Mang Udjo, the 'angklung' hero

By Matdon

BANDUNG (JP): He dedicated his whole life to the conservation of angklung, traditional bamboo percussion. Even after his death at 72 on Thursday, Mang Udjo Ngalagena, remains synonymous with angklung.

Mang Udjo died on Thursday after three months of complications from diabetes, hypertension and ulcers.

A modest man of great achievement, Mang Udjo is well-known not only among traditional music lovers in Indonesia but also abroad. He founded a workshop, Saung Angklung, in 1966 at Padasuka, some seven kilometers from the city center.

"Saung" is the Sundanese word for hut where farmers take shelter. Mang Udjo's saung is a place where people can learn to make and play angklung.

It was at this workshop that Mang Udjo made and played angklung in his bid to preserve its cultural heritage. The artist was known as an easygoing and friendly man. He is remembered as a man who would fiercely cling to orthodoxy.

He learned angklung from Prof. Daeng Soetigna in 1948. Mang Udjo was Daeng's only student who inherited his angklung-making skills. Mang Udjo became a master at the art: he knew how to select the best bamboo, how to properly cut bamboo and he knew of the tricks on how to tie up the bamboo to produce the most melodious sounds possible.

The origin of angklung is unknown. "Some say it began in Bali but others say it was from Tasikmalaya or Banten (West Java)," Mang Udjo once said.

It is understood that angklung already existed in the 16th century. Before it was known worldwide, it used to be played during rice harvest revelries, wedding parties or during night security patrols in the neighborhood.

In the early 1930s, Daeng could alter the diatonic note to pentatonic in angklung, allowing the instrument to be used in different music genres, such as jazz, dangdut and rock.

Mang Udjo was Daeng's favorite student. He performed for the first time on stage with his teacher in 1953. "I used to receive Rp 2.5 and often I got no payment at all," he recalled.

Daeng died in 1955 and Mang Udjo had to strive to popularize angklung alone. His hard work paid off. In 1968, or two years after he established his workshop, the government introduced angklung at schools.

As a token of support, the local government offered Rp 100,000 to the workshop.

Mang Udjo's workshop became well-known worldwide in 1978. The place became a popular tourist destination in Bandung. Meanwhile he began going international, performing in various countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands, United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Papua New Guinea and Thailand.

The workshop located in an eastern suburb offers a break from the hustle and bustle of the city. It has an atmosphere of rural peacefulness and beauty. Its interior is made of wood, bamboo and has a shingled roof. It has become one of Bandung's landmarks. Even taxi and pedicab drivers are generally familiar with the complex on Jl. Padasuka which has a spacious parking lot.

Every day, hundreds of local and foreign tourists visit the workshop where they can have a look around, learn how to play the instrument or buy a piece as a souvenir.

Mutiara, Mang Udjo's daughter, said that foreign visitors have dropped by some 75 percent since the economic crisis began in mid-1997.

Dozens of youths play angklung music at his workshop. It is a great attraction for visitors because the same instruments can be used to play different genres, from jazz to the traditional keroncong.

"I often ask myself if I can fulfill many people's hopes," Mang Udjo said. "I had never imagined before that my workshop would become a tourist attraction."

His prime concern was that young people are generally reluctant to preserve cultural heritage like angklung but he had the full support of his 10 children for the continuation of the work he had started.