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Song in the Sumatran Highlands

Performance: Batu Balang, July 17, 2016

Date: July 17, 2016
Place: Batu Balang
Style: Saluang Klasik
Occasion: Malam Bagurau for a Baralek Sunek (celebration of young boy’s circumcision)
Set up: Stage made out of plastic crates with mattress on top. Large tent covered area with covered tables and chairs.
Performers:

Padendang:
- Si Sri
- Linda
Tukang Saluang:
- Pian
Janang: None

Audience: Mostly pagurau, predominately male.
Ethnographers: Jennifer & Pak Ketua
Attendance: arrived about 12.19 a.m., coming from the performance in Balai Cacang. The performers were on break. We left around 3.15 a.m., the performance was still ongoing.
Notes: The host was clearly a pagurau as he was known to most of the men there. When we arrived, we sat at the table and chairs but were then invited in the house to eat, the host declaring it would be a way to honor the celebrant and his family. The room had been cleared of all furniture, mats covering the floor, the food laid out in typical Minang style on the floor with big bowls of rice. As per Minang etiquette, men expressed reluctance to participate. I sat, then, on the floor with a group of about 20 men. The performers did not join, but stayed on the stage. They would have been offered a meal when they arrived, and likely again at the end.

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Performance: Balai Cacang, July 16, 2016 16 Malam Bagurau image_header 2021-04-29T13:43:27+00:00 -0.21657, 100.64429 07/16/2016
Date: July 16, 2016
Place: Balai Cacang, Payokumbuah
Style: Saluang Klasik
Occasion: Neighborhood entertainment
Set up: Stage, tables and chairs, loose chairs, and low tables for games. A warung (café) is set up in the back, serving tea and coffee.
Performers:
- Padendang: Si Mun, Siti
- Tukang Saluang: Not yet identified
- Janang: None
Audience: Approximately 50 people, including a handful of women using headscarves.
Ethnographers: Jennifer & Pak Ketua
Attendance: 10.38 p.m.-just before midnight, when we left to go to another performance
Notes: There might have been more women present because we were then early in the evening and it was a neighborhood event. The audience interaction was relatively low, perhaps in response to the quality of the performers.
People: Si Sri 15 Si Sri is a padendang in high demand. image_header 2021-05-13T19:40:57+00:00 -0.21486, 100.61543
Stage Name: Si Sri.
Other Names: Sri Isdayanti.
Role: Padendang.
Sex: Female.
Time Frame: Contemporary Figure.
Source: initial personal encounter at a performance in 2003 and again in 2016.
Born: 1985
Place of Origin: Padang Datar, Payokumbuah.
Place of Residence: Padang Datar, Payokumbuah.
Year started performing:
Training:
Relationships to other performers:
- Her father is a capable singer, and sang on one song, "Suayan Anguih" at the recording session on July 21, 2016.
- Sri often performed with Pian as tukang saluang and Linda as second singer.
Performances:
- Performance: Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia, December 23, 2003
- Performance: Sungai Baringin, July 15, 2016
- Performance: Batu Balang, July 16, 2016
- Recording Session, July 21, 2016
- Performance: Harau, July 23, 2016
- Performance: Sariak Laweh, July 25, 2016
- Performance: Suayan, July 29, 2016
Interviews: July 19, 2016.
Songs composed:
Recordings:
Other notes:
People: Linda 15 Linda is a padendang. image_header 2021-06-01T17:02:41+00:00 -0.22465, 100.6318
Stage Name: Linda.
Other Names:
Role: Padendang.
Sex: Female.
Time Frame: Contemporary Figure
Source: personal encounter at performances in 2016.
Born: 1974
Died: n/a
Place of Origin:
Place of Residence: Payokumbuah
Year started performing:
Training:
Relationships to other performers:
Performances:
- Performance: Batu Balang, July 16, 2016.
Context: Weddings and Circumcisions 11 Weddings and Circumcisions are contexts for the performance of saluang image_header 2021-03-24T19:28:27+00:00
Lifecycle events, primarily weddings and circumcisions, are occasions that might be celebrated with the performance of saluang. Typically, the main ceremonial event--the baralek--takes place during the day time. This is when guests invited specifically by the host stop by the event to convey their wishes and share in a meal. The images directly above and below are from baralek. In the one above, guests are mostly seated outside to eat. In the one below, guests came inside to eat, sitting on the floor around the spread.

Saluang performances take place during the evening, either the night before the main baralek when people are up late cooking food all night, or the night at the end of the main baralek. In the case of the former, the performance helps provide samangek (enthusiasm) for the folks cooking. In the case of the latter, it's a continuation of the celebration. I have only witnessed saluang once during the main baralek--see Performance: Padang Panjang, April 10, 2004, and that involved saluang dangdut, a more upbeat form of entertainment appropriate for celebration than the sad, contemplative songs that are delivered late at night. Based on the performances I attended, saluang was more likely to happen in coordination with a wedding than a circumcision. The only circumcision event where I encountered saluang was Performance: Batu Balang, July 17, 2016.

Economics: The performers for all these occasions are contracted and paid a fixed fee. Pagurau do not pay for requests.

Space: These performances usually take place in the yards of private homes or perhaps on the street, where a temporary stage has been erected. Seating may or may not be provided for the pagurau. In my experience, seating is provided when wedding guests are likely to sit outside When guests enter the house to eat, smaller more modest weddings, then no seating is provided, like at a wedding Performance: Suayan, August 2, 2015. Note the audience standing in the background of this image.

Audience: In both cases, those attending are not limited to those individuals formally invited. Anyone in the neighborhood or who has heard about the performance is welcome to come witness. Typically hosts will provide refreshments to these guests, including coffee, tea, and snacks.

Musical Style: The context does not circumscribe the musical style, though saluang klasik is the most common. The host family choses their favorites, including
- saluang klasik
- saluang orgen
- saluang dangdut
- orgen
They might even chose a mix of styles, like at Performance: Sariak Laweh, July 25, 2016.

Behavior: Most of these performances followed mainstream Minangkabau standards of decorum. The behavior of the pagurau is at its most respectable on these occasions, out of deference for the hosts. If they make requests for specific songs, they usually do so discreetly, whispering to someone on stage or slipping them a piece of paper. There is not the same interactive back and fro for the most part with the audience. People attend for sociality, as much as the music. Sometimes the pagurau play games, like jeki or dominoes, during the performance.
People: Pian 10 Pian is a tukang saluang. image_header 2021-05-03T12:41:12+00:00 -0.18012, 100.68261 July 20, 2016
Stage Name: Pian.
Other Names: Sofyan.
Role: Tukang Saluang, but also a capable padendang. He doesn't work as a padendang because it is hard to come by work as a male padendang.
Sex: Male.
Time Frame: Contemporary Figure
Source: personal interactions 2016.
Born:
Died:
Place of Origin: Batu Balang.
Place of Residence: Batu Balang.
Year started performing:
Training:

Relationships to other performers/ people: In 2016, he frequently performed together with Si Sri and Linda.

Performances:
- Performance: Batu Balang, July 16, 2016.
- Recording Session, July 21, 2016.
- Performance: Harau, July 23, 2016.
Interviews: July 20, 2016.
Songs composed:
Recordings:
Other notes:

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