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Song in the Sumatran Highlands

Song: "Singgalang Induak"

Alternative Title: What some people identify as "Singgalang Induak" is the song I learned from Martis as "Singgalang Alai," and what others call the new "Singgalang Alai." To complicate matters further, I did encounter a different tune also called "Singgalang Induak" at a Rabab Darek Recording Session at Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia, February 9, 2004. Again, I will reflect the terms that people used, indicating overlap in tune structure. When someone's "Singgalang Induak" resembles the tune I learned as "Singgalang Alai" I will also mark it as "Singgalang Alai [new]."
Translation of Title: "Induak" means "mother," mostly a term used in the context of animals. In saluang, it is also used to refer to the primary pantun, with the secondary pantun being "anak" (child). So in this context, it makes sense to call this the "Singgalang Mother," when it functions as one of the first songs delivered in a saluang performance or after a break. "Singgalang" in the title refers not just to place affiliation but to the category of songs called Singgalang.
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: Te E's List of Songs.

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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]").
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:
Repertoire: Sariak Laweh July 25, 2016 20 List of repertoire at Malam Bagurau, Sariak Laweh plain 2021-05-12T19:19:38+00:00
This performance was unique in that of all the malam bagurau attached to weddings that I attended in 2016, it alone involved a mix of musical styles: saluang klasik, the reason I attended, saluang orgen (songs, many of which are from dendang repertoire, accompanied by saluang and synethsizer), and orgen (just a vocalist and synethsizer). If a dendang is performed on saluang orgen or orgen, it is from the gembira category, the synthesizer providing a consistent rhythmic backdrop. The timeline for this performance, therefore, has a few more categories. It represents style first and foremost so the user can appreciate the relative amounts of time in each style. Within the saluang klasik style, dendang are represented by their type. When the songs are performed in the style of saluang orgen or orgen, then the type of song is specified in the description. See the following page for analysis on relative amounts of time on each style and each type of song.
1. Musical Item: Imbauan Saluang
2. Musical Item: Imbauan Singgalang
3. Song: "Singgalang Induak"/ "Singgalang Alai [new"]: nobody identified the title for me so I don't know for sure what to call it, but as Sri was one of the performers and she used the title "Singgalang Induak" for the same tune a few days before, I expect that she would identify the tune that way.
4. Song: Title Unknown
5. Song: "Raimah Tanjuang"
6. Song: "Singgalang Jaya"
7. Song: "Singgalang Singgah"
8. Song: "Danau Indah"
9. Song: "Kawin Batambua"
10. Song: "Pariaman Panjang"
11. Song: "Indang Ramolai"
12. Song: "Pariaman Laweh"
13. Song: "Muaro Cinto"
14. Song: Title Unknown
15. Song: "Indang Sari Lamak"
16. Song: Title Unknown
17. Song: "Indang Sing Guliang"
18. Song: Title Unknown
19. Song: "Sungai Rimbang"
20. Song: "Talago Biru"
21. Song: "Lubuak Sao"
22. Song: "Padang Magek"
23. Song: "Pitaruah Ayah"
24. Song: "Sirompak Taeh"
25. Song: "Koto Tuo Tabek Sarojo"
26. Song: "Suayan Maik Katurun"
27. Song: "Kamang Patah Tigo"
28. Song: "Bukik Apik Randang Kopi"
29. Song: "Pasaman Ilia"
30. Song: "Indang Kurinci"
31. Song: Title Unknown
32. Song: "Lubuak Aluang"
33. Song: "Sungai Pua Manurun"
34. Song: "Tangkerang"
35. Song: Title Unknown
36. Musical Item: Imbauan Saluang
37. Song: "Ampaian Santo"
38. Song: "Kambang Aia Aji"
39. Song: "Koto Tuo Patah Pucuak"
40. Song: "Tigo Balai"
41. Song: "Banda Sapuluah"
42. Item: Talingkin, Song "Simarantang"
43. Song: Title Unknown
44. Song: Title Unknown
45. Song: "Gali-Gali"
46. Song: "Cimpago Biru"
47. Song: Title Unknown
48. Song: "Bujang Marando"
49. Song: "Siriah Langkok"
50. Item: Jalu-Jalu
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: Recording Session, July 21, 2016 8 List of repertoire at Recording Session, July 21, 2016 plain 2021-06-17T19:37:14+00:00
1. Musical Item: Imbauan Saluang
2. Musical Item: Imbauan Singgalang
3. Song: "Singgalang Induak" (the tune marked elsewhere as "Singgalang Alai [New]"). In choosing the repertoire for this session, Sri, Pian and Pak Ketua agreed on this tune to start out, and seemingly agreed that it was called "Singgalang Induak."
4. Song: "Mudiak Arau"
5. Song: "Indopuro"
6. Song: "Ratok Suayan"
7. Song: "Koto Tuo Tabiang Aciak"
8. Song: "Riak Pandan"
9. Song: "Ratok Balingka"
10. Song: "Baso Lamo"
11. Song: "Guguak Manitik Ameh"
12. Song: "Parantaian"
13. Song: "Pariaman Panjang"
14. Song: "Parambahan"
15. Song: "Sariak Mangayam"
16. Song: "Pulai Lubuak Basuang"

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