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Song in the Sumatran Highlands

Performance: Padang Panjang, April 10, 2004

Date: April 10, 2004
Time: around noon
Place: Padang Panjang
Style: Saluang Dangdut
Occasion: Wedding. This performance took place at a wedding during the main celebration during the day. As Martis told me in advance of the event, it is "entertainment to greet the guests." The hosts for this particular event were related to famous padendang, Syamsimar. This might help explain why the hosts chose saluang dangdut for the daytime celebration rather than more common popular styles.

Set up: A full stage was erected in the yard of a house across the street from the host's house. A canopy was also erected stretching across the two spaces. Part of it housed the team welcoming guests. The other part covered tables and chairs where guests would sit to eat.

Performers:

Padendang:
- Invited participants (those on stage for the duration)
  - An (Adrial), who is now a professional singer by the name of Lepai
  - Yeli Indriati
  - Nengsih
  - Ati
  - Len, who was also playing tambourine
  - Fera (who had just started learning and did not participate much)
- Guest participants (those on stage for a few songs)
  - Syamsimar
  - Asnah, daughter from Syamsimar's older sibling
  - Hutmawati, daughter from Syamsimar's younger sibling
Tukang Saluang
- Martis
- Mak Indo
Other Instrumentalists
- An (Adrial): he played the gendang dangdut in addition to singing
- As: who played the rabano, or drum known as gendang oyak
Janang
- Nobody officially filled this role, meaning it was their sole duty, but some of the singers participated to make announcements.

Audience: Nobody attended just to listen to the music. They were there as wedding guests: the music was the entertainment.
Ethnographers: Jennifer
Attendance:
Notes:

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People: Syamsimar 23 Syamsimar was a legendary padendang image_header 2021-03-02T21:41:42+00:00 -0.45471, 100.49178 September 24, 2004
Stage Name: Syamsimar (also spelled Samsimar)
Other Names: None known.
Role: Padendang.
Sex: Female.
Time Frame: Contemporary Figure
Source: personal interactions at performances and through an interview in 2004.
Born: Historical records of her birth are not exact. There are estimates that range from 1936-1945, with the later range more likely.
Died: June 14, 2011.
Place of Origin: Guguak, Pariangan.
Place of Residence: Pariangan.
Year started performing: @1965.
Training: Syamsimar learned from her father, Djamain Dt. Tumbijo, who was a tukang saluang.

Relationships to other performers:
- her 4th husband, Yusri Lelo Sati (m. 1966), was a tukang saluang.
- her niece, Hutamawati, is a tukang dendang.
Group:
- Syamsimar and her husband Yusri Lelo Sati established a group called Minang Maimbau. Other members, according to Mardjani (pp. 396, 400), include
  - Aminuddin, tukang saluang
  - Asminar, padendang
  - Hutamawati, padendang
  - Ernawati, padendang: Is this the singer now known as Te E? When I interviewed Te E she did not mention this.
- When Yusri Lelo Sati died (1989), tukang saluang accompanying Syamsimar included Hen Peke and Malin Cayo.
Performances:
- As a special guest at Performance: Pariangan, February 10, 2004.
- As a special guest at Performance: Padang Panjang, April 10, 2004.
Interviews: September 24, 2004.
Songs composed:
1. Song: "Banda Sapuluah"
2. Song: "Bungo Larangan"
3. Song: "Bujang Marando" (source: Syamsimar)
4. Song: "Guguak Maniti Ameh" (obit.)
5. Song: "Indang Bareh Maha"
6. Song: "Indang Kurinci"
7. Song: "Indang Sirenti"
8. Song: "Kamaman"
9. Song: "Kambang Aia Aji"
10. Song: "Kutang Barendo" (source: Syamsimar)
11. Song: "Lego Puyuah"
12. Song: "Lintau Basiang" (obit.)
13. Song: "Lubuak Aluang"
14. Song: "Manyongsong Riak" (obit.): is this the same song as "Riak Mayonsong Bayua"?
15. Song: "Palaiaran"
16. Song: "Piaman Lamo" (obit.)
17. Song: "Racun Dunia"
18. Song: "Salawaik Talam" (source: Syamsimar)
19. Song: "Singgalang Oyak Kapua"
20. Song: "Siriah Langkok" (source: Syamsimar)
21. Song: "Talempong Unggan" (source: Syamsimar)
Recordings:
Other notes:
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: Hutamawati 3 Hutamawati is a padendang image_header 2021-02-26T15:10:01+00:00
Role: Padendang
Sex: Female
Time Frame: contemporary figure
Generation: 6th
Place of Origin:
Place of Residence:
Relationships to other performers: Niece of Syamsimar
Performed with: Syamsimar in group Minang Maimbau
Performances:
- She was a guest padendang at Performance: Padang Panjang, April 10, 2004
Source: Mardjani et. al.; personal encounter at performance in 2004.

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