Kua Etnika's playful blend of traditional and modern music

Heru Prasetya, Contributor, Yogyakarta

In the hands of talented musicians, sounds emanating from simple, children's toys, like wooden long-barreled guns or whistles made from plastic straws, can turn into unique tunes for their musical performances.

The group of musicians from Kua Etnika, a contemporary musical group from Yogyakarta, does not only rely for its music on these simple instruments. It also blends these sounds with modern musical instruments such as keyboards, acoustic string guitars, Sundanese, Balinese and Banyuwangi kendang (drums), Japanese Shamizen flutes from Okinawa, violins, saxophones, flutes, wooden and metal trumpets, Chinese and Balinese gongs and more.

The result was seen in the concert, Konser Unen-Unen (Unen- Unen Concert), which was aired live by Yogyakarta's state-owned television station TVRI on Sept. 30. That night, the group presented nine musical pieces, including the unique Main-Main (Playing) and others like Blues Jeans Biru (Blue Jeans Blues), Arigato and Festival.

The concert was part of its warm-up before performing its works at the Bengkel Muzik Eksperimental Persembahan Rentak dan Gerak (Rhythm and Movement Experimental Workshop) in Malaysia.

Kua Etnika -- which was set up in 1996 by Djaduk Ferianto, Butet Kartaredjasa, Indra Tranggono and Purwanto -- was invited by the National Arts Academy of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to take part in the event on Oct. 13 and 14.

At the event, Djaduk and Purwanto have been invited to present their papers during the workshop. "This will pave the way to promote ethnic music," said Djaduk, the youngest child of prominent artist Bagong Kussudiardjo.

The group's name, Kua, is taken from the word kualitas (quality), showing its intention to cultivate ethnic music with an emphasis on quality. The name, Kua Etnika, was taken after one of Djaduk's compositions in 1995 when he was still a member of Pak Kanjeng music group.

"The fact that many traditional artists feel inferior when dealing with modern music is the reason for our concern. Traditional art or music is actually as rich and interesting as modern tunes," Djaduk said.

At first, Kua Etnika comprised 12 artists. Now, it consists of 14 people with different educational backgrounds. Djaduk, for example, graduated from the School of Fine Art and Design of the Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI). Sony Suprapto is a dancer while others are mostly graduates of the School of Traditional Javanese Music or ISI's School of Music.

The group is serious in its work. Every day, the group's members engage in creative musical explorations in its 600-square-meter studio in Kersan village in Bantul regency, some 15 km west of Yogyakarta.

Purwanto, for example, explores traditional music, while Pardiman cultivates oral music, termed Acapella Mataraman. They also collaborate with another group, for example with the Sinten Remen Keroncong orchestra.

Once in 35 days, the group organizes a regular activity known as Jagongan Wagen, where they exchange ideas and learn many aspects of art and life together.

"We also try to blend ethnic music with Western music, or combine ethnic music from different regions. For instance, we blend Balinese and Javanese music, or Sundanese and Minang music. By doing this, we hope to be able to create an Indonesian harmony that shows different character traits of ethnic music from different regions," Djaduk observed.

These efforts are hoped to be able to bring ethnic music to the surface without any inferior feeling toward modern music, Djaduk said.