Bali music maestro Rembang happy on the home front

Bali music maestro Rembang happy on the home front

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): He is now 70, but Nyoman Rembang, a
maestro of Balinese drums and gamelan, is always active --
performing at hotels and public places, and passing on his skills
to students, both local and foreign.

This tall, slim man spends much of his time writing books. At
present he is completing a book on the music that accompanies the
Gambuh dance, the oldest Balinese classical dance. Music
researchers from many countries and those writing their
dissertations on traditional music often crowd his house in
Banjar Tengah, Sesetan, Denpasar.

"When I realize my age, I feel like having a rest. My spirit,
however, is difficult to dampen. I have been involved in art
since I was young. I feel uncomfortable if I don't do any art
activities, even if it's only one day," said Nyoman Rembang.

He even fills his spare time involving himself in art
activities. His hands, no longer as strong as they once were,
continue to strike various percussion instruments that are stored
next to his house. Sometime he cuts up bamboo stems to make a
bungbang gamelan, a set of traditional gamelan instruments that
he began producing in 1985.

Large and small pieces of bamboo produce many different
sounds. Equipped with his highly sensitive ear, he has turned
these bamboo pieces into a beautiful accompaniment instrument.

A complete set of the gamelan is played by 32 people, each
playing one bungbang. This instrument is flexible -- it can be
used to accompany any dance or song.

Bungbang has been a popular instrument among traditional
musicians and academic circles for dozens of years. This
instrument can now be found in various U.S. and European
universities, and Rembang continues to receive many orders from
overseas.

Rembang received the Adhikarya Seni (Masterpiece in Art)
award from the government in 1999, one of many awards that have
been initiated by the local Balinese provincial government, the
education ministry and president Soeharto when he was in power.
UNESCO has also recognized Rembang recently in its program,
"Sacred Rhythm: The Millenia, Percussion for Union". But he does
not like to talk about his awards; his art is what matters to
him.

Rembang is concerned that many of his colleagues are not
properly remunerated for their skills.

"Most are underpaid, receiving amounts lower than what the
government has stipulated. What can they do? If an order is
rejected because the pay is bad, then many other people will take
the order. Artists, from villages in particular, need money
badly, especially when the country is still in the grip of an
economic crisis," he said.

Rembang himself sets his own fees for hotels.

"An artist must have his or her own bargaining position
prepared, otherwise they'll be belittled. Perhaps it is only my
group that dares to set a fee," said Rembang, chairman of the
gong association, langestisari, an organization that brings
together veterans and younger Balinese artists.

Informal study

Nyoman Rembang studied art, particularly percussion and
gamelan, informally. His formal education went no further than
the elementary school level.

His father was a farmer and his mother a gambuh dancer. At
the age of seven years, he began to learn how to play gamelan
gender, studying under the instruction of two noted musicians in
his local area of Sesetan. His teachers were impressed by his
extraordinary talent. After receiving instruction only a few
times, he could play the gender with confidence and precision.

The young Rembang also learned how to play gamelan legong. So
that he could study with the master teachers of this instrument,
he was willing to walk to Kuta, Geladang, Kepaon, Tohpati and
elsewhere. Throughout his period of learning he was urged on by a
strong desire to provide musical accompaniment to the gambuh
dance, a highly complicated performance.

So, away he went in search of another master. This pattern
continued, with Rembang wanting to learn other, and still other
kinds of traditional music. He gained fame for his versatile
skills in practically every kind of Balinese traditional music
when he was still in his teens.

He also began to give lessons on how to play Balinese
traditional percussion when he was still very young. In the wake
of all this activity, the orders started coming in for
performances.

In 1952, Nyoman Rembang accepted an offer to be a member of
the permanent teaching staff of Balinese percussion at the
Indonesian Traditional Music Conservatory (Kokar), a music center
based in Surakarta. During his appointment in Surakarta, he also
learned the Javanese gamelan, which explains why he is also a
formidable Javanese gamelan player.

In 1963, when Bali set up its own traditional music
conservatory, Rembang returned to his home island. At that time
many people were pressuring him to stay with the Surakarta
conservatory, "but I didn't have formal education ... I was just
an ordinary lecturer," he said.

Nyoman Rembang has often been invited abroad, either to
perform or to give lectures as an honorary lecturer. He usually
feels happy to accept invitations for a performance, which often
come from Singapore and Sri Lanka. In response to invitations to
become an honorary lecturer, he considers carefully before making
a decision.

"If I agree to sign a teaching contract, I will have to stay
abroad for many months. Well, I would miss my family," said
Rembang, now a widower with three children.

He once signed a three-year contract to teach Balinese gamelan
at the University of California at Berkeley in the United States.
Approaching the sixth month of his contract, he greatly missed
his wife and decided to return home.

"Actually, I was allowed to take my wife, but she refused to
join me because she was afraid of the flight," he reminisced.

Instead of going abroad, Nyoman Rembang chooses to continue
practicing his art, spend time with his grandchildren and spend
time in the place he loves most -- home. (Alpha Savitri)