

Once upon a December, there were three boys playing at a sandbox.

They were happily burying their hands inside the grains of the warm sand, hiding stones they found outside of the box. Although the grains were warm enough to slightly bite the skin of their little palms, the boys continued touching it as if it comforted them. They liked the way the sand came in bits and pieces, flowing in between their fingers like water. They liked the way the sand felt; the slight itch its texture gave them. They were in pure bliss. 

The three boys’ families were near the swings, far away from the sandbox, chattering endlessly about how each of their children was growing up so fast. The three little boys, however, continued playing in the sand with their sun on their shoulders. Beads of sweat were trickling down the sides of their necks, but they still played with uninterrupted joy. If they thought it was a normal day, they were wrong, because as they were playing, an angel appeared to them

.

“Be not afraid,” the angel said. 

 “Who are you?” One of the boys asked.

“I am a messenger.”

The boys couldn’t understand. They didn’t feel scared, but they felt confused.

“By the end of today, I will come to take you.” The angel said.

One of the boys looked over his shoulder, eying his parents worriedly. “Where?”

“To Heaven.”

Then, the angel began to explain to them that all of them will die by the end of the day. Hearing this, the first two boys stood up and got out of the sandbox. They ran towards their families and then spent the rest of the day showing how much they loved them. Those two boys did everything they could to spend their last day on earth meaningfully. The third boy however, remained in the sandbox, playing with the grains with a smile on his face.

“Little boy, why are you still here?” The angel asked, confused.

The little boy shrugged. “I like it here.”

“Do you not want to spend your last day with your family? Do you not want to say or show them how much you really love them?”

“I do. I love them very much.”

“Then why are you still here?”

“Because,” the boy laughed. “I already did all those things.”

The angel stared at him, still confused.

“Momma and Papa know how much I love them. I show it to them every day.” The little boy explained. “I’m ready to go. I’m just waiting for my friends.”

Now take a look back at this story. 

The little boy stayed at the sandbox and continued playing. This was because he had done everything he was supposed to do. He lived his days as if he was going to die tomorrow; which meant that he already had spent his life doing what has to be done without wasting a minute doing unnecessary things. I feel as if this is similar to the meaning of Advent.

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning the arrival or coming. Traditionally, Advent counts down the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Practically, Advent reminds us to look forward to His return every day. This season is about resetting Jesus Christ at the center of our lives. After all, when He comes to take us home forever, we want to be ready.

Ready. That’s what Advent is about, being ready. The little boy stayed at the sandbox waiting for his friends, ready to go home to Heaven because deep down he knew that he has done his purpose on earth. That is very similar to the whole Advent tradition. We ready ourselves to the coming of Christ. We ready ourselves for His return, so that when the time comes we can gladly tell Him that we have done our purpose in this world and we can offer everything to Him with pleasure.

Advent shouldn’t just be practiced during the month of December. It actually should practiced every day in our lives, because, we never really know when God will take us. But when He does, will we be able to say that we’re ready?

As we wait for the coming of Christ, we ponder on our sins, the things we are thankful for, our blessings, our miracles. We do a lot of pondering. But this is because as we wait, we remember what Christ has done for us in the first place. As we wait, we remember how His life changed us. And that tradition itself; reminds us in spirit who we truly are in this world. It reminds us that we have to be ready for His return. We have to live life as if we were to die tomorrow, so that you live without regrets. You give you life to the Lord without remorse or guilt. And you come back to Him, prepared to be taken home.

I feel like this is the meaning of Advent; being prepared for the coming of Christ. Prepared enough that if He comes to bring us home, we can follow Him happily towards heaven. Prepared enough to tell Him that everything you made out of your life is your gift to Him.

“Live life as if you were to die tomorrow…”
-Ghandi

November Issue Reflection

Gifts

“Everyone who has something will be given more, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken from those who don’t have anything.”
-Mathew 25:29

At first I really couldn’t understand what the reading meant. But everything seemed clear enough once I read the whole passage. The reading came from the story of the three talents. It was when a master entrusted talents for each of his servants before he left. And when he returned, he found that the first two servants he entrusted talents with made twice as much as what they were given. The last servant however, made nothing. He hid the talents he received in the soil and left it there untouched. So I have come to understand what that part of the reading meant. I understood why the master was enraged when his last servant produced nothing.

“Everyone who has something will be given more… But everything will be taken from those who don’t have anything.” I feel as if it meant that people who had made something out of what they were blessed with will be given more, while the people who had made nothing out of what they are entrusted with will be robbed of what they have in the first place. It might seem cruel when you hear it, but it isn’t at all.

People are given blessings every day. They are given a chance to live life to the fullest. But when people tend to take advantage and squander these given blessings, they end up with nothing. Like a rich man who worked all of his life for his money. Yet, he made no friends, no family, and has given nothing to anyone in return. He hasn’t made a difference, nor changed a person’s life for the better, and he also hasn’t really made anyone happy but himself. That rich man doesn’t have anything. He made nothing out of the life he was given. And in the end, he’ll be so drenched in poverty because the only thing he had out of life was money. He was exactly like that last servant who just dug and hid his riches on the ground, making nothing from the talents he was given. And soon, the rich man—like the last servant—will be confiscated of the riches he was entrusted with by his master.

Blessings

“Life entrusted to a man as a treasure which must not be squandered, as a talent which must be used well.”
-Pope John Paul II

They say that you haven’t really lived until you have done something for someone who can never pay you back.

Blessings are meant to be shared. That way, you’ll receive twice as much as you have been given. It may or may not be in the literal sense, but it’s true. The more you give, the happier you’ll be.

The life we have doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to our parents, our siblings, the people we have to help, the friends we love, the strangers we meet. Our lives belong to this world. It’s not meant to be hidden away for ourselves. It’s meant to be shared. Living a full life means making someone else’s life better. We make use of what we are given to make twice as what we have. Two good lives are better than one.

Everyone who has given something to others will be given more, while people who have given nothing to anyone won’t have anything in the end.

The reading itself was a little confusing and may seem a bit controversial at first. But once you see the whole picture out of that single piece of the puzzle, you’ll then begin to see what truly means.

Give back and God will give you more. God rewards those who have something they have given back. May it be talents or just the action of doing something without asking for anything in return.

Give back what life has given you and you will be rewarded.

“Spread love everywhere you go and let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
-Mother Teresa

Conclusion

“Anything done for another is done for oneself.”
-Pope John Paul II

So in the end, what the passage said was completely true. It’s the truth of life and the truth after it. Give something and you’ll receive more than enough. Give nothing, and everything you have will be taken away. If you have done nothing for another, you have done nothing for yourself.

It’s not a matter of punishment, but consequences. If you have given nothing, you’ll receive nothing, which leave you empty as said. Give everything back, and God will reward you ten times more.

Make everything around you happier, and you’ll be happy as well.

Bless more people with the life you have, and you’ll find yourself more blessed than ever. 

Give back, and God will reward you with more than enough.

3rd Quarter Book Report

Coraline

A Book Report

Coraline is a book written by a New York Times best-selling author; Neil Gaiman.

The book’s foundation revolves around the normal boring life of a little girl named Coraline and a mysterious door that changed all of that.

Theme

Coraline is the kind of child who easily gets uninterested or tired of the things she sees no meaning in. During the first part of the book her character regarded the new flat she moved in to as a new location she could explore.  She would walk and investigate the building’s garden, the play ground, the forests, the rooms where the other residents lived, and all of the other places that enclosed the apartment itself. Being an only child with two very busy parents, one would understand why Coraline’s attention-span was limited. She would easily get tired of the things she’d already seen and she would immediately lose interest in everything that seemed predictable and normal.

It all started with the rain. Since it was raining, Coraline couldn’t explore much of the place anymore. So she was forced to stay inside and entertain herself with the new house she was living in. At first she was just asking for permission from her dad to go outside, but since it was raining, her father didn’t encourage the idea. He told her to explore the flat instead. He told her to count all the doors, all the windows, list everything that was blue, and asked her to just leave him alone to work. It’s a little unfortunate that even though both of Coraline’s parents both worked inside their house they still didn’t have time for her. Nevertheless, Coraline did as she was told. She explored, swept her eyes through every corner and ran a hand against every wall and creaking door. She did everything to keep herself from suffering from boredom.

All of the doors she found opened and closed all the same. All except one. This intrigued Coraline. The door at their mysterious Drawing room led to nothing but the wall. Or so she thought.

One night, as Coraline wearily waited for her mother to come home, she fumbled for the key to the mysterious door. And to her surprise, she found herself able to go through it. The door led her to another Drawing room, quite similar to the one that she was from before. But as she observed the room more, the Drawing room seemed more vibrant, more fun, and more… interesting. And this was the start of her journey to a magical world. Coraline found herself in a place very much like the flat she was from only it was much more suited to her liking. The food served was better, her room was more colorful, her toys moved, and there was so much she could explore. It was a perfect world where she could never get bored in.  It was a magical place completely opposite to the dull and uninteresting life she had left behind the other side of the mysterious door.

Her parents there were different as well. They claimed to be her other mother and other father. They looked almost exactly as what her parents usually do, but their eyes were different. Her other mother and other father had deep black buttons for eyes. But, one would ignore that at first when everything seems so perfect, right? Even if their jet black button eyes looked… hungry?

Coraline would have much preferred the perfect world she was given until her other mother said they needed to sew buttons to her eyes. Slowly and surely, Coraline realized the trap she was lured in to and the world that didn’t seem too perfect anymore. She began to find out what was behind her other mother’s hungry button eyes.

“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
-G.K. Chesterton

I think that quote was the basis of the whole scheme of the story. Coraline was faced with a dragon, and a very cunning one at that. The book’s insights tackled mostly on Coraline’s bravery and eagerness to defend what she knew was right. From a timid and easily bored little girl, Coraline became a courageous and persistent young woman almost immediately. She was pushed to the edge of her limits, her fears, and her weaknesses. She was forced to battle her dragon alone.

She was also forced to choose between her magical world and normal one.  The message from that idea itself portrays that what people usually want in their lives, aren’t always what they truly need.

Coraline’s character development was inspiring and realistic. The readers could actually feel Coraline’s pain as she realized that all hope was lost and she was alone. The book itself could bring the inner child of every reader no matter what age they are in. Neil Gaiman had carefully and perfectly laid down his inner thoughts in life regarding the dragons, the mysterious doors, and the perfect illusions people conjure up in this world. The book was entertaining, insightful, substantial, full of morals, and would leave every reader full of thoughts about certain personal things they have related with when getting to know Coraline’s character and situation.

Setting

Although there wasn’t a specified location of the events in the book, I firmly believe that the setting took place somewhere in England. The way the characters spoke and the description of the weather would immediately give you the gist of the people and the lifestyle found in England.

The conversations and the language was modern and simple enough to be understood by people of this generation, therefore it can be a classic. 

Tone

In my opinion, the tone of the book can be described as intriguingly mysterious. The elements included in the book were the following genres: a slice of life, suspense, mystery, intrigue, espionage, and adventure.
The mood set for the book wasn't light or fuzzy, instead it as realistic and fascinatingly scary. It was a little dark and dreary even as it reached the ending because the author put a little creepy twist at the last part of the novel. Although it was a little dark, it can still be suitable for young readers.

Mood

Granted during the first few chapters of the book it was a bit dragging and slow. But as I advanced and dug into the pages more thoroughly I found myself riding an emotional roller coaster.  It’s remarkable that Neil Gaiman can be emotional as well as realistic enough that readers would actually feel Coraline’s struggles, fears, and pain and the book progressed. At the end of the book I was still left with the uneasiness that I’ve felt the first time Coraline stared into the other mother’s button eyes. Neil Gaiman’s imagination and way of setting the atmosphere is impressive and plausible.

Point of View

The point of view that Neil Gaiman used was third-person limited. The narrative of the story included pronouns such as: he-she-they-them as the narrator told the story. It was limited for only Coraline’s point of view was shown.

Characters

Coraline- The protagonist of the story. A little girl whose only goal was to find and explore places that are interesting to entertain herself. Yet she later found herself fighting for her life and the lives of her real parents.

Other Mother- The antagonist of the story. Clearly hungers for Coraline’s life. She would stop at nothing to attain her.

Conclusion

In general, the book was remarkably entertaining and amazing in its simplicity. I loved how the characters were made, how solid Coraline’s personality and character development was. And I also loved the fact that she was so strong and firm in her own beliefs that she mustered up the courage to face what she feared the most.

Neil Gaiman used the concept of having the perfect world and the other mother to portray his message as the book reached its ending.

I would gladly share this book to my friends and my family. I firmly believe that they will learn and have a new way of seeing things after they finish this short novel.