'Angklung' made with fatherly love<\/p>\n
By Bambang Tiong<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Seventy-year-old Sumitro, who lives in
\nTegiri, a small village in Yogyakarta, is a successful maker of
\nthe West Javanese traditional musical instrument known as
\nangklung, a series of suspended bamboo tubes which percuss when
\nshaken.<\/p>\n
He said that he began making angklung when his first child,
\nwho had been born blind and was then aged 8, was capivated by the
\nsound of the angklung on the radio. Short of money, Sumitro could
\nnot buy a angklung outright. Fortunately, Kasan Wiyadi, a
\nresident of the neighboring Menguri village, was moved by the
\nboy. Kasan was a practitioner of the local traditional art called
\nuncling, which closely resembles kuda lumping, in which men ride
\non horses made of plaitwork and dance themselves into a trance.
\nUnlike kuda lumping, uncling is accompanied by angklung music.<\/p>\n
Kasan promised to make the boy a set of angklung. However,
\nthis angklung, which took him about two months to make, did not
\nsatisfy the child. Prompted by his love for the child, Sumitro
\nhimself tried to make this musical instrument with Kasan's help.
\nUnexpectedly, the angklung that Sumitro made was exactly to the
\nchild's liking.<\/p>\n
Encouraged that he could make angklung, Sumitro, a father of
\nfour children, began making them commercially in 1973.<\/p>\n
The instrument is constructed of three types of bamboo --
\npetung, apus and wulung -- which each have different and
\ncomplementary functions. Petung is used for the diatonic tones,
\nwulung for the accompaniment and apus for the basic tones,\" said
\nSumitro.<\/p>\n
He further said that a set of angklung is made up of 60
\nindividual angklung, 44 of which are used to produce melodies and
\nthe remaining 16 for the chords.<\/p>\n
To make angklung, 30 pieces of bamboo are used. Each piece
\nconsists of 10 ros (a space between two joints), and each ros is
\n40 centimeters to 70 centimeters long.<\/p>\n
In a performance, a set of angklung will be complemented with
\nother bamboo musical instruments, such as several kinds of gong
\nand gambang (a traditional instrument resembling a xylophone).<\/p>\n
To be able to get the most melodious sound from the angklung,
\nthe quality of the bamboo is of great importance. One must
\nconsider the fertility of the soil where the bamboo grows.<\/p>\n
A bamboo tree growing on fertile soil is harvested at three
\nyears of age. On the other hand, if a bamboo tree is growing on
\ninfertile soil, it will be harvested at one year of age.
\nAccording to Sumitro, a bamboo tree growing on infertile soil
\nundergoes a faster aging process. It is thinner and drier, and
\nsuitable to produce high tones.<\/p>\n
A bamboo tree cannot be cut at just any time. You must know
\nthe best months for harvesting the trees. The period between
\nMarch and June is believed to be good for this purpose -- the
\ntree interiors are free from insects during this period. However,
\nas the period between March and June is the wet season, the
\nbamboo will be in a humid condition.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, as soon as a bamboo tree is cut down, it must be
\ndried and then kept for a couple of years on top of the roof in
\nsuch a way as it is prevented from contact with water and
\nexposure to sun rays,\" Sumitro said, adding that this process
\nwill prevent certain elements that insects like proliferating.<\/p>\n
Besides, no chemicals are used in preserving the bamboo, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
In obtaining his bamboo stems, Sumitro buys them from areas
\naround his village.<\/p>\n
Making an angklung is not as simple as many people think. As
\nsoon as the bamboo is taken out of storage, it is tested for
\ntonality. Usually, he said, only 40 percent of the bamboo stems
\nare used. \"As angklung produces unique sound, this uniqueness
\nmust be maintained,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Once the right raw materials are found, they are cut with a
\nsaw and then smoothed with a small knife. Holes are then made
\nusing a pointed iron device. When all is ready, the bamboo pieces
\nare subjected to another test for tonality. When the maker is
\nsatisfied with the sound, these bamboo are assembled using
\nrefined pieces of bamboo half the size of a little finger. The
\nlittle pieces serve as the framework to which the bamboo pieces
\nare tied with a rattan rope.<\/p>\n
A set of angklung is made by three persons in about two weeks.
\nThe traditional working tools include a small saw, a sharpening
\nknife, a machete and an iron piece for making holes.<\/p>\n
Dwi Budiyanto, 29, who has worked with Sumitro for over three
\nyears, said that to make angklung properly is not difficult. What
\nis difficult is to harmonize the tunes produced by different
\nbamboo pieces. Dwi also said that he liked his job not only
\nbecause it suited his artistic gifts but also because he could
\nearn Rp 10,000 a day. Gunawan, 27, one of Dwi's workmates, agreed
\nwith him and added that after working with Sumitro for 4 years,
\nhe could help his family financially.<\/p>\n
According to Sumitro, few of his fellow villagers are
\ninterested in making angklung -- they are not interested in
\nworking with bamboo.<\/p>\n
\"I cannot develop this skill in my own village because many
\npeople belittle this undertaking, arguing that the raw materials
\nare cheap,\" he complained. One bamboo stem can be obtained at
\nonly Rp 1,500. However, every felling season (March to June),
\nSumitro spends Rp 3 million to amass a sufficient inventory of
\nbamboo for the angklung's yearly demands. Sumitro needs at least
\n150 bamboo stems every month.<\/p>\n
When asked how much money is spent to make a set of angklung,
\nSumitro was reluctant to give an answer. He simply said that the
\nprofit could be more than 500 percent. Sumitro sells a set of
\nangklung at Rp 1.5 million.<\/p>\n
Sumitro has sold his angklung to a great number of arts groups
\nat home and abroad, such as England, France, the Netherlands and
\nIreland.<\/p>\n
At the end of the meeting with The Jakarta Post at his
\nworkshop called Serambu, Sumitro said he was optimistic about the
\nprospects for angklung. He believes that in this era of
\nsophisticated technology, many people will return to the
\ntraditional things in life.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/angklung-made-with-fatherly-love-1447893297",
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