No Batak wedding is complete without a band<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Batak people in Jakarta, especially the Toba
\nBataks, often highlight their wedding parties with traditional
\nmusic commonly known as uning-uningan.<\/p>\n
At least five people make up an uning-uningan group. All their
\ninstruments are made of wood: flutes, the marimba-like garantung,
\nthe taganing, a small drum covered with leather at each end, and
\nkulintang, which is a percussion instrument.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta there are at least 18 uning-uningan groups which
\nregularly perform at Batak weddings and New Year's parties. Each
\ngroup may perform as often as twice or three times a week.<\/p>\n
Turman Sinaga, the music coordinator for the Martha Ulos
\nGroup, said his group sometimes performed as often as 20 times a
\nmonth. The owner of the group, Martha Sirait, includes a
\ntraditional Batak music performance in the Batak wedding package
\nhe offers.<\/p>\n
On average, a Batak music group can earn between Rp 500,000
\nand Rp 700,000 for one performance. So each member of the group
\nmay take home between Rp 100,000 and Rp 150,000 each time the
\ngroup performs.<\/p>\n
As the members of these Batak traditional music groups can
\nmake a handsome living, about 70 percent of them make playing
\nthis music their sole source of income. The other 30 percent of
\nthem may have side jobs such as working as bus conductors or
\nselling cigarettes at bus stations.<\/p>\n
"When we have to perform at a party, we will leave behind our
\nother jobs and concentrate on playing traditional Batak music.
\nWhere there is a wedding party, there we can find our fortune,"
\nsaid Ramses Simbolon, a member of the Sabangunan group of Bekasi.<\/p>\n
When these groups perform at a wedding party, these musicians
\ndon attractive costumes and leave behind their dirty and rumpled
\nwork clothes. Generally they wear black trousers and black long-
\nsleeved shirts. They will also wear hats made of ulos, a uniquely
\nBatak woven cloth. The will also wear a piece of ulos as a shawl,
\nwhich is worn across their chests and flows to the ground.<\/p>\n
Batak musicians who join uning-uningan groups, such as Arlen
\nNaibaho, Jona Sinaga, Erwin Samosir, Ongir Nainggolan and Saut
\nGultom, generally say they inherited their passion for this music
\nfrom previous generations.<\/p>\n
Take Eslon Simarmata, 25. His grandfather and his father were
\nmembers of an uning-uningan group, so he feels called upon to do
\nlikewise.<\/p>\n
Usually, uning-uningan groups play more or less the same
\npieces. The most popular works are generally those written by the
\nlate Tilhang Gultom. Gultom, who died in the 1970s, wrote
\nhundreds of Batak songs, the most popular of which include Butet,
\nSinanggal Tulo and Doge Doge.<\/p>\n
A Batak feast is complete only if the melodious sounds of
\nflutes and drums and the incessant beat of the percussion fill
\nthe air to accompany hundreds of guests merrily participating in
\nthe tortor, a Batak dance. (Tuti Gintini)<\/p>",
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