Guntang

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Guntang . Tropical Museum Amsterdam, before 1939.

Guntang is a single-stringed, idiochorde bamboo zither struck with a stick , which is mainly played on the Indonesian island of Bali in various gamelan (ensemble types ). The guntang is a percussion instrument that punctuates the rhythm in Balinese music and adopted from this in the music of Lombok . In gamelan arja , a larger guntang usually defines the rhythmic emphasis and a second, smaller guntang sets the beat. The latter is now mostly replaced by a small hump gong ( kempli ).

Design

The guntang consists of a 35 to 70 centimeter long, thick bamboo section ( internode ) that was cut off just behind the knot and forms a tube that is closed on both sides. A thin string is separated from the upper layer ( epidermis ) by two longitudinal incisions and one tangential incision . At the ends, the string remains connected to the bamboo and is secured against tearing with a fiber winding around the tube made of rattan or other plant material. The tube wall is thinned under the string and straightened to a flat surface. At both ends of the saddle, pieces of wood or bamboo that are pushed underneath the saddle bring the string parallel to the string carrier. The string tension can be increased by moving the sticks outwards. A flat piece of wood about 4 × 5 centimeters in size attached to the middle of the string vibrates when the string is struck with a thin bamboo stick. It lowers the pitch, increases the volume, and makes the sound more persistent. With other two-stringed tubular zithers, such a piece of wood is stretched between the strings without touching the tube and serves as a striking plate. A narrow opening under the middle of the string serves as a sound hole. The old classification as "drum zither" for struck tubular zithers is just as misleading as with the so-called slit drums . The guntang rests horizontally on a wooden frame in front of the musician sitting on the floor.

Guntang are divided into several sizes according to their name. The largest is guntang gede ( gede, "large", corresponding to the very large gamelan gong gede ), followed by guntang kempur ( kempur, a single hump gong hanging in a wooden frame ), guntang cenik ( cenik , Balinese "small") to for the small guntang kajar or guntang kempli ( kempli, a small hanging gong that is used as a clock as an alternative to the guntang ). The word guntang for a tubular zither is first recorded in some Javanese documents from the 14th century

In the 1930s, Jaap Kunst described the equivalent to the guntang , which is known as gumbeng , and which occurs sporadically in central and eastern Java . According to Jaap art, Indonesian or Javanese names for the individual components of this tubular bamboo zither are common in Java : senteng (“string”), ganjel (“pad”) or in East Java tlapakan (“sole of the foot”) for the saddle and suh (rattan fibers around the To prevent strings from pulling out). The middle piece of wood in the gumbeng is called siwil or bindingan . The present gumbeng is slightly larger the than the Balinese variants guntang and has a pair of strings with a centrally between the strings ( welad clamped) piece of wood ( tangsel ) and a single string, which is lifted only by a pushed under the strings central reinforcement.

Origin and Distribution

Gong tondo from the island of Flores, Tropenmuseum Amsterdam, before 1934. In contrast to the guntang , the gong tondo does not have a sound hole in the middle, but openwork internodes on both sides.

String instruments require a string carrier and a sound box. Both are given with a bamboo tube without further processing, which is why idiochorde bamboo tube zithers are the easiest stringed instruments to manufacture next to musical bows , are considered to be their "forefathers" and occur or still occur in almost all regions where bamboo thrives. This applies to the whole of Southeast Asia and to southern China in the north, where single and multi-stringed, plucked and beaten bamboo tubular zithers occur in great variety and are played in traditional musical styles. The main distribution area of ​​bamboo zithers are the Malay Islands . There they are among the characteristic musical instruments of the Proto-Malay, the oldest, Stone Age immigrant class. Influenced by Southeast Asia, tubular bamboo zithers occur in the extreme northeast of India, including the two-stringed gintang in Assam and the chigring in the local state of Meghalaya . The isolated occurrence of tubular bamboo zithers at the Hill Reddis in Andhra Pradesh (Central India), which belongs to the Scheduled Tribes , is also attributed to an ancient Southeast Asian influence. The most famous musical instrument of Madagascar , the bamboo zither valiha , probably goes back to Indonesian immigrants who reached this island off the African east coast by sea at the end of the 1st millennium. There are some, in the past more common, occurrences of tubular zithers made from other materials in Central Asia, in the Balkans as well as in post-Columbian South America and in North America. The guslice or gingara in Bosnia and Serbia is a bowed tubular zither made from a stalk of grain that is used as a children's toy. A corn-stalk fiddle of the same kind used to be played in North America. The Jamaican benta struck with sticks has an idiochorde string that is cut out of a long green bamboo tube.

Simple board zithers, in which several strings are stretched across a board in a parallel plane (like the bangwe in Malawi), and trough zithers, the strings of which run freely over a resonance box open at the top, occur mainly in Central and East Africa, but are rare in Southeast Asia.

Two string gumbeng from Java. Tropenmuseum Amsterdam, before 1936. The striking plate clamped between the strings above the sound hole is missing.

The idiochord bamboo tubular zithers, which are set to “a very low level of development” from an evolutionary point of view, belong together with bamboo idiophones ( angklung ), humpback gongs , flutes ( suling ) and frame jaws ( genggong ) to the earliest layer of Indonesian musical instruments. Here, tubular zithers, together with blowpipes and outrigger boats, for example, are counted among the "old Indonesian elements".

In the first centuries AD, Indian traders and missionaries brought their Indian culture to Southeast Asia, which is still noticeable in many areas today. The Indian influence on musical instruments was relatively small, as can be seen in the reliefs on the temples of Angkor and Borobudur (8th century), which show only a few instruments from India. The stab zither kse diev in Cambodia, comparable to the tubular zither, belongs to the Indian generation of Indonesian musical instruments , which has almost disappeared today, but appears in a few reliefs on the Bayon from the beginning of the 13th century. The Indian musical instruments reached the Philippines in a modified form via the western Malay Islands , where, before their introduction, idiochorde bamboo tubular zithers were probably the only stringed instruments.

The third generation of Indonesian musical instruments in this rough historical classification came to the region with Arab traders from the 15th century. With the Islamic culture and religion that dominates today and with Christian proselytizing in other areas, a good part of the traditional music and traditional instruments disappeared. The plucked gambus (only played by the Muslim minority in Bali) and the spiked fiddle rebab , for example, can be traced back to Muslim influence . The Javanese box zithers kacapi and celempung belong to today's concertante string instruments with oriental predecessors .

Indonesian tubular bamboo zithers, which are played regionally in folk music, are also known by both names: the canang kacapi of the Gayo in Aceh , the kacapi bambu of the Minangkabau and the celempung bambu in West Java. A more refined form is the sasando on the Indonesian island of Roti . Simple variants are tanggetong with the Toba- Batak in Sumatra , keteng-keteng with the Karo-Batak, gondang bulu with the Mandailing and Angkola, two other Batak groups in Central Sumatra . Tongkungon is the name of a tubular bamboo zither in Borneo , salude, kalembosan, sattung, ganrang bulo and dimba-dimba are some of the names found on Sulawesi . The ganrang bulo of South Sulawesi corresponds to the anthu-anthuga ( Gorontalo ) and the tantabua ( Bolaang Mongondow ) in the north and has two strings that are struck with two thin sticks. The Atoin Meto in West Timor play the six-string sene kaka, residents of Alor the eight-string teleng and the kolitong occurs on the island of Luzon in the north of the Philippines . One and two-stringed, sometimes three-stringed bamboo tubular zithers are struck rhythmically with sticks in Indonesia, with some instruments that have a bridge positioned approximately in the middle instead of the two pieces of wood pushed underneath, two different tones can be produced per string. Three and multi-string zithers are usually plucked with both hands with the thumbnails and used to form melodies.

In addition to different zithers from whole bamboo tubes (including a gong tondu with five strings), three to seven-string zithers from a bamboo tube segment are also known from the island of Flores , which are struck with two sticks. Large bamboo canes reach a diameter of ten or more centimeters. The semi-tubular zithers, made from a bamboo tube cut in half, represent the presumed forerunners of the East Asian vaulted board zithers ( guzheng in China, wagon and koto in Japan) and the heterochord (strung with plant fiber or metal strings) are considered to be the precursors of the crocodile zithers widespread on the Southeast Asian mainland to Myanmarzith .

Style of play

Gamelan Arja

Guntang belong to the colotomic instruments in the gamelan . This term, coined by Jaap Kunst , refers to the rhythm-structuring, punctuating percussion instruments that work together to create the cyclical structure characteristic of Indonesian court music, which usually consists of fast basic strokes of small humpback gongs and deeper beats of larger humpback gongs that mark longer cycles .

A Balinese ensemble type is the gamelan gaguntangan ( gamelan gaguntangan or gambelan Geguntangan ), to which usually two ( eponymous ) guntang , two small, double-celled barrel drums kendang Geguntangan , of which one lanang ("male") and one wadon ("female"), in pairs with hands together whipped clash cymbals ceng-ceng and three different horizontal hump gongs include little Gong tawa-tawa (also tawak ) is held in the lap and acts with a soft mallet struck as a clock. It occurs in the gamelam tawa-tawa used for processions in Bali and Lombok . The kajar is also a small humpback gong that is struck with a firm mallet in order to set rhythmic accents. Klenang ( kelenang ) is another small hump gong on a wooden frame that is otherwise found in the gamelan gambuh . Instead of the kajar , a gong pulu, a wooden frame with two bronze plates , is used. The kendang lanang player is the musical director of the ensemble, who initiates the changes in rhythm, tempo and volume. The only melody instrument that produces a sustained tone is the short bamboo flute suling . Several suling play around the melody of the singing voice. The larger of the two guntang ( guntang gede ) determines the rhythmic emphasis, the smaller one ( guntang cenik ) determines the beat, which is vocalized as tit . The language syllable for the larger guntang is pure (with a rolled r ) like the strike of the medium-sized gong kempur or gir ( sir-rr ), as the strike of the large gong is pronounced. When the syllables are sung, they follow the flute melody in pitch. The guntang cenik is mostly replaced today by the small, horizontally suspended humpback gong kempli .

The gamelan Geguntangan is the most suitable ensemble to musically accompany the very popular Balinese dance drama arja (also ardja ), which is known as "Balinese Opera" because of its popularity. After this use it is called gamelan arja . In the arja , dance, gending (instrumental gamelan composition), tandak and spoken dialogues are combined to form a performance unit. Tandak (plural tetandakan ) is a singing style suitable for certain dramatic scenes, which follows the dominant instrumental music in terms of pitch and melodic progression. In contrast, tembang describes the musically independent vocal forms with which the performances of the main characters are accompanied. The narrative most frequently performed in the arja dance-drama style is the love story of the mythical East Javanese prince Panji and princess Candrakirana, set in the 11th century. The narrative is often presented in the wayang topeng mask theater and in other wayang forms, including the wayang beber picture roll show, which has practically disappeared . During the Majapahit period, in the 14th century, the Panji story spread to Bali and reached the Khmer empire and Siam . In addition, Balinese folk tales and episodes from the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are listed in the arja .

Arja probably originated in Bali in the second half of the 19th century and has been stylistically changed several times since then. In the 1920s, the muted sounding gamelan Geguntangan was introduced as an accompaniment to dance theater called arja Geguntangan . At this time, the dance drama had developed from simpler forms into a mature theater play with male and female actors who took over elements from the dance styles legong and gambuh . Gambuh is the oldest and most formal Balinese dance drama, which goes back to the cultural influence of the East Javanese Empire Majapahit and in which - so the general appreciation - after the Islamic conquest of Java the values ​​and ideas of the Javanese rulers and noble houses of the 15th and 16th centuries. Century. The repertoire and the way of playing the corresponding gamelan gambuh form the origin of classical Balinese music.

Since the 1970s arja has also been accompanied by gamelan gong kebyar . This gamelan with large, loud-sounding metallophones turned the previous, calm way of playing, characterized by the soft bamboo sounds, into a much wilder, more dramatic form. In addition, the gamelan Geguntangan is played with choir singing and dancing jangar .

More gamelan

In the first half of the 20th century a small ensemble was in Bali introduced in which the Jew's harp so far mainly used to imitate frogs Genggong and enggung, a kind of Jew's harp , not plucked their tongue, but like a Mirliton is blown to instruments from the gamelan Geguntangan was expanded. This jew's harp ensemble, known as Gegenggongan or gamelan genggong , sometimes accompanies small theatrical performances, such as the Balinese mask dance godogan, in which the main character is a frog prince who, through the kiss of the princess and the benevolence of the god Wisnu, takes on human form again. Five to eight genggong are complemented by two differently sized guntang . The longer and deeper sounding guntang is called gejir here and serves as a replacement for the hanging humpback gong kempur . The shorter, higher-sounding kelintit takes care of the beat instead of the kajar kettle drum and the small suling flute takes care of the melody.

In the music of Lombok , the Sasak have recently been entertaining tourists with newly formed xylophone ensembles ( gamelan grantang ), as in Bali . At other tourist performances , formations made up of jaw harps in pairs play genggong (or selober ), the flute suling , the pair basin kecék and the guntang .

The tubular zither gumbeng , which has become rare in Java, is occasionally used for song accompaniment and in the village of Beji in the Ngawen district (Gunung Kidul administrative district in central Java) in the musical form rinding gumbeng , which is part of the harvest ceremonies in honor of the rice goddess Dewi Sri. The ensemble is named after the gumbeng and the bamboo jew's harp rinding .

literature

  • Andrew C. McGraw: Guntang. In: Laurence Libin (Ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, p. 514
  • Jaap Art : Music in Java. Its History, its Theory and its Technique. Volume 1, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague (1949) 1973
  • Rolf B. Roth: The demarcation of “Indonesia” according to space and time: A contribution to the cultural history of the Indo-Pacific. In: Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Volume 112, Issue 1, 1987, pp. 1-44, here pp. 16-20

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jaap Kunst, 1973, p. 231f
  2. ↑ Gumbeng: Bamboo Zither Drums of Java. Aural Archipelago, 2016
  3. ^ Curt Sachs : The musical instruments of India and Indonesia (at the same time an introduction to instrument science). Georg Reimer, Berlin 1915, p. 95
  4. ^ Artur Simon : Southeast Asia: Musical Syncretism and Cultural Identity. In: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 57, No. 1, January – March 2010, pp. 23–34, here p. 25
  5. ↑ See Rolf B. Roth, 1987, p. 19
  6. ^ Sibyl Marcuse : A Survey of Musical Instruments. Harper & Row, New York 1975, p. 190
  7. ↑ Cornstalk Fiddle. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (illustration)
  8. Jump up ↑ Fredeliza Campos, Roger Blench: Heterochord Board and Strip Zithers in the Cordillera, Northern Philippines. In: The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 67, January 2014, pp. 171–180, here p. 171
  9. ^ Paul Collaer: Southeast Asia. Music history in pictures. Volume I: Ethnic Music. Delivery 3. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1979, p. 26
  10. ^ Rolf B. Roth, 1987, p. 2
  11. ↑ Hans Brandeis: An attempt at a typology of Philippine boat sounds. In: Eszter Fontana , Andreas Michel, Erich Stockmann (eds.): Studia instrumentorum musicae popularis, Volume 12. Janos Stekovics, Halle 2004, pp. 75–108, here p. 104
  12. ↑ Tanggetong. Ethnological Museum, National Museums in Berlin (illustration)
  13. ↑ Mayco A. Santaella: Ganrang bulo. In: Laurence Libin (Ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, p. 392
  14. ↑ See Tube zither. In: Sibyl Marcuse : Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary. A complete, authoritative encyclopedia of instruments throughout the world. Country Life Limited, London 1966, p. 547f: lists over 90 name references, mostly to Southeast Asian tubular bamboo zithers
  15. ↑ Jaap Kunst, 1973, p. 233
  16. ^ Jaap Kunst: Music in Flores: A Study of the Vocal and Instrumental Music Among the Tribes Living in Flores. Brill, Leiden 1942, pp. 129f
  17. ^ Curt Sachs: The musical instruments of Burma and Assams in the K. Ethnographic Museum in Munich. In: Meeting reports of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Philosophical-philological and historical class. Year 1917, 2nd treatise. Publishing house of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Munich 1917, p. 24 ( at Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Klenang. University of Washington (illustration)
  19. ↑ Ako Mashino: Dancing Soldiers. Rudat for Maulud Festivals in Muslim Balinese Villages. In: Uwe H. Paetzold, Paul H. Mason (Eds.): The Fighting Art of Pencak Silat and its Music. From Southeast Asian Village to Global Movement. Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 295 (footnote 4)
  20. ↑ Ako Mashino: The body as intersection: interaction and collaboration of voice, body and music in Balinese arja. In: Mohd Anis Md Nor, Kendra Stepputat (Ed.): Sounding the Dance, Moving the Music. Choreomusicology in Maritime Southeast Asia. Routledge, New York 2017, pp. 96-107, here p. 101
  21. ^ I Wayan Dibia: Revitalizing “Arja” in Globalized Bali . In: Asian Theater Journal, Vol. 29, No. 2, Fall 2012, pp. 466–494, here p. 469
  22. ^ Edward Herbst: Voices in Bali: Energies and Perceptions in Vocal Music and Dance Theater. Wesleyan University Press, University Press of New England, Hanover 1997, p. 78
  23. ^ David Harnish: Bali . In: Ellen Koskoff (Ed.): The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Volume 2: The Middle East - South Asia - East Asia - Southeast Asia . Routledge, New York 2008, p. 1349
  24. ↑ I GBN Pandji: Notes on the Balinese Gamelan music . In: Balungan, Vol. 11, 2010, pp. 30–34, here p. 31
  25. ^ Leon Rubin, I Nyoman Sedana: Performance in Bali . Routledge, London 2007, pp. 36f, 121
  26. ↑ I. Made Bandem, Fredrik de Boer: Gambuh: A Classical Balinese dance drama. In: Asian Music, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1978, pp. 115–127, here p. 115
  27. ^ I Wayan Dibia: Revitalizing “Arja” in Globalized Bali . In: Asian Theater Journal , Vol. 29, No. 2, Fall 2012, pp. 466–494, here pp. 472f
  28. ^ Deirdre Morgan: Organs and Bodies: The Jew's Harp and the Anthropology of Musical Instruments . (MA thesis) University of British Columbia, Vancouver 2008, p. 42f
  29. ^ Edward Herbst: Bali 1928 - Volume III: Lotring and the Sources of Gamelan Tradition. Arbiter of Cultural Traditions, New York 2015, p. 56
  30. ^ Tilmann Seebass: Indonesia, § II, 2: Lombok. In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . Vol. 12. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, p. 310.
  31. ↑ Rinding Gumbeng: alat music Etnik dari Bambu yang Kini Hampir Punah. Ensiklopedia Pengetahuan Pupuler (Indonesian).