Music in Ulu Tembeling

                          Types of Music in Ulu Tembeling.

The following types of songs which had been found existing in Ulu Tembeling are : Lagu Indung; Tarian Saba; Lagu Dodoi [lullabies]; Lagu Bercerita [story telling song]; Lagu Permainan [children game songs]; Tarian Mayang; Tarian Lukah; Tarian Limbung; and Dikir Rebana.Indung is a set of 36 songs sang by women while working in the paddy field, especially during grass cuting. Indung was commonly practiced in Kampung Bantal, Kampung Mat Daling and Kampung Gusa!. Each song was attached with a specific poem [pantun]. It is a group singing, in unison, where the form is an alternation between a solo singer and the whole group. There were no musical instruments involved in Indung singing. Within the Indung songs, there are many lullabies. On the other hand, there are also a few songs that are sung with dance movements. The singing of Indung begin with the song Anak Indung, and ends with the song Pulang Indung, in which both songs share the same melody but different in theirsong text.

The text of a particular song in Indung is shown as below. This song is normally sung in the order of number 18, entitled Puteri Bongsu. This text is obtained directly from the lead singer Makcik Hamiah Haji Ahmad.

[Text for answering phrase sung in group, 111 unison, which is usually called as jawab]

Adik puteri bongsu,

tidurlwh jaga adiklah tubuh mu adik.

[Text for solo singer, which is usually called as pantun]

Tuan Puten Mayang rnengurai,

Pelangi menyala di daun !Jandan;

Hajat hati rnalas bercerai,

Selagi ada nyawa di badan.

In Indung songs, one answering phrase isrepeated many times, using the same melody

and text. The solo singer normally sings two stanzas of !Jantun in a song, but she could add on different !Jantun(s) if she likes to. AIl the different stanzas of pantun sung by the lead

singer in a song share the same melody. AIthough there is diversity in the characters of the song or texts of the Indung songs collection, many song texts appeared to be love poems. According to Mak Cik Hamlah, the spirit of the Puteri Gunung Bertujuh taught the songs to her ancestors

through dreams. Gunung Bertujuh refers to the seven hills in Kampung Banta!. A~ far as Indung

is concerned, the performance of Kampung Bantal Indung group had been documentedand studied by Norazit Selat (1999), mainly from social-cultural point of view. A musicological

approach on Indung song is yet to be carried out. Tarian Saba is a set of healing songs withdancing in Kampung Bantal and probably in the areas nearby. It was performed to celebrate the recovery of a patient. When a patient is recovered, the family would hold an open house dinner, and the villagers would dance the Tarian Sabain that house. The length of the dance was decided according to the seriousness of the illness that the patient had. The more serious the illness was, the longer the dance would be. The senior villagers in Kampung Bantal informed that in the past, Tarian Saba had been carried out until the cock crowed in the next morning. The bornoh, or the Malay shaman would lead the ceremony and dance. A gending, or the specialaccompanist of the shaman would accompany the dance with his singing while playing the rebana. Other villagers would participate, dancing in a circle surrounding a tree-like decoration made out of young coconut's leaves. Saba is in fact the name given to this tree-like

decoration. As Saba is a part of the traditional curing, the text has many special terms used in

shamanistic charms. No documentation had been done for Tarian Saba in Ulu Tembeling, although Mohd Yusof Abdullah decsribed the Tarian Saba

performed in place other than Ulu Tembeling.

Lagu Dodoi and Lagu Bercerita are songs sung by parents to their children at home. Many

villagers in their fifties or so admitted that their parents used to sing lullabies and tell stories to them during their childhood. A few of these villagers sang some Lagu Dodoi for the

researcher. Among them was Makcik Sum Imam Massah from Kampung Mat Daling who sang the song shown in Fig. 6. Some senior villagers sana

Lagu Bercerita for the researcher and the duration of each of these Lagu Bercerita was at

least 40 minutes. Among the story texts are Cerita Raja Terkukur, Cerita Musang Berjanggut

Pandai Membaca Kitab, and Tudung Periuk. Lagu Dodoi and Lagu Bercerita are essentially

the types of songs sung within households. 80 years old Makcik Sum Imam Massah from

Kampung Mat Daling recalled that when she was small, each household had its own songs of Lagu Dodoi and Lagu Bercerita. One family would not know the Lagu Dodoi and Lagu Bercerita of other family. This is not surprising if we understand the variety and individuality of these

songs due to the creativity and preference of stories by different family members who sang

the songs at that time.

Lagu Permainan [children game songs]includes the old game songs that were shared bythe senior villagers in their childhood days, and the present game songs that are taught in the primary school. Primary school children are found to be able to sing both the old game songs of their grandparents and some other new game songs including the game songs that use English song text. Tarian Limbung, Tarian Lukahand Tarian Mayang were songs with dance practice during celebration events like wedding,as entertainment. Dikir rebana, the songs applying Islamic texts, did not particularly belong to the Ulu Tembeling people, and could be found in other places in the State of Pahang. Musical Characters of Songs Most of the songs in Indung are in simple structure: binary form, repetition of two phrases. The single melody was ornamented frequently.The texture is heterophony when it was sung in a group, due to slightly different ornamentation by each singer. Most of the songs in Indung songs collection

have a consistent pulse but not necessary consistent meter. For example, the opening phrase of Anak Indung , has a consistent pulse, though it is difficult to distinguish a sense of meter here. Another example, Buai Adik Dendang Sayang , has a melody which is natural with the intonation of the song text. It gives the impression of being in a free tempo, even though it is actually consistent in pulse. Other than those songs with dancing, the songs in Indung were in a rather slow tempo.The sense of strong beat and weak beat (downbeat and up beat) in Western Classical Art Music does not seem to apply here. A song for dancing, Burung Berlatuk (Fig. 3) has seven basic pulses in a phrase. The beat that falls on the left foot during dancing will eventually fall on the right when it is repeated.

~Traditional Musics of Malaysia~(Introduction)

In my opinion, traditional music are nice and important for every culture. This is because 'Music speaks what cannot be expressed in words.' The rich and varied cultural heritage of Malaysia has also understood the importance of music and added this bead in its string. Malaysian music originally was developed out of need, like in earlier times when there was nothing to communicate; it was used to keep up a correspondence. Be it an announcement for wedding, birth, danger, warnings, death and any other news, the different beats of drums used to convey the message across villages. 

Malaysia is a multi-cultural country and none of its cultural arts is untouched by the influence. Applying the same theory for music, it had inclinations of Indonesian, Thai, Portuguese, Filipino and Chinese composition. Malaysian music which was influenced by various cultures got evolved with the passing time and secured its individual identity. In different parts of the country, there live people of many racial groups who have their own musical preferences, like Arabic Ghazals are popular in Kuala Lumpur and Rongeng music is preferred in Malacca.

Instigated from Arabia, Zapin music is loved all over the country. In fact, the present culture is soon catching up the taste of Europeans and Americans and thus, scores of pop singers and rock bands are emerging here. Regarding traditional music of Malaysia, it is based on Gamelan which is a stringed instrument having ethereal and stifled sound. Earlier, Gamelan accompanied by the hypnotic beats of Malaysian drums used to make the background music for dances in the courts. 

Today, Rebana Ubi serves as the ceremonial instrument and often played to strike refined music. Keeping up the time-honored heritage, Giant Drum Festival is arranged every year in Kelantan where eminent players across the country come to show their talent. Another popular traditional instrument which is used commonly in social occasions is Kompang. Pronounced "sa-peh", Sape is a convention lute from Central Borneo, popular in Malaysia. It is used habitually by the Kenyahs, Kayans and Kelabit tribes in Sarawak.

No music, no life. :)

Thank you.