Gamelan king has no successor<\/p>\n
Bambang M, Contributor, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
At 73, Trimanto lives up to his image as a true ironman. His
\nextraordinary dedication to making gamelan (Javanese musical
\ninstruments) has earned him the honorific, empu, or master
\ncraftsman.<\/p>\n
He is still strong enough to forge the bronze pieces, striking
\nthem with a 5-kilogram hammer in front of a traditional furnace
\nto make the best traditional musical instruments.<\/p>\n
To date he may be the only person throughout Yogyakarta, and
\nperhaps the entire country, who deserves the title empu in
\ngamelan-making. His full honorific name is Empu Triwiguna.<\/p>\n
The gamelan that Trimanto makes are used not only in Indonesia
\nbut also in Argentina, Finland, Japan and Australia.<\/p>\n
\"The gamelan is multipurpose. It also serves as a means of
\ncommunication between nations,\" said Trimanto, a father of eight.<\/p>\n
Trimanto inherited the skill of gamelan-making from his
\nfather, Karto Wiguno. Of seven siblings, only he, like his
\nfather, has followed in his father's footsteps.<\/p>\n
\"Of all my siblings, I happen to be closest to dad,\" he said.<\/p>\n
When Karto Wiguno was making gamelan instruments, he often
\nasked young Trimanto to help him. \"That's how I inherited his
\nskill,\" said Trimanto, who now has 18 grandchildren of his own.<\/p>\n
It was not until 1968 that he devoted himself to professional
\ngamelan-making. Before, Trimanto, who fought during the struggle
\nfor independence as a member of the Student Troops, was an
\nelementary school teacher. His meager income prompted him to try
\nhis luck making gamelan instruments.<\/p>\n
At first he used scrap iron to make simple instruments, which
\nhe later sold at the roadside. Rising demand convinced him that
\ngamelan-making was his future. He found someone very helpful to
\nhis career: Purwokusumo, the then Yogyakarta mayor.<\/p>\n
While he was making a name for himself, the government asked
\nhim to move to the Yogyakarta office of the ministry of education
\nand culture and assigned him to help develop the art.<\/p>\n
Then, in 1980, Trimanto was also asked to introduce a
\ntraditional Javanese music program to the Academy of Dancing Art
\n(ASTI) in Yogyakarta. Later, the academy was merged into the
\nIndonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) of Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Trimanto was a teacher by training. When in high school,
\nTrimanto studied at a teacher training high school (PGSLP) in
\nYogyakarta, with a special interest in history and geography.<\/p>\n
Trimanto's heyday as a gamelan-maker spanned the years from
\nthe early 1970s to 1997, when an economic crisis began to hit
\nIndonesia. He set up his firm, CV Pradangga Yasa, and had 65
\nemployees during the good years. He used to have hundreds of
\ncontract workers. The firm also received orders for church bells
\nand bedug (a large drum suspended horizontally at a mosque to
\nsummon the faithful to prayer) as well as requests for the repair
\nof gamelan instruments.<\/p>\n
When making a gamelan instrument, Trimanto sticks strictly to
\nthe tradition of his ancestors. Among other things, before making
\na gong, he must first slaughter a rooster for a ceremonial meal.
\nGamelan-makers believe that without this ceremonial meal, they
\nwill never succeed in making a perfect gong.<\/p>\n
\"A gong is the most difficult instrument to make because the
\nmaterial (bronze) weighs dozens of kilograms,\" said Trimanto. A
\ngong holds a very special position among the 46 instruments that
\nmake up a gamelan set. It is struck only when the gamelan's sound
\nhas reached its \"peak of perfection.\"<\/p>\n
\"A gong must be made perfect. Without a ceremonial meal, that
\nideal cannot be achieved,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The Javanese believe that life, like a turning wheel, moves up
\nand down. This is also the case in Trimanto's profession as a
\ngamelan-maker. His business declined when the country was in the
\ngrip of an economic crisis. During that dark period, he received
\nvirtually no orders for gamelan, a set of which can cost several
\nhundred million rupiah.<\/p>\n
\"Since the onset of the economic crisis, I have received only
\none order and that was from the Semarang branch of the state
\ntelevision station,\" he said.<\/p>\n
When business is low, he has to lay off his workers. Only six
\nstill help him now. They can all make gamelan instruments. He
\nsaid it would take 15 to 20 years to groom a worker to become a
\ngood gamelan-maker.<\/p>\n
\"I'd be really ashamed if I had to close down my business
\nbecause I received no orders any more. Anyway, I must preserve
\nthis skill,\" he said.<\/p>\n
As he has persevered in that aim, Unesco awarded him a
\ncitation in 2000. Recently, he also received a citation from
\nYogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X. He has received
\ndozens of citations throughout his career.<\/p>\n
Although the economic crisis still persists, his workshop in
\nPapringan, Yogyakarta (behind Affandi Museum) is now under
\nrenovation.<\/p>\n
\"My children are funding the renovation,\" he said. The parking
\nlot has been extended to accommodate more motorized vehicles
\ncarrying tourists wishing to observe how a gamelan is made. \"I'm
\nsure the economy will a recover soon and business will flourish
\nagain as before,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Among his masterpieces is a 2.5-ton gong, with a diameter of 6
\nmeters, which was struck to mark New Year's Eve 2000 at Jaya
\nAncol Dream Park.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want my name to be recorded by MURI (Indonesia's
\nMuseum of Records) because it was the park management that funded
\neverything; let MURI record their name,\" the modest empu said.<\/p>\n
In fact, Trimanto has also been included in MURI because in
\n2001 he made a giant bedug measuring 2.02 meters in diameter, 4
\nmeters long, 2 meters high and weighing 1 ton. It was also
\nTrimanto who came up with the idea of organizing a street gamelan
\nconcert in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Trimanto, who likes sports, spends much of his time comforting
\nhis wife, who suffered a stroke a few years ago.<\/p>\n
He uses gamelan music as therapy for his wife. He believes
\nthat the melodious sound of gamelan has the power to cure
\nailments.<\/p>\n
At about 11 a.m., Trimanto regularly takes his wife out to one
\nof their favorite restaurants. \"Thank God, my wife now shows
\nsigns of recovery,\" he said, always referring to his wife as his
\n\"girl friend.\"<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the empu has no heir apparent. None of his
\neight children have shown a desire to enter the profession.<\/p>\n
But Trimanto is not worried because some of his former assistants
\nhave now started their own gamelan-making businesses.<\/p>\n
\"When the time comes, I'm sure one of my children will step
\ninto my shoes,\" he said, getting ready to take his \"girl friend\"
\nout.<\/p>",
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