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Song in the Sumatran Highlands

Category of Song: Talingkin

Talingkin is a category of songs, which are usually song after the break around midnight. They are songs sung without saluang accompaniment, sometimes as part of a suite. They are always presented around a break, offering the tukang saluang a break. The songs that are typically part of Talingkin include "Dayang Daini," "Simarantang," and "Lintau Buo." These songs come from and are often used in randai performances.

As the padendang take turns, there can sometimes be long pauses and/or conversation, as is heard in this track. You can also hear the padendang overlap and dovetail phrases later in this track, when the padendang transition to a new song at 3:22. This is a stylistic feature associated with randai.

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Repertoire: Sariak Laweh July 25, 2016 20 List of repertoire at Malam Bagurau, Sariak Laweh plain 2021-05-12T19:19:38+00:00
This performance was unique in that of all the malam bagurau attached to weddings that I attended in 2016, it alone involved a mix of musical styles: saluang klasik, the reason I attended, saluang orgen (songs, many of which are from dendang repertoire, accompanied by saluang and synethsizer), and orgen (just a vocalist and synethsizer). If a dendang is performed on saluang orgen or orgen, it is from the gembira category, the synthesizer providing a consistent rhythmic backdrop. The timeline for this performance, therefore, has a few more categories. It represents style first and foremost so the user can appreciate the relative amounts of time in each style. Within the saluang klasik style, dendang are represented by their type. When the songs are performed in the style of saluang orgen or orgen, then the type of song is specified in the description. See the following page for analysis on relative amounts of time on each style and each type of song.
1. Musical Item: Imbauan Saluang
2. Musical Item: Imbauan Singgalang
3. Song: "Singgalang Induak"/ "Singgalang Alai [new"]: nobody identified the title for me so I don't know for sure what to call it, but as Sri was one of the performers and she used the title "Singgalang Induak" for the same tune a few days before, I expect that she would identify the tune that way.
4. Song: Title Unknown
5. Song: "Raimah Tanjuang"
6. Song: "Singgalang Jaya"
7. Song: "Singgalang Singgah"
8. Song: "Danau Indah"
9. Song: "Kawin Batambua"
10. Song: "Pariaman Panjang"
11. Song: "Indang Ramolai"
12. Song: "Pariaman Laweh"
13. Song: "Muaro Cinto"
14. Song: Title Unknown
15. Song: "Indang Sari Lamak"
16. Song: Title Unknown
17. Song: "Indang Sing Guliang"
18. Song: Title Unknown
19. Song: "Sungai Rimbang"
20. Song: "Talago Biru"
21. Song: "Lubuak Sao"
22. Song: "Padang Magek"
23. Song: "Pitaruah Ayah"
24. Song: "Sirompak Taeh"
25. Song: "Koto Tuo Tabek Sarojo"
26. Song: "Suayan Maik Katurun"
27. Song: "Kamang Patah Tigo"
28. Song: "Bukik Apik Randang Kopi"
29. Song: "Pasaman Ilia"
30. Song: "Indang Kurinci"
31. Song: Title Unknown
32. Song: "Lubuak Aluang"
33. Song: "Sungai Pua Manurun"
34. Song: "Tangkerang"
35. Song: Title Unknown
36. Musical Item: Imbauan Saluang
37. Song: "Ampaian Santo"
38. Song: "Kambang Aia Aji"
39. Song: "Koto Tuo Patah Pucuak"
40. Song: "Tigo Balai"
41. Song: "Banda Sapuluah"
42. Item: Talingkin, Song "Simarantang"
43. Song: Title Unknown
44. Song: Title Unknown
45. Song: "Gali-Gali"
46. Song: "Cimpago Biru"
47. Song: Title Unknown
48. Song: "Bujang Marando"
49. Song: "Siriah Langkok"
50. Item: Jalu-Jalu
Repertoire: Suayan, July 29, 2016 18 List of repertoire at Malam Bagurau, Suayan plain 2021-06-17T19:40:02+00:00
1. Song: "Cancang Pidia"
2. Song: "Kincia Tuo"
3. Song: "Parambahan Bayua"
4. Song: "Indang Kayutanam"
5. Song: "Ratok Bainar"
6. Song: "Suayan Anguih"
7. Song: "Suayan Bukik Sarang Olang"
8. Song: "Ratok Koto Gadang"
9. Song: "Pariaman Panjang"
10. Song: "Indang Pariaman"
11. Song: "Padang Magek"
12. Song: "Oyak Ambacang"
13. Song: "Guguak Manitik Ameh"
14. Song: "Suntiang Patah Batikam"
15. Song: "Baso Lamo"
16. Song: "Salawat Dulang"
17. Song: "Kabau Punco"
18. Item: Talingkin, Song: "Simarantang"
19. Item: Talingkin, Song: "Lintau Buo"
20. Item: Talingkin, Song: Unknown
21. Musical Item: Imbauan Saluang
22. Musical Item: Imbauan Singgalang
23. Song: "Singgalang Rago-ragoan"
24. Song: "Singgalang Jaik Sangkuik"
25. Song: "Pariaman Tangguang"
26. Song: "Rangkuak Kerinci"
27. Song: "Indang Parik Rantang"
28. Song: "Kamang Bakayu"
29. Song: "Ladang Teleng"
30. Song: "Mudiak Suak"
31. Song: "Suayan Maik Ka Turun"
32. Song: "Suayan Usoli"
33. Song: "Sayang Bako" not recorded
34. Song: "Banda Sapuluah" not recorded
35. Song: "Lego Puyuah" not recorded
Repertoire: Sungai Baringin, July 15, 2016 17 List of repertoire at Malam Bagurau, Sungai Baringin plain 2021-06-19T19:13:31+00:00
1. Song: "Bola"
2. Song: "Intan Bajalan Sorang"
3. Song: "Mudiak Suak"
4. Song: "Lubuak Basuang"
5. Song: "Lubuak Sao"
6. Song: "Bayang Salido"
7. Song: "Kabau Punco"
8. Song:"Baburu Babi"
9. Song: "Sungai Pua Manurun"
10. Song: "Bujang Marantau"
11. Song: "Ratok Pasaman"
12. Song: "Indang Parik Rantang"
13. Song: "Koto Tuo Caruak"
14. Song: "Parambahan"
15. Song: "Pariaman Panjang"
16. Item: Talingkin, Song: "Simarantang"
17. Item: Talingkin, Song:"Lintau Buo"
18. Item: Talingkin, Song: "Dayang Daini"
19. Item: "Imbauan Singgalang"
20. Song: "Singgalang Cancang"
21. Song: "Tigo Sapilin"
22. Song: "Sirompak Taeh"
23. Song: "Kambang Aia Aji"
24. Song: "Sijobang"
25. Song: "Tanah Jambi"
26. Song: "Bayua Larai"
27. Song: "Tangkerang"
28. Song: "Biduak Ketek"
29. Song: "Suntiang Patah Batikam"
30. Song: "Lawang Ambun Pagi"
31. Song: "Sariak Mangayam"
32. Song: "Koto Tuo Tabek Sarojo"
33. Song: "Ratok Sari Aji"
34. Song: "Kamang Bakayu"
35. Song: "Solok Manuai"
36. Song: "Tigo Balai"
37. Song: "Bungo Larangan"
38. Song: "Salawat Dulang"
39. Song: "Gadih Tajun Ngarai"
40. Song: "Guguak Maniitik Ameh"
41. Item: Jalu-Jalu
Introduction to Songs Songs--called "dendang" in Minangkabau and "lagu" in Indonesian--are at the heart of saluang. But just what is a song in the context of saluang and how do people talk about them, how do they know and approach them as things in the world? This page provides a basic introduction to help orient you, the user, to the local ways of knowing and thinking about these songs.
What is a song?
What constitutes a song--that is what makes up the DNA of any given song--might be different than your definition. Very few of these songs have identified composers. These songs are identified by title and tune, not by their lyrics. That is because the textual content is not fixed. That content may--and usually does--change from one performance to the next, with padendang drawing on their stock of memorized verses or creating them anew in response to the performance context and interactions with the audience members. Make sure to read song texts for more information. People identify songs largely by their structure, including melodic and rhythmic content. But they also categorize individual songs and group them together based on similarities in a variety of different ways.
Classification of songs
Practitioners and devotees of saluang alike provide a number of categories for classifying songs. These categories provide local ways of knowing the repertoire, ways of interpreting, understanding, learning, appreciating, requesting and otherwise interacting with the songs. The most important ways of knowing and classifying the songs are through type of song and their place affiliations. In presenting individual songs in this site, we engage and use these local systems of knowledge to organize them. It is also important to note that different people might have divergent knowledge about a song's associations, based on their positionality and individualized experiences. The associations presented in this site reflect an identification provided by an individual to me. That doesn't make it necessarily it the "right" interpretation. I think the moments of multiple identifications are more fascinating than the clear cut cases, revealing the way knowledge is differently structured and experienced by individuals.
Classification by type of song
Most practitioners and devotees classify the songs according to one of three song types: ratok (sad songs, literally from the word "lament"), gembira (happy songs) and those in between, satangah tiang (literally "half mast"), which are sometimes described as "half happy" and sometimes as "half sad," depending on who is talking. There are also a large collection of songs from the region called Singgalang. Some people refer to these songs--a very distinctive collection--as a fourth category and others refer to them as a subcategory of ratok.
Classification by function
There are a few songs that are classified according to their function: talingkin (songs sung without saluang in the middle of a performance) and jalu-jalu (the songs used to close a performance).
Classification by place affiliation
Most songs are affiliated with places, identified by performers and devotees as affiliated with either the darek or the rantau, a specific luak or kabupaten, a region (an area that doesn't map neatly onto any one administrative unit), a nagari, or a specific landmark.
Classification by pokok
Tukang saluang (flute players) also classify the songs according to pokok (a system that references how many finger holes are open or closed). This is a more specialized level of knowledge, so we've opted to exclude it for now.
Origin of songs
Most of the songs in the repertoire are considered "klasik," meaning they have been part and parcel of the genre for a very long time. The genre, however, incorporates new material from other genres, both regional Minangkabau practices, such as indang or sijobang, and popular genres, such as regional and national dangdut tunes. It is not clear how long this incorporation of "outside" material has been occurring, but it has been occurring at least since I started tracking songs in 2003-2004. See Songs Imported from Other Genres.
Attribution of Songs
Most of the songs in the repertoire are not attributed to any specific composer. Most of these songs could be considered part of the "klasik" repertoire, composed before the practice of making connections between content and individual ownership. There are some songs, however, that we present here that do have attributed composers, most of whom are well-known padendang (see composers). Practitioners and connoisseurs alike sometimes offer attribution in discussing the songs, but there is not always agreement in that attribution. I expect that is for a number of reasons: not documented in writing, people offering covers and variations, people familiar with the first person to have popular or commercial success with a tune, even if they didn't initially compose the tune. It is sometimes difficult to parse these stories to get to the truth, whatever that may be; instead it is best to consider each claim telling a different kind of truth.
Structure of Songs
Most songs are strophic in form, meaning the melody stays consistent for each verse. There are a handful of songs, for example, "Pariaman Panjang" and "Kambang Aia Aji," that have multiple parts, with each part having a distinct melody. These parts are know as induak (mother) and anak (child). While there is an ideal progression of order through these multi-part songs (say induak, anak, anak), my recordings suggest that order is not always followed. See Songs with Interesting Features.
Repertoire: Pariangan, February 10, 2004 10 List of repertoire at Malam Dana plain 2021-06-22T22:11:59+00:00
A timeline for this performance has not been included because the performance was not recorded due to a poor sound system. I have no record of how long the songs lasted, only notes about what songs were performed during the time I was present.
1. Introductory Material: Imbauan Saluang
2. Introductory Material: Imbauan Singgalang
3. Song: "Singgalang Cancang"
4. Song: "Kapompong"
5. Song: "Cancang Kambiang"
6. Song: "Pariaman Panjang"
7. Song: "Indang Kurinci"
8. Song: "Singgalang Parak Kina"
9. Song: "Mudiak Suak"
10. Song: "Salawaik Dulang"
11. Song: "Balam jo Rantiang"
12. Song: "Indang Payokumbuah"
13. Song: "Pacamotir"
14. Song: "Pariaman Lamo"
15. Song: "Tigo Giriak"
16. Song: "Jaho Tambangan"
17. Song: "Jambatan Tangah"
18. Song: "Lintau Basiang"
19. Item: Talingkin
Genre: Randai 5 Randai is a Minangkabau theater form image_header 2021-06-29T19:34:10+00:00
Randai is a Minangkabau theater form that involves theater, martial arts, dendang, and percussive playing of pants. The stories for randai performances are kaba. Typically a randai troupe specializes in one specific story. Saluang is used for the opening and interludes between scenes. The style of singing, however, is unlike the malam bagurau performances. It involves solo delivery of lines of text and the chorus--the players in the circle--joining at the end of pantun. This is the style that gets incorporated in malam bagurau during Talingkin and Jalu-jalu sequences.

Related Resources
- Pauka, Kirstin, Ivana Askovic and Barbara Polk. 2003. "Umbuik Mudo and the Magic Flute: A Randai Dance-Drama" Asian Theatre Journal 20 (2):113-146.
  - This publication provides a script for an entire randai play translated into English, along with lyrics for the songs included.
Song: "Dayang Daini" 5 This song is used as part of Talingkin. plain 2021-04-20T18:45:31+00:00
Translation of Title: "Dayang Daini" is a female character in a kaba, a Minangkabau story.
Composer: Unknown.
Explanation: It is one of the tunes used as part of Talingkin, a suite of songs that are presented without saluang right after a break.
Type of song: Ratok.
Genre of origin: Randai.
Place affiliations:
- Luak: Limopuluah Koto.
- Darek or Rantau: Darek.
Source: Mardjani's List of Songs.
Song: "Simarantang" 5 This song is used as part of Talingkin. plain 2021-08-11T11:28:06+00:00
Translation of Title: "Simarantang" is the name used for randai in the Tiku, a coastal area of Agam.
Explanation: This song is used as part of Talingkin.
Composer: Unknown.
Type of song: Ratok.
Genre of Origin: Randai.
Place affiliations:
- Luak: Limopuluah Koto.
- Darek or Rantau: Darek.
Source: Mardjani's List of Songs.
Song: "Lintau Buo" 4 This song is named after the place, the kecamatan Lintau Buo. plain 2020-11-27T17:55:51+00:00
Translation of Title: This song is named after the place, the kecamatan Lintau Buo.
Composer: Unknown.
Explanation: One of the songs used for Talingkin.
Type of song: Satangah Tiang (Mardjani noted this as gembira)
Place affiliations: Region of Lintau.
- Kecamatan: Lintau Buo.
- Luak: Tanah Data.
- Darek or Rantau: Darek.
Source: Te E's List of Songs, Mardjani's List of Songs.

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