'Gendang' reverberate through Lombok culture
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The pounding of gendang (traditional drums) permeated the room. The cymbals, gamelan and gong quickly joined in, attuning everybody's ears to the joyous sounds reverberating through the air.
The source of the commotion appeared from the back of the stage, moving slowly and dancing toward the audience who waited eagerly under the big clock in the atrium of Plaza Senayan, Central Jakarta. It was part of a three-day art festival held recently there.
A man beating a petuk tari (a one-piece gamelan) led the way, followed by two rows of sturdy men, the leaders carrying large gendang and the others playing a variety of instruments. The 1.5- meter-long and 50-centimeter-in-diameter gendang immediately caught the spectators' attention.
The two gendang bearers continuously beat one side of their drums with sticks and tapped the other side with their fingers. Behind them, seven dancers playing cengceng (small cymbals made of bronze) followed, clashing one side of the cengceng against the other.
Their faces were decorated with theatrical makeup -- pink cheeks, fierce moustaches and long sideburns. The shirts and sarongs were in shocking colors -- yellows, pinks and purples.
The gamelan players followed at the very back. Content to create the background, they sounded a gong, an oncer (a small gong with a higher pitch), two terompong and a rincik (types of gamelan) rhythmically and monotonously. The only melodious sounds came from a flute. The player brought the bamboo instrument to life with piercing high notes providing texture to the music.
This musical ensemble is called Gendang Beleq (pronounced beleek), a form of art from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. To the native Sasak, beleq means big, which refers to the size of the gendang.
Back in the old days, when wars between villages and clans were part of everyday life there, Gendang Beleq was performed to send heroes off to war and to greet them as they returned victoriously.
"That's why the players are required to be masculine and macho. Not sadistic macho, though, rather entertaining macho," said Mus Biawan, former head of the West Nusa Tenggara cultural park.
Today, the dance is used to greet tourists and VIP guests, and for enlivening festivities, such as weddings and circumcision parades. Its spirit and esthetics, however, remain the same.
"There are plenty of other art forms in Lombok," said Mursyid, one of the gamelan players. "But the one that has developed most rapidly is Gendang Beleq," added Iyan, 20, a gendang bearer who is also Mursyid's son. "Now every village has its own Gendang Beleq group."
Juanda Putra Dasan Agung, of which Mursyid and Iyan are members, is one of the best Gendang Beleq troupes in Mataram, the biggest city on Lombok. "Dasan" means a small community built by an ancestor and inhabited by his descendants. Thus, all the members of Juanda Putra, about 30 people ranging from boys to men in their 50s, are related to each other.
Sapri, 24, Iyan's uncle by marriage, has only been in the troupe for the last two years. "I didn't have to learn. It all came naturally," the cengceng player said. The ease with which the cengceng can be played was confirmed by other members, who admitted that they too did not need to learn formally or practice regularly to play the instruments.
However, as Gendang Beleq is on the must-have menu for a successful celebration, they have tons of experience and are in great demand. "If we didn't screen the requests, we would have to play every day," said Mursyid. "Of course we can't do that, some of us are working, some are studying," he said. Mursyid, Sapri and Iyan all work as buggy drivers.
A standard performance in Lombok usually involves about 30 musicians and requires quite a lot of stamina. In a nyongkolan ceremony (a traditional wedding parade), for example, they can walk about two kilometers, playing music, dancing, carrying and beating the 15 kilogram gendang and the other instruments for two hours.
As compensation, they receive about Rp 600,000 (US$70.59) for a half-day show and between Rp 1 million and Rp 1.5 million for a full day. As to the money each of them gets, "Sometimes it's just enough to buy soap," Sapri said, laughing.
"We play because we like it," said Mursyid. From second graders in elementary school to men in their 50s, from government officials to buggy drivers, people from all walks of life participate in Gendang Beleq. What binds them is their love of, and natural talent for, playing their traditional music.