'Gendang' reverberate through Lombok culture

'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.