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Song in the Sumatran Highlands

Place: Institut Seni Indonesia, Padang Panjang

This institution for the arts is a landmark of Padang Panjang. It has held 4 names since its establishment in 1965.

KOKAR (1965-1966): Konservatori Karawitan Indonesia (Conservatory of Indonesian Traditional Arts)
ASKI (1966-1999): Akademi Seni Karawitan Indonesia (Academy of Indonesian Traditional Arts)
STSI (1999-2010): Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia (Higher Institute of Indonesian Arts)
ISI (2010-present): Institut Seni Indonesia (Institute of Indonesian Arts)

While it has been ISI for the last 10 years, many people still refer to it as ASKI, the name it held for more than 30 years, from 1966-1998. For most of that time, it was the only state-sponsored tertiary level institute for the arts outside the islands of Java and Bali. Most artists throughout the province of West Sumatra are aware of its presence, whether they have had any interaction with it or not.

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The following excerpt from my book, Gongs and Pop Songs: Sounding Minangkabau in Indonesia, provides a short history of the names, along with a discussion of the use of the Javanese term, karawitan, to refer to arts from a different region.

The establishment of an educational institution for the Minangkabau arts in the highland town of Padang Panjang was formalized by decree issued on July 7, 1965. It was formally opened on September 15 of that year. At that time the institution bore the title KOKAR, but it was amended with a subtitle: “Jurusan Minangkabau” (Minangkabau Department). As the subtitle suggests, in the beginning it was not an administrative body in its own right, but a department of another institution, in this case, KOKAR Surakarta in Central Java. Initially, the Minangkabau institution involved both secondary and tertiary level divisions under the same name. But the nomenclature changed not long afterwards: on 16 April 1966 the tertiary division officially changed its name to ASKI. KOKAR and ASKI shared a campus until 1982 when the former relocated to Padang, the provincial capital, and changed its name to SMKI. It was then they became truly distinct institutions with separate administrative and curricular concerns. On 15 June 1999, the tertiary-level institution was upgraded to STSI, though ASKI had started issuing four-year bachelor degrees, rather than just three-year diplomas, back in 1997. On 17 July 2010, STSI was upgraded to become an ISI, and had the ability to offer master’s degrees. [CHECK CITATION WITH BOOK: PAGE NUMBERS]

I encourage readers interested in the institutionalization of the arts to read further about the role of the institute in the arts scene. I was an exchange student there from 1998-1999 and again sat in on classes during my doctoral research from 2003-2004. Both my host parents are professors at the institute, so I have a close relationship with it, having been involved with it since my very first trip to Sumatra in 1998.

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Performance: Kampung Jambak, December 2, 2003 28 Malam Bagurau image_header 2021-09-03T19:58:57+00:00 -0.45938, 100.40413 12/02/2003
Date: December 2-3, 2003
Place: Kampung Jambak, Padang Panjang, just outside the gates of the institution now known as Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI)
Style: Saluang Klasik

Occasion: Halal-bihalal (which means asking for forgiveness), in this context a community gathering to celebrate Lebaran, the week or so of celebration following Ramadan, the month of fasting in the Islamic calendar. All households in the neighborhood received a letter of invitation, something similar to this one.

Performers:
- Padendang:
  - Erni Batu Balang (f), the senior singer
  - Meri Batu Balang (f)
  - Mila (f)
- Tukang Saluang: Mak Lenggang
- Janang: Martis
Set up: This performance took place on a temporary stage set on the side of the road, opposite the house pictured above. The stage involved a raised platform made of wood, some of it covered with loose carpets. There were plastic walls on three sides of the stage, sheltering the performers from the wind. The padendang sat on stage, each with an energy drink and a pillow on their laps. The event, like most saluang performances, was heavily amplified so the music could be heard clearly throughout the neighborhood. I have a note that as the evening wore on, the volume was adjusted to a more moderate level. Performers and audience members were also provided with refreshments.

Audience: I don't have notes about the size of the audience, but I did recognize a number of faculty members and student from ISI in attendance. Many faculty members live in this neighborhood and while affiliated with it, there were also unofficial ties with ISI as the tukang saluang and janang were faculty and staff at the institution. There were also several foreigners in attendance, two other men in addition to myself. The audience was mixed in terms of age, and a handful of kids were present at the beginning. As was typical, the audience chatted throughout the performance.

Performance Duration: Not documented. I recorded 22 songs in 1hr 15minutes.

Requests: Audience members delivered their requests to the janang, who announced the title of the song just heard, along with the title for the next song, who requested it, how much they paid, any special requests (such as a certain singer), and a pantun the requester might have offered.

Ethnographers: Jennifer.
Attendance: Not documented, aside from notes that I left before the end because I was cold.
Notes: Before this performance, I had only ever attended something at ISI when I was an exchange student in 1998-9. This was my first community event, very early on in my fieldwork. My notes are not as comprehensive as they are at later performances.

Follow the pathway below to see repertoire and interpretation of this performance.
Repertoire Songs are the central musical unit around which performances are oriented. There might be anywhere from thirty to fifty songs performed in one evening. Many contexts for performance allow for attendees to request specific songs (see Introduction to Performances for more details). Performers, therefore, need to be familiar with the songs in the repertoire (the body of songs attached to the genre), but just how many songs and which songs are included in that repertoire is debatable and fluid. The "core repertoire" (defined here loosely as those songs I tracked at performances) in 2016 was not the same as those I tracked in 2004, nor surely the same as the 1980s, as suggested by the Mardjani et al. research report. The songs that performers know and that attendees request have shifted over the years, though the requests also shift based on place: where performances happen and the places from which attendees at those performances come. The "Repertoire" and "Interpretation" pages for each performance reflect the specific repertoire at each performance. For example, the performance in Suayan: repertoire and interpretation.

Establishing a precise number of songs in the repertoire is next to impossible as the tradition is not static and there is regional variation. The estimates of the number of songs vary greatly. When I spoke with Mak Sawir back in January 2004, he estimated 860 songs (casual conversation, January 26, 2004, coffeeshop in Bukittinggi). When I asked Te E in July 2016, she furnished a list of 227 songs that she made (interview with Te E, Payokumbuah, July 25, 2016). Mak Lenggang, a full time professor at Institut Seni Indonesia and part-time saluang player, told me once there were hundreds of songs, 150 of which were Singgalang (interview/ casual conversation, Padang Panjang, July 27, 2015). My favorite answer to this question--"too many to count"-- was from Mila (interview, Payokumbuah, July 26, 2016). These widely varying numbers, then, reveal differences in the experiences of performers: how many years they have been active, who they studied and performed with, and in what places they lived and mostly performed. I would expect Mak Sawir, then at the height of his career, to know the most, and a more junior singer to know considerably fewer. I would expect a padendang active mostly in Agam to have mastered that regional repertoire more than the repertoire associated with Tanah Data. The very best singers--such as Mak Sawir and Te E--will know the most songs, at least from the saluang klasik repertoire. It is incumbent on professionals to be as familiar with as many songs as possible because audience members can request any number of songs. Usually, one of the several padendang sitting on a stage will know the song. Of course, the tukang saluang also needs to know it as the saluang always begins a song. Only rarely have I see experienced performers fumble, struggling to remember a tune.

The only performer who has so far shared a list of songs with me is Te E. When I interviewed Syamsimar in 2004, she had a list of 247 songs (which excluded new imports), though I was not able to save a copy of this list (interview with Syamsimar, Pariangan, September 24, 2004). What is interesting is who has made lists and why they did so. Here we have tried to track and count those songs encountered, whether in live performance, Te E's list, or the list produced in Mardjani et al.'s research report. For the latter, however, it does not replicate all 385 songs, because the report was on Dendang Minangkabau broadly speaking and not just the repertoire associated with saluang. I decided to extract all those titles that were clearly affiliated with the darek. I excluded those that had no indication of region or those that were affiliated with the rantau, as they are affiliated with other musical traditions and the songs may not have made their way into saluang repertoire. Also excluded from this list are the titles to songs encountered only on commercial recordings in my possession. That would add another 30 or so titles to the list.

In the following pages, we present different ways of organizing the repertoire, along with the repertoire that was represented at performances Jennifer witnessed.
Performance: Sariak Laweh, July 25, 2016 20 Malam Bagurau image_header 2021-05-12T19:13:22+00:00 -0.22432, 100.5288 07/25/2016
Date: July 25-26, 2016
Time: 10p.m.-3.15a.m.
Place: Sariak Laweh

Style: This performance was unique of those I attended in 2016 as it included a range of musical styles, much to the surprise of Te E, who had specifically invited Pak Ketua and I to the performance. She had anticipated that it would only be saluang klasik, as she declined invitations to performances where the style would be what she called "campua adok" (all mixed up).

The three styles here include:
- Saluang klasik: this is the main style discussed in this project.
- Saluang orgen: instrumentation and songs from saluang klasik combined with the use of an orgen (the local term used for synthesizer)
- Orgen: this refers to a line-up of singer/s with orgen. The songs are typically from local pop genres and not from the saluang repertoire.
Occasion: Malam Bagurau for a Wedding. In this case, the music was the night time entertainment, after a long day of receiving guests.

Set up: A stage was set up next to the house, with tables and chairs set out under a canopy. Some pagurau chose to stand on the sides, in the adjacent rice paddies.

Performers:
- Padendang:
  - Te E
  - Si Sri
  - Ika
- Tukang Saluang: Kamarudin
- Orgen: Warlan, 1994 graduate of ASKI (now ISI).
- Janang: None. It is customary to not have a janang at a wedding.
Audience: At the beginning of the evening, the audience was mixed gender. But as the night progressed, the women went home and the men were left. I estimated about 150 people at the peak.

Ethnographers: Jennifer & Pak Ketua
Attendance: We were there for the entirety of the performance, from the opening with "Singgalang Induak" packing up as the singers launched into "Jalu-Jalu."
Notes:
Performance: Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia, December 23, 2003 13 Malam Bagurau image_header 2021-06-16T11:37:09+00:00 -0.459240, 100.403271 12/23/2003
Date: December 23-24, 2003
Time:
Place: Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia (STSI) Padang Panjang, now known as Institut Seni Indonesia
Style: Saluang Klasik
Occasion: Alumni reunion in combination with Dies Natalis
Set up:

Performers:
- Padendang
  - Contracted
    Gadih Santan
    Ita Singgalang
    Si Sri
  - Guest
    Garin
- Tukang Saluang:
  - Contracted: Mak Lenggang
  - Guest: Sutan Marajo
Audience:
Ethnographers:
Attendance:
Notes:
Place: Padang Panjang Padang Panjang, situated at 2,500ft, is the first town in the highlands coming through the mountain pass on the road from Padang to Bukittinggi. Nestled in between Mt. Singgalang and Mt. Marapi, Padang Panjang is home to the Institut Seni Indonesia (Institute of Indonesian Arts) and was Jennifer's home base for 2+ years from 1998-9, when she was a student at Institut Seni Indonesian (then called ASKI), and 2003-4 when she was conducting dissertation research.
Rendition: "Suntiang Patah Batikam," 12/23/2003 10 "Suntiang Patah Batikam" performed at Malam Bagurau STSI plain 2020-10-20T13:17:31+00:00
Song: "Suntiang Patah Batikam"
Performance: Malam Bagurau Mubes Alumni STSI
Place: Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia (STSI), Padang Panjang: now known as Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI)
Date: December 23, 2003
People:
Padendang:
1. Gadih Santan
2. Ita Singgalang
3. Si Sri
Tukang Saluang: Mak Lenggang
Janang: Desmawardi

Lyrics:
Pantun 1: Gadih Santan
Batang
Minangkabau:
Oi... diagiah Suntiang Patah Batikam
Usah lah nak pulang lakeh oi amak oi
Kandak kan samo kami bari
Oi jaan duduak bamanuang juo

Indonesian:
Diberi Suntiang Patah Batikam
Usaha sudah indak pulang cepat
Permintaan akan sama kami beri
Jangan duduk bermenung juga

English:
To be given [the song] “Suntiang Patah Batikam”
Already make the effort not to go home quickly
The request we will deliver together
Don’t sit ruminating
Isi
Minangkabau:
Alah ka sipaik bumi Allah
Batampuak dari ateh oi mak oi
Dilipua hujan [tangah] hari
Hilang lah baun salamonyo

Indonesian:
Sudah ke sifat bumi Allah
Bertampuk dari atas
Dilipur hujan tengah hari
Sudah hilang bau selamanya

English:
Already have the characteristics of God’s earth
To be centered in power from above
To be lost in rain in the middle of the day
Already the fragrance is wiped out
Interpretation of Pantun 1
Batang: The request has been delivered, so why does the person ,asking the request sit and ruminate?
Isi: The character of someone who is important (in work, promises, efforts) can become lost over a small problem (moral: don't lose your good character stressing about the small stuff)

Pantun 2: Ita Singgalang
Batang
Minangkabau:
Oi... jalan tarantang ganjua suruik
Kato sapatah dipikiri oi tuan oi
Itu pipatah di nan tuo
Warih diambiak ka pidoman
Indonesian:
Jalan terbentang ganjur surut
Kata sepatah dipikiri
Itu pepatah di yang tua
Waris diambil ke pidoman
English:
The road laid out withdrawing the track
A few words to be carefully thought of first
It’s a proverb of the elders
An inheritance which is taken into speeches
Isi
Minangkabau:
Kok banangko sakiknyo hiduik
Untuang nan indak disasali oi tuan oi
Disangko ramaik nan manimpo
Tuhan manguji kaimanan

Indonesian:
Kok kalau begini sakit hidup
Untung yang tidak disesali
Diperkirakan rahmat yang menimpa
Tuhan menuji keimanan.

English:
If it’s like this struggling in life
Fortune that is not regretted
It is considered God’s blessing which strikes (as something that threatens one's soul)
God tests one’s faith.
Interpretation of Pantun 2
Batang: A word heard has to be considered as an instruction from previous generations.
Isi: However difficult life is, we should not regret it: it’s a test of faith.
People: Martis 9 Martis was my teacher and research consultant in 2003-2004. image_header 2021-06-24T00:51:43+00:00 -0.45671, 100.49378
Stage Name:
Other Names:
Role: janang
Sex: male.
Time Frame: Contemporary Figure
Source: personal acquaintance from Institut Seni Indonesia 2003.
Born:
Died:
Place of Origin: Pariangan
Place of Residence:
Year started performing:
Training:
Relationships to other performers: He was related to Syamsimar
Performances:
- as janang at Performance: Kampung Jambak, December 2, 2003.
Songs composed:
Recordings:
Other notes: Martis was my teacher and research consultant in 2003-2004. He studied at and became a teacher at Institut Seni Indonesia.
People: Mak Lenggang 9 Mak Lenggang is a tukang saluang. image_header 2021-06-24T00:47:23+00:00 -0.317762, 100.437021
Stage Name: Mak Lenggang, Lenggang Alim.
Other Names: Halim.
Role: Tukang saluang.
Sex: Male
Time Frame: Contemporary Figure.
Source: personal acquaintance since 1998.
Born:
Died:
Place of Origin: Jorong Lasi Mudo, Nagari Lasi, Kecamatan Canduang, Luak Agam.
Place of Residence: Padang Panjang.
Year started performing:
Training:
Relationships to other performers:
Performances:
- Performance: Kampung Jambak, December 2, 2003.
Songs composed:
Recordings:
Other notes: Mak Lenggang is also a full-time faculty member at Institut Seni Indonesia.
Gender of Padendang 8 Explores the gender shift within padendang image_header 2021-08-03T13:54:30+00:00
The sound of her voice, the feelings she expresses, and the haunting melody of the bamboo flute, following her in unison like a devoted lover, float through the night. Sometimes the emotion hangs heavily in the air drawing the heart to the sound. At these times, heads bow...It's about 2 A.M. The female singers, sitting in the Minangkabau way with legs to the side, face the by now mainly male audience on a low, open-air stage. Their heads are bowed so as not to lock eyes with the male gaze as they sing their innermost thoughts.. Field notes, 1997 Sanday 2002: 149
If one were to attend a saluang performance anytime in the last 20 to 30 years, one might assume that padendang have always been people who identify and are identified as women (a note about the use of gendered terms in this project) because men are infrequent participants, if not entirely absent, as vocalists during this time. Writing in 2002, Peggy Sanday, quoted above, writes of a world where it seems that padendang were always women, that the relationship between voice and saluang is a fundamentally gendered one. But it is important to know that the genre has not always been gendered in this way, where tukang saluang identify as men and the padendang identify as women. In the past, in the first half of the twentieth century, all performers identified as men. But even that statement obscures the true history. All the professional singers--those who sang in public, in front of crowds, and received fiscal payment for their services--were men. The singers we know about from the first half of the twentieth century are all men, probably because they were recognized as the professionals.

But there are stories--and even documentary evidence in the form of commercial 78 r.p.m. records--that illustrate women did sing: just not in public venues in front of audiences that included men. Adriyetti Amir, for examples, writes that it was common practice for women to sing "quatrains [i.e. pantun] while doing other work", explaining:
Usually women working in the paddy fields, whether planting or harvesting paddy [rice] sing sad, sarcastic, or erotic quatrains. They sing without the accompaniment of instruments. They sing to overcome tiredness. They are unpaid. They can exchange quatrains with almost anyone who passes near their working area; but usually they do not sing about people whom they respect, like their religious teacher, pangulu, or their matrilineal family's sumando .... (Amir 1995:31)
Amir continues to explain that men also sang in informal work contexts, but only "while relaxing during lunch and after the noon prayers (zohor). Sometimes they do bring along the saluang, then they will sing either quatrains [pantun] that are created spontaneously or quatrains that are commonly known" (Amir 1995:31). This information suggests that singing pantun was a common Minangkabau past time for both women and men. It is not clear, however, what songs were used, and if those tunes were affiliated with the genre of saluang we know today. I suspect there is cross-over in the repertoire, that the tunes are mutual. To be clear, in discussing the gender of padendang in saluang throughout this site, I am referring to the professionalized saluang scene, unless otherwise specified.
This issue about gender and performing in public has to be understood within the context of Minangkabau values, especially according to the principles of adat (complex set of cultural practices most frequently glossed as “custom” and “tradition”). In the past, it was considered entirely inappropriate for a woman to be out late at night in front of men, especially those who were not related to her. In the Minangkabau matrilineal system, a woman’s mamak, her maternal uncle, not her father, was tasked with policing and managing her morality, making sure no harm was done to the family reputation. Permission to depart from these mores should be granted by the mamak.
The first generation of professional female padendang were trailblazers, breaking the glass ceiling, at great risk to their person and to the reputation of themselves and their family. There are stories of these women being personally threatened with a gun, maintained by authorities, questioned and shunned. I even heard a story once of a woman being killed by a jealous husband. It’s very hard to fathom just how difficult it would have been for the first generation of women, the stigma they would have had to overcome, both amongst audiences at the time and within the broader society. Needless to say, these women would have been extremely talented and knowledgeable to be accepted within professional circuits, not just among audiences but especially among fellow performers. For the first generation of women, their participation was possible though one of two mechanisms: they sang under the disguise of presenting themselves as a man or they were supervised by a close male relative, either their mamak or their husband. For some, like Nurana, the economic gains--the possibility of making a livelihood--was the motivating factor.
This history of saluang is critically important. There is no other genre in West Sumatra to my knowledge in which women not only became equal participants as singers (participation as instrumentalist is entirely different) but actually came to thoroughly displace their male counterparts. Nobody wants to hear male padendang these days, which speaks more to why some pagurau are interested in saluang now compared with the past. Go here to follow that story.
Putting together this history is like being a detective, scouring what resources exist in the historical record, essentially research produced by people affiliated with Institut Seni Indonesia, and putting together pieces of the puzzle. The historical record is spotty, the information as complete as what is found in those records, amplified with ethnographic interviews with singers like Syamsimar, Mak Ajis, and Mak Sawir who were involved back then in 60s and have since passed, or the oldest generation participating today, like Te E who started singing in the 70s.
It’s a history that deserves to be better known. We share what we have come across here but welcome contributions to enhance the record: dates, stories, and especially photos.
Continue on in this path to read about the stories of the first professional female padendang.
Resources:
- Adriyetti Amir 1995
- Erlinda 1999
- Erlinda 2001
- Peggy Sanday 2002
People: Pak Desmawardi 4 Pak Desmawardi acted as a janang. plain 2021-02-12T17:16:33+00:00
Stage Name:
Other Names: Pak Desmawardi.
Role: Janang.
Sex: Male.
Time Frame: Contemporary Figure
Source: personal encounter in 2003.
Born: unknown.
Died: unknown.
Place of Origin:
Place of Residence:
Year started performing:
Training:
Relationships to other performers:
Performances:
- Performance: Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia, December 23, 2003
Songs composed:
Recordings:
Other notes: Pak Desmawardi is a faculty member at Institut Seni Indonesia Padang Panjang.