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)