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Song in the Sumatran Highlands

Style: Saluang Orgen

Definition: This is a term that some people use to refer to the combination of saluang klasik line up plus a synthesizer.

Performer line up: The most conventional line-up involves:

a tukang saluang
2-3 padendang, though more may be involved depending on the context
a keyboard player
a janang may be involved in certain contexts, such as community and fundraising events. They are not involved in performers for life-cycle events

Context: Saluang orgen can be found in a number of contexts including

life cycle celebrations
- weddings
- circumcisions
community celebrations
- halal bil halal, held at the end of Ramadan
bagurau lapiak

Economics: These depend on the performance context

wedding etc.: contracted in advance
bagurau lapiak: share of the takings for an evening.

Performance Space:

Outside the house at family events
In the street, indoor halls, markets, coffee house etc.

Amplification: Typically amplified through massive speaker systems.

Repertoire: saluang orgen line-up typically covers only part of the saluang repertoire, songs that have a steady rhythm, including singgalang, gembira, and some satangah tiang, along with all the songs imported into the repertoire from pop repertoire.

Time frame: This style is the dominant saluang style that has existed for many years. It is unclear when amplification was added. It is also unclear when the system of requests commenced beyond requests for a specific song.

Region: This combination style is found in the darek. It's unclear how common it might be in the rantau or whether people there prefer saluang klasik.

Note: As a style saluang orgen is distinct from just orgen. The two key distinctions are:

the use of the saluang and
the coverage of songs part of the broader saluang repertoire.

Some performances, like the malam bagurau at Sariak Laweh, involve a mix of styles: saluang klasik, saluang orgen, and orgen. Not all singers are comfortable straying beyond the saluang klasik format, participating only out of politeness.

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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:
Context: Bagurau Lapiak 12 Bagurau Lapiak is a context for the performance of saluang image_header 2021-06-02T14:55:54+00:00
Definition of term: The term "bagurau lapiak" derives from the context. "Bagurau" is the typical term used to refer to saluang performers, "lapiak" means mats on which performers sit. While virtually all saluang performances involve mats (or sometimes carpet) on which performers sit, it actually refers to a set of contextual factors, the most important of which include economic and spatial factors.

Economic: As opposed to weddings, other life-cycle events, or community events, the performers are not contracted for these events and do not receive a fixed fee. Rather, they work for tips, dividing the earnings between themselves and, where relevant, the manager of the space. Pagurau at these events pay for the privilege of making requests, either for a particular song or of a particular singer. A financially successful bagurau lapiak is dependent on the performers’ ability to engage and keep an audience, a duty which falls largely to the vocalists and the janang, the emcee.

Space: These performances do not take place in the yards of private homes, rather they happen at markets, coffee shops, and road-side stalls, sometimes, like the coffee shop in Ngalau, they are specifically built for the purpose.

Musical Style: The context does not circumscribe the musical style. There are and have been performances involving one or more of the following styles:
- saluang klasik
- saluang orgen
- orgen
In 2015, I witnessed two performances, both of which featured saluang orgen and/or orgen more than saluang klasik. The orgen was part of the key line-up with the tukang saluang and padendang. At the first event, there was so little use of saluang as an instrument, meaning it was largely songs affiliated with the repertoire of orgen, that I asked Pak Ketua why it was even called "saluang." He responded that the performances still started and ended as a saluang performance would.

Behavior: When I had conversations about bagurau lapiak in 2015 and 2016, several performers and devotees told me that bagurau lapiak were venues where activities and behaviors outside the normative standards of Islamic propriety occur. In other words, things happen in these contexts that you would not witness at other kinds of saluang performances, including the consumption of alcohol and men dancing with the performers, though I have personally never witnessed either of these, I suspect because of my presence. In my experience, there is more interaction between performers and audience members at these events, including more flirting and racier lyrics.
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.
Performance: Pasa Payokumbuah, July 31, 2015 11 Bagurau Lapiak image_header 2021-06-21T11:22:34+00:00 -0.2255, 100.63285 07/31/2015
Date: July 31, 2015
Time:
Place: Pasa Payokumbuah
Style: Saluang orgen and orgen
Occasion: Bagurau Lapiak
Set up:
Performers:
- Padendang:
  - Ria
  - #2 not identified
  - #3 Not identified
  - #4 Not identified
  - Guest: Ayu Lestari
- Tukang Saluang: Not identified.
- Tukang Orgen: Not identified.
- Janang: Not identified.
Audience:
Ethnographers: Jennifer & Pak Ketua
Attendance:
Notes:
Interpretation: Sariak Laweh, July 25, 2016 Style: Given that this performance incorporated three different musical styles, it is important to evaluate the relative amounts of time spent on each style. This is illustrated in the chart below relative to the total time music was performed (breaks and silences were excluded). Saluang klasik accounted for 46% of the time, while saluang orgen was 37% and orgen 17% of the time. That means the synthesizer was used for 54% of the songs while the saluang was used for 83%.

Type of Song: The following chart analyzes the overall performance time, including breaks. All the main types of dendang are indicated, but the songs which are adopted from saluang dangdut or other forms of popular music are all grouped together as"other" on this chart. At this performance significantly more time was spent on upbeat material than at saluang performances featuring just saluang klasik. In other words, the incorporation of saluang orgen as a style ensured that there was an emphasis on the gembira category of dendang, as the incorporation of synthesizer and its rhythmic programming only works with a steady beat, which is of the gembira category. All dendang performed in saluang orgen style were gembira, which accounted for 65% of all gembira songs, while those in saluang klasik were 28%. The remaining 7% were dendang gembira performed without any saluang accompaniment, adopted to the orgen repertoire: these were "Lubuak Aluang," "Sungai Pua Manurun" and "Tangkerang."

The emphasis on gembira songs meant a subsequent de-emphasis on ratok and satangah tiang categories, neither of which have a steady beat and thus are unsuited to synthesizer accompaniment. Ratok only took 14% of the overall performance, compared with 47% of the time at the performance at Suayan a few days later.

Breaks: It is significant that there was only one official break at this performance and it happened at 2 a.m., leaving just 30+ minutes of performance before wrapping up. The conventional break at midnight was skipped because there was orgen. Orgen could take over, thus giving the tukang saluang the necessary rest.

Padendang: This performance was the only event out of six I attended that summer that had more than two padendang. Pak Ketua and I had met with and interviewed Te E earlier that day, who told us about the performance later that night. When I met with her, she was not anticipating the presence of orgen nor that of Ika: it was as much a surprise to her as it was to Pak Ketua and I when we arrived. It seemed the committee in charge of arranging entertainment has booked the tukang orgen and Ika in addition to Te E and her group. Te E was not happy about it.

I knew from previous conversations with Te E, including the interview earlier that day, that she was disdainful of the developments that incorporated synthesizer into saluang. Like Mak Sawir, she thought it and some of the accompanying behaviors sullied saluang, that Minangkabau values were lost in the process (interview, July 25, 2016). If she had known about the presence of orgen in advance, she would have declined the invitation. Instead, she had to fulfill her contract, appearing to be polite and participate while nursing contrary feelings. At one point in the performance, during the orgen sequence, she left the stage and came sat with Pak Ketua and I. Typically, padendang do not leave the stage during the entirety of a performance, generally not even to go to the toilet.

Te E, then, declined to sing on a number of songs, including a number of songs performed in the saluang orgen style and all the songs performed with just orgen accompaniment--Ika was the only singer who performed during those. Te E took the lead on most of the songs from the saluang klasik repertoire, especially the ratok and satangah tiang, her speciality. She participated in the songs accompanied by saluang orgen only if the material was from the standard saluang repertoire. It seems that when the repertoire originated with saluang dangdut, she declined to participate. This was subtle commentary on the nature of aesthetic shifts.

Si Sri, in contrast, participated on all the saluang klasik songs and all the saluang orgen tunes, taking lead on most of those. She did not participate on the orgen tunes. When I interviewed her, she said she preferred the klasik repertoire, but didn't have a problem participating in saluang orgen if necessary. Unlike Te E, she didn't decline those invitations. The difference in approach might be explained by their age difference: Te E is Si Sri's senior by 27 years.

Because Ika covered all the orgen repertoire, she sang on more individual songs than Te E, the star singer, even though she might best be described as a padendang in training, still learning and mastering the repertoire. The only songs she did not sing on were the more difficult ratok, including "Kamang Patah Tigo," "Kambang Aia Aji" and "Koto Tuo Patah Pucuak." Otherwise, she sang at least one pantun on all the other saluang klasik songs.
Choosing Saluang Style
Why does one host prefer saluang klasik and work to secure the best singers for their event while another prefers a mix of style, working to bend saluang klasik with more popular styles, like saluang orgen or just plain orgen? To revisit the list of styles list the module on style.

The various contextual factors that structure the when, why, and what of an event play into and help guide the choice of saluang style a host family or organization are likely to desire at their event. The choice of style also has to do with positionally, or how a host choses to position themselves: are they traditionalists or are they cosmopolitan? Do they want to assert a foot in both worlds? Do they have the economic capital to do so? Put simply, those who are pacandu or saluang devotees will always choose saluang klasik as will those working with more limited budgets. But those who are interested in projecting themselves as a little more cosmopolitan might attempt a blend, like the event at Sariak Laweh which featured a mix of saluang klasik, saluang orgen, and orgen, the latter two to the chagrin of Te E and a number of her followers who came to see her. (She was not aware of the mix in advance and likely would have declined if she had been). If a host is holding a celebratory event, saluang lamak would not be appropriate--the limited audience would work against the festive atmosphere necessary. Other contexts, like bagurau lapiak, at least in 2015 and 2016, guaranteed a mix of styles, with little of saluang klasik and more orgen.

The style or styles featured very much structure and circumscribe the options available for which performers are engaged, which audiences attend, the songs performed, the nature of the interactions, and the kinds of lyrics.

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