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Song in the Sumatran Highlands

Place: RRI Bukittinggi

This is the state-run radio station, Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) Bukittinggi, or Republic of Indonesia Radio, Bukittinggi. In 2004, it ran several saluang specific programs, including monthly all-night performances and weekly sessions of Bagurau di Udaro.

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Rendition: "Suntiang Patah Batikam," 02/06/04 24 "Suntiang Patah Batikam" performed at Malam Suntuak at RRI plain 2021-01-28T23:26:00+00:00 February 6, 2004
Song: "Suntiang Patah Batikam"
Performance: Malam Suntuak at Radio Republik Indonesia, Bukittinggi
Place: Radio Republik Indonesia, Bukittinggi
Date: February 6, 2004

People:
Padendang:
1. Mak Sawir
2. Reni Agam
3. Upiak Malai
Tukang Saluang: Djalaluddin St. Malelo
Janang: Inladora

Lyrics:
Pantun 1: Mak Sawir
Batang
Minangkabau:
Oi.... Lagu Suntiang Patah Batikam
Karangan anak di nagari oi uwo oi
Tanang malah mandangakan
oi mandangakan oi uwo oi

Indonesian:
Lagu Suntiang Patah Batikam
Karangan anak di nagari
Tenang malah mendengarkan

English:
The Song “Suntiang Patah Batikam”
A composition of an anak nagari
Calmness happens provided one listens
Isi
Minangkabau:
Asa basuluah di nan kalam
Pandai-pandai manjago api oi uwo oi
Di nan kalam api kok padam
di siko badan mako sansai oi uwo oi

Indonesian:
Asal obor di yang gelap
Sepandai-pandai menjaga api
Di yang gelap api jika padam
Di sini badan maka sengsai

English:
The origin of the torch in that which is dark
It is clever to watch the fire
In darkness to guard against the fire’s extinction,
Here the body is miserable.
Interpretation of Pantun 1
Batang: The content of the batang is about the song itself.
Isi: The moral of the isi can be summarized as to "take care in a specific task as the body is miserable if it fails."

Pantun 2: Upiak Malai
Batang
Minangkabau:
Oi.... Uda kini lai datang
Bagurau samalam kini oi uwo oi
Taguah Lansano lai tibo
oi lai tibo kak uwo oi

Indonesian:
Uda sekarang lagi datang
Bagurau semalam sekarang
Teguh Lansano lagi tiba

English:
Uda have now come again
To have a bagurau this evening
[With] strength Lansano has arrived

Isi
Minangkabau:
Lah ditiliak ditimbang-timbang
Pado marusak dalam hati oi uwo oi
Pado marusak dalam hati
Iyo bapisah ka ubek nyo

Indonesian:
Sudah ditilik ditimbang-timbang
Pada merusak dalam hati
Iya berpisah ke ubatnya.

English:
Already judged to be considered
Makes one sad in the heart,
The medicine is to separate from it.
Interpretation of Pantun 2
Batang: There are lots of attendees for the evening
Isi: If one thinks really hard about a certain effort or job that will break one, it is better to be left alone.
Pantun 3: Reni Agam
Batang
Minangkabau:
Oi.... dek rusuah bana kini bakandak
Bia nak kami mandendangkan nyo oi amak oi
Bia nak kami mandendang nyo
Dari jauah kan lai tibo.

Indonesian:
Karena dukacita benar ini kehendak
Biar anak kami mendengarkan
Dari jauh akan tiba lagi.

English:
Because one really suffers for desires
Let anak kami listen
From afar, they will arrive again.
Isi
Minangkabau:
Lah dicubo salamo ko
Nan baminyak campua jo aia kak uwo oi
Nan baminyak campua jo aia
Asa sampai baukia juo.

Indonesian:
Sudah dicoba salama ini
Yang berminyak campur dengan air
Asal sampai berukir juga.

English:
Already attempted for as long as this
That which has oil is mixed with water
In the end will also be engraved (permanent).
Interpretation of Pantun 3
Batang: With a sad heart there is a request for a song which is desired by someone far away
Isi: Something is already experienced, but it’s the soul of the person who is not honest.
Janang

Pantun 4: Upiak Malai
Batang
Minangkabau:
Indonesian:
English:
Isi
Minangkabau:
Indonesian:
English:

Pantun 5: Mak Sawir
Batang
Minangkabau:
Indonesian:
English:
Isi
Minangkabau:
Indonesian:
English:
Performance: Radio Republik Indonesia Bukittinggi, February 6, 2004 15 Malam Suntuak image_header 2021-09-03T20:32:21+00:00 -0.31898, 100.38478 02/06/2004
Date: February 6, 2004
Place: Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI), Bukittinggi
Style: Saluang Klasik

Occasion: Malam Suntuak (all-night) event, held the first Friday of every month. Some/ all of it was also broadcast.

Performers
- Padendang:
  - Formally engaged for the evening
    Mak Sawir (m)
    Reni Agam (f)
    Upiak Malai (f)
  - Other participants
    Pak Kakao joined on a few songs, but was not constantly on the stage.
- Tukang Saluang: Djalaluddin St. Malelo
- Janang: Inladora
Set up: in the foyer of the main building, small raised platform stage, tiled floor cover with plastic mats for audience seating.

Audience: Approximately 100 people over the course of the evening, mostly men. I noticed two other women during the course of the evening: one women with her husband, the other a young woman wearing a headscarf. Peak attendance was between 10p.m. and 1a.m. People came after they heard the beginning of the broadcast.

Performance duration: @9p.m. to just before 4a.m., with breaks at 12.20pm and 3a.m. The organizer and my contact, Pak Il, had mentioned that it might end earlier around 1 or 2a.m. if there were not many attendees.

Requests: audience members conveyed their requests to the janang, paying a small amount for the privilege of doing so. They convey their requests via written means or go up to the stage, whispering their requests to the janang.

Ethnographers: Jennifer. Pak Amran from ISI Padang Panjang also present.

Attendance: entire evening.
Performance: Radio Republik Indonesia Bukittinggi, September 27, 2004 12 Bagurau di Udaro image_header 2021-09-03T20:45:13+00:00 -0.31698, 100.38478 09/27/2004
Date: September 27, 2004
Time:
Place: Radio Republik Indonesia Bukittinggi
Style: Saluang Klasik
Occasion: Bagurau di Udaro
Set up:
Performers:
- Padendang: Ajis St. Sati
- Tukang Saluang: Inyiak Harimau, Herman
- Janang/ Radio Host: Mak Il St. Rajo Endah
Audience:
Ethnographers:
Attendance:
Notes:
Performance: Radio Republik Indonesia Bukittinggi, January 26, 2004 11 Bagurau di Udaro image_header 2021-09-03T20:26:34+00:00 -0.31898, 100.38278 01/26/2004
Date: January 26, 2004
Time: 8p.m.--approx. 11p.m
Place: Radio Republik Indonesia Bukittinggi
Style: Saluang Klasik
Occasion: Bagurau di Udaro
Set up: In the recording studio, there were 4 microphones set up: for the janang, the two padendang, and the tukang saluang. The audience sat on the floor in a semi-circle facing them. The show was broadcast.

Performers:
- Padendang:
  - Mak Sawir
  - Pak Kakao
- Tukang Saluang
  - Saiful Basapuni
  - Herman, played with Saiful on the first set
- Janang/ Radio Show Host:
  - Mak Il St. Rajo Endah
  - Pak Kakao also contributes to the conversation
Audience: At the peak, about 15-20 men were in attendance. These men included devotees, other performers and janang. One of the attendees was listening with a transistor radio, so that you could simultaneously hear the live performance and its radio broadcast. Like all saluang performance, the live audience wandered in and out for the duration and chatted in the background. Certain men are cheered when they arrive, suggesting they are well-known regulars. The event was as much about male camaraderie as it was about the music. I wrote in my fieldnotes that being there was "like spending an evening in a very smoky bar, but without the buzz of alcohol."

Ethnographers: Jennifer
Attendance: I was present for the duration of the event, hosted by Mak Il.
Notes: By far the larger percentage of the show was reading listener requests, which were dropped off in a number of collection boxes around Bukittinggi. By the end of the show, the announcers had read over 90 slips, trying to get through as many as possible, suggesting these evenings were as much about honoring listener requests as the live music performed. They still had 200 slips unread at the end, suggesting an impossible task. The show didn't involve the performance of 90 songs, but probably did involve more titles than I noted. Many requests acknowledge Mak Sawir, suggesting that he was a regular feature, and included specific pantun penned by the requestor. A number of requests were from women, suggesting their investment in the genre even if they weren't participating in person. Finally, a number of requests were marked as coming from cafes, warung (food stalls), and specific kind of traders.

The radio station personnel started cleaning up as they approached the end of the designated time, 11p.m., not worried about extraneous sounds that might bleed into the broadcast.
People: Mak Il St. Rajo Endah 10 Mak Il was the radio announcer at Bagurau di Udaro image_header 2021-03-04T13:28:05+00:00 -0.296181, 100.368406
Stage Name: Mak Il St. Rajo Endah, or Mak Il for short
Other Names: Syahril Zainuddin
Born: 1955
Role: Announcer at Radio Republik Indonesia, Bukittinggi. He was the organizer of the Monday evening Bagurau di Udaro events and was the primary announcer, like a janang but slightly different. He also organized the monthly malam suntuah, such as Performance: Radio Republik Indonesia Bukittinggi, February 6, 2004. In the image above, he is center picture, with a cigarette in his mouth, counting the takings from the malam suntuak. This role included arranging transport and accommodation if needed for the participants.
Sex: Male
Time Frame: Contemporary Figure
Source: personal engagement during fieldwork in 2004.
Place of Residence: Pasar Pagi Tembok, Bukittinggi
Performances:
- Performance: Radio Republik Indonesia Bukittinggi, January 26, 2004
- Performance: Radio Republik Indonesia Bukittinggi, September 27, 2004
Other notes: Mak Il was Jennifer's host in Bukittinggi when she went for nighttime performances affiliated with RRI. Mak Sawir was a fellow guest at least once January 26, 2004, which is when I got to meet him.