This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

Song in the Sumatran Highlands

Song: "Singgalang Alai [Old]"

See entry for "Singgalang Alai"

This page has tags:

Contents of this tag:

This page is referenced by:

Song: "Singgalang Alai" 21 This song is part of a sub-category of songs called Singgalang that are named after the place, the nagari and mountain called Singgalang. plain 2021-05-14T11:45:17+00:00
The title of this tune is one of the most contested in saluang. There are two very different tunes that people identify as "Singgalang Alai." I learned this the hard way when I was invited to sing a dendang that I knew at Bagurau di Udaro September 27, 2004. I offered one of my standards, "Singgalang Alai," to Mak Il St. Rajo Endah, the announcer and emcee of the program and my contact at RRI. I had sung this tune at performances before without incident but this time was different. When the tukang saluang, Inyiak Harimau, began this song and Mak Ajis St. Sati delivered his first pantun, I was alarmed: this was not the tune I knew as "Singgalang Alai." I whispered that to Mak Il, but he told me not to worry and just sing what I knew. So I did and the tukang saluang switched songs mid-tune, following me. Mak Ajis then sang a verse of the version I knew after me: clearly he knew this tune, too. Confused, I chatted with Inyiak Harimau during a break. He told me that the practice of calling the song I sang "Singgalang Alai" was newer (personal conversation). The older convention was to call this tune "Singgalang Induak," as was indeed the title Sri and Pian used at the recording session in 2016. Finally, when I interviewed Ajis St. Sati a couple of months after the Bagurau di Udaro, he told me that the tune I know as "Singgalang Alai" is "Singgalang Gulai Rendang," offering the third title I heard for the same tune. He hummed the tune that he believed should be called "Singgalang Alai" (interview, Bukittinggi, 11/04/2004).

I am fascinated by this story. Just who was right? It doesn't matter as much to me as the idea that different performers have different practices and knowledge. To me that is the story. What it has complicated, however, is how to refer to the tune on this site. The best ethnographic process is to make sure to honor the titles used by the performers. Therefore, to clarify it's use on this site and to identify the different tunes I will use the terms "Singgalang Alai [Old]" for the version than Mak Ajis knows and "Singgalang Alai [New]" for the tune that many others identified as "Singgalang Alai."

Translation of Title: "Singgalang" in the title refers not just to place affiliation but to the category of songs called Singgalang. "Alai" is a neighborhood in Padang.
Explanation: The tune "Singgalang Alai [New]" or what others call "Singgalang Induak" is often the very first song of a saluang performance, following the Imbauan Saluang and Imbauan Singgalang. It is interesting that a song so key to saluang has such confusion surrounding its title.
Composer: Unknown.
Type of song: Singgalang.
Place affiliations: This whole category of song is named after the place, the nagari and mountain called Singgalang.
- Nagari: Singgalang.
- Kecamatan: X Koto.
- Luak: Tanah Data.
- Darek or Rantau: Darek.
Source: Mardjani's List of Songs (but it is unclear which tune was designated), Martis (who used the title refer to the tune marked here as "Singgalang Alai [New]").
Repertoire: Recording Session, February 9, 2004 11 List of Repertoire at Rabab Darek Recording Session plain 2021-06-22T22:14:36+00:00
1. Song: "Singgalang Alai". I assume when the performers were asked to present "Singgalang Alai," they agreed that the tune that went by this title was what I am calling "Singgalang Alai [New]."
2. Song: "Singgalang Induak". I recorded the tiniest fraction of a conversation which suggests there was some confusion over titles and tunes, so the performers then presented a tune identified in my notes as "Singgalang Induak," but it should be noted that the variant they produced under this title--or at least what I have labeled as "Singgalang Induak"--is "Singgalang Alai [Old]," the same tune Mak Ajis St. Sati idenitified as "Singgalang Alai" at Bagurau di Udaro in September of that year. From the perspective 17 years later, I wish I had recorded the whole conversation for what insight it might sharing about this naming mystery.
3. Song: "Ratok Bonjo"
4. Song: "Pariaman Lamo"
5. Song: "Muaro Peti"
6. Song: "Sirompak Taeh"
7. Song: "Indang Payokumbuah"
8. Song: "Indang Batu Balang"
9. Song: "Tigo Balai"
10. Song: "Ratok Koto Gadang"
11. Song: "Suntiang Patah Batikam"
12. Song: "Sijobang" performed on just rabab
13. Song: "Muaro Peti" performed on just rabab
Repertoire: Radio Republik Indonesia, September 27, 2004 8 List of Repertoire at Bagurau di Udaro plain 2021-06-22T22:13:39+00:00
1. Musical Item: Imbauan Saluang
2. Musical Item: Imbauan Singgalang
3. Song: Title Unknown
4. Song: "Ramalah Anyuik"
5. Song: "Banda Sapuluah"
6. Song: "Lawang Lamo"
7. Song: "Bujang Marando"
8. Song: "Tigo Baleh Gabalo Itiak"
9. Song: "Kambang Aia Aji"
10. Song: "Ratok Koto Tuo"
11. Song: "Sawah Rawang"
12. Song: "Subarang Parik"
13. Song: "Ratok Singkarak"
14. Song: "Kamari Bedo"
15. Song: "Ense Garendeh"
16. Song: "Cancang Kambiang"
17. Song: "Mudiak Suak"
18. Song: "Sumbar Riau"
19. Song: "Parambahan"
20. Song: "Baso Lamo"
21. Song: "Singgalang Parak Kina"
22. Song: "Saba Mananti"
23. Song: "Aia Tirih"
24. Musical Item: Imbauan Saluang
25. Song: "Sarasah Aia Badarun"
26. Song: "Kamang Basiriah"
27. Song: "Singgalang Alai": this rendition includes both the old version of the song, "Singgalang Alai [Old]", as sung by Mak Ajis St. Sati, and the new version, "Singgalang Alai [New]", as known and subsequently sung by Jennifer Fraser followed by Mak Ajis.
28. Song: "Kamang Baalang-alang"
29. Song: "Pariaman Tangguang"
30. Song: "Lambok Malam"
31. Song: "Suayan Tanahnyo Tinggi"
32. Song: "Ratok Bonjo"
33. Song: "Elo Pukek"
34. Song: "Kapompong"
35. Song: "Lawang Parak Tabu"
36. Song: "Palaiaran"
37. Song: "Sorak Gaduik"