Song in the Sumatran HighlandsMain MenuGetting OrientedThis page provides an introduction to the projectSongsTitle pagePlacesTitle pagePeoplePerformancesTitle pageModulesThis section provides modules focused on specific topicsGlossaryList of terms used throughout the projectReferencesList of bibliographic and discographic resources referenced in this projectTechnical NotesPathway explaining some technical decisionsProject TeamList of contributors and their roles within the project.AcknowledgmentsPage with AcknowledgmentsLicense, Citation & UseHow to use and cite the material found in this site.
People: Samsu
1media/Image_Mardjani_focus on tukang rabab.jpeg2021-02-25T14:08:43+00:00Jennifer Fraser404477000adfd4e5c7a1128cfac82e1fc740e8c322Samsu was a tukang rababimage_header2021-03-02T20:35:09+00:00-0.13524, 100.52099Jennifer Fraser404477000adfd4e5c7a1128cfac82e1fc740e8c3Role: Tukang rabab Sex: Male Time Frame: Historical figure Place: Kubang Trained: Nijon Source:Mardjani et. al.
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1media/Image_Mardjani_Complete Chart of Performers.jpg2021-02-25T20:12:10+00:00Jennifer Fraser404477000adfd4e5c7a1128cfac82e1fc740e8c3People: List of Historical FiguresJennifer Fraser6List of Historical Figures involved in Dendang Darekimage_header2021-03-02T21:59:12+00:00Jennifer Fraser404477000adfd4e5c7a1128cfac82e1fc740e8c3
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1media/Image_Mardjani_focus on tukang rabab.jpeg2020-11-20T11:29:29+00:00People: Nijon12Nijon was a tukang rabab.image_header2021-05-08T14:28:39+00:00-0.164466, 100.537014Stage Name: Nijon. Other Names: Role: Tukang Rabab & Padendang, the rabab allowing a performer to play and sing. Sex: Male. Time Frame: Historical-contemporary Figure Source: I heard about him during ethnography; he is also listed in Mardjani et. al. Born: 1944. Died: @1997 (Sanday 2002: 168). Place of Origin: Sungai Talang Place of Residence: Payokumbuah. Year started performing: Trained under the following tukang rabab:
Mak Agam, from Magek
Samsu, from Kubang
Mangkuto Mawi, from Biaro
Rajo Bujang, from Kamang
Relationships to other performers: He was the first husband of the padendang now known as Te E. Performances: Songs composed: According to Sanday, a number of songs about his kampung, Sungai Talang (2002). They are not, however, identified by title.
Song: "Tigo Balai": identified by Pak Ketua as his compositions during performance of it at Sariak Laweh
Recordings: Other notes: Like Ajis St. Sati, he also worked as a bendi driver.
12021-02-11T21:17:53+00:00Role: Tukang Rabab9This page explains the role of tukang rababimage_header2021-03-01T20:23:52+00:00Tukang rabab are people who play the rabab. The term "tukang" means "someone who has specialization in something," which in this case would be rabab. Here we are talking specifically about the rababa darek (the rabab from the darek region) which is used to accompany the same vocal repertoire as the saluang darek. To my knowledge this role has always been gendered male, like tukang saluang.
Historically, there are some examples of both a tukang saluang and a tukang rabab playing. Certainly, by the time I was present in West Sumatra in 1998, I never witnessed such a practice. Indeed, in all the years I've been interested in this repertoire I've only encountered one tukang rabab, Fahmi, at a recording session at STSI (now ISI) which was organized, in part, to document a declining practice. Clearly, something shifted in the performance practice that allowed saluang to become the dominant instrument. Was is an aesthetic preference, was it pragmatic as there were few tukang rabab to be found, a combination, or something else entirely?
The training for a tukang rabab would, I imagine, be similar to a tukang saluang, in that they needed to familiarize themselves with the repertoire, mastering hundreds of songs. They probably be learned in a similar process of observing and listening carefully, before attempting tunes themselves. Some, as Mardjani et. al.'s chart of performers suggest, acknowledged training under a more senior performer. See, for example, Nijon.
Historical Tukang Rabab
Ismail Rajo Bujang
Jahar Malin Marajo
Mak Agam
Mangkuto Mawi
Nijon
Samsu
Contemporary Tukang Rabab
Fahmi
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1media/Image_Mardjani_focus on tukang rabab.jpeg2020-11-20T11:29:29+00:00People: Nijon12Nijon was a tukang rabab.image_header2021-05-08T14:28:39+00:00-0.164466, 100.537014
12020-08-06T19:02:03+00:00Place: Kubang2Kubang is a nagari in Kecamatan Guguak in Kabupaten Limopuluah Koto.google_maps2020-08-06T20:02:41+00:00-0.13524, 100.52099