Ethnomusicologist sings praises of local tunes

Ethnomusicologist sings praises of local tunes

By Achmad Nurhoeri

JAKARTA (JP): An intent speaker spontaneously uttered "Aduh,"
at a press conference last week. The presenter was asked a
question by a local reporter who mustered his question with a
very thick, strong Javanese accent. The presenter subsequently
scratched his grayish hair and again reiterated the very
interjection which is the Indonesian equivalent of "Ouch" before
he answered. "Aduh," and he enunciated in expressive Bahasa
Indonesia. With no vexing accent, whatsoever.

If he had been Indonesian, it would have been no big deal. But
the man was far from your average Indonesian Joe. On the
contrary, he seemed as American as apple pie. He was introduced
as Philip Yampolsky, a consultant to the Smithsonian Institution.

As the conference moved on, the audience realized he was the
editor and main man behind the ambitious project called Music of
Indonesia series which will be launched in Indonesia this
morning. Needless to say, the very Indonesian interjection Aduh
was hardly an indication of his extensive knowledge of
Indonesia's rich collection of melodies.

"Indonesian music is so astounding. I really want to amaze
outsiders with the music coming from places in Indonesia," said
52-year-old Yampolsky who has trekked through 25 of Indonesia's
27 provinces.

The Music of Indonesia series is a project that will collect
various musical forms from throughout the archipelago and pack
them into 20 albums, each unique from the other. Twelve volumes
are currently on sale in the United States with the Smithsonian
Folkways label. The volumes being launched in Indonesia today are
the first six. Yampolsky and his crew from the Indonesian
Performing Arts Society (MSPI) have eight volumes to finish this
year, the final year. However, after managing to record
unimaginable sounds from isolated places on Flores island, Nias
and even from the mountains of Irian Jaya, no feat seems too
strenuous for this audacious pack.

Yampolsky's was the first name chosen by the Ford Foundation,
the benefactor of the project, to lead the scheme when the
Smithsonian Institution did not have an Indonesian
ethnomusicologist. The project itself began after the foundation
pushed a proposal to the scientific institution in 1988.

"Back then, there were not many experts who studied Indonesian
music holistically. I was one of the few who did have experiences
with Indonesian music from Java and Sumatra. So, they thought I
was the right one to edit a series on Indonesian music,"
explained Yampolsky, who had his first encounter with Indonesian
music in 1963 and flew to Java in the 1970s, propelled by his
desire to indulge himself with the gamelan orchestra.

And what better choice than picking someone who adores the
music than this ardent gamelan aficionado? Yampolsky's love for
Indonesian music was cultivated through the years spent obtaining
his master's degrees at California Institute of the Arts under
the auspices of gamelan pundit Ki Warsitodiningrat.

Choice

In the beginning, he did not consciously choose to become an
Indonesian ethnomusicologist or even to dwell in the field of
music. It was his teacher at Columbia University who helped him
change direction, from English literature to West African music.
He became completely absorbed in the unique music of the black
continent.

After getting his bachelor's degree in 1968, he decided to
continue his studies in music at CalArt, where he first became
acquainted with Javanese gamelan.

"I felt it (the study of music) more enchanting. It enlivened
every part of my brain," reminisced Yampolsky, whose wife is from
Surakarta and teaches Indonesian at Yale University.

"And in the process, I fell in love with Indonesian music,"
said Yampolsky, the first foreign consultant at the pioneering
ethnomusicology department at Medan's University of North
Sumatra.

Is it something like witing tresno jalaran suko kulino (Love
grows more while knowing it more)? "Memang (indeed)," said
Yampolsky.

His initial search for music in Indonesia was done in a bit of
hurry, considering there are zillions of musical forms in the
country. Smithsonian wanted the taped music for the Indonesian-
American Cultural Festival (KIAS) in 1991. The KIAS tour of
America was to play at the Washington-based institution in July
1991 and that was Yampolsky's first deadline.

He started his work in 1990 after finding the perfect ally,
the MSPI. He did not want to stray too far from Java because of
the deadline. The first destination was Banyuwangi, a town
located on the east coast of Java where ferries cross over to
Bali island.

"We daren't go far from Java. Moreover, I had always had a
desire to record Banyuwangi music. I failed in the 1980s because
of a lack of equipment," he said.

The deadline was met. Three volumes were well received at the
festival. The Banyuwangi record, The Songs Before Dawn, were
introduced along with the second volume, Indonesian Popular Music
which had dangdut king Rhoma Irama in black rockstar attire on
the cover and the third, Music from the Outskirts of Jakarta.

After KIAS, Yampolsky's desire to search for more unique music
in Indonesia was in top gear. He roamed all over the archipelago.
With one or two MSPI people and sophisticated digital audio tape
recording equipment, he strolled over plains on Flores island,
through Kalimantan jungles, and valleys of West Sumatra for the
sake of a blissful sound bite. Sometimes, the team discovered
music unfamiliar to their ears. Sometimes the locals watched them
suspiciously. Most of the time, they had to record on the spot
with the surrounding cacophony as a complimentary symphony.

"There were always finding thrilling things along the way. So
many times I encountered music unimagined before, like the Flores
chorus or the Ajeng of Karawang," he elaborated. "I was very
pleased when I could record the songs before dawn at Banyuwangi.
I wanted to tell others that there existed a music so
tranquil ... so calm."

Yampolsky did not boast of success at all through our
interview. "Our approaches sometimes did not work. The locals
sometimes just did not understand the purpose of recording," the
Washington-born explained.

"But I cannot recall any which totally failed. When we were in
Kalimantan once, we failed to record some traditional funeral
music," he said. The team could not record due to the locals'
belief that the music only can be played when someone dies. They
refused to play for any other reason. They did not scorn us. They
just wanted their belief to be acknowledged," he explained.

"At that time nobody died, and we just couldn't order someone
to die for our own purpose," he quipped.

If one can pick a time to alleviate the existence of
Indonesian traditional music, there is no better time than today
when the vigorous tentacles of the popular music industry is
dominating the nation with trends uniformly dressed for all
nations. However, for Yampolsky, pop music is not what he fears
the most.

"There is this deceiving perception spread by the mass media
and Jakartans that says music from the villages is less modern.
Hillbilly-like," he explained. "This comes from city people who
like to brag about themselves, saying that their way of living is
the most sophisticated way."

He told The Jakarta Post that this kind of perception
encourages youth to shun traditional music. "They define rural
culture as outdated. Young people do want to be outdated."

Yampolsky also elucidated the fact that some who intend to
preserve the culture often worsen the situation. "They tell
traditionalists that their culture is lacking something, is not
refined enough. Not clean enough. Not glamourous enough for urban
consumption," he said. "As a result even the traditionalist finds
his art unsuitable. The young heirs then neglect the culture.
They are not proud of it."