Minahasa bamboo trumpets find new home

By R. Agus Bakti

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Multifunctional bamboo is a fixture in houses around the world for utensils, furniture and beautiful handicrafts.

It has long served a different use in North Sulawesi's Minahasa region. In an area famed for its scenic beauty and the people's love of music, bamboo is shaped into elegant trumpets which produce a melodious sound.

Ironically, some of the most famous Minahasa trumpets produced today are not made in the region which bears their name, but far away in Yogyakarta.

The maker is Yusuf F. Tahulena, 50, who was born in Sangihe Talaud in Minahasa but has been a resident of Yogyakarta for 10 years.

He believes that Indonesia's rich ethnic music tradition deserves more attention.

"This music plays a significant role in national development. The same goes for bamboo musical instruments."

He said particular instruments were identified with the respective regions and people of the country, such as the angklung, a musical instrument consisting of suspended bamboo tubes which sound when shaken, and calung, a bamboo xylophone, from the Sundanese people of West Java, and the bamboo gamelan or krumpyung from Yogyakarta.

Yusuf said bamboo trumpets were made and played for hundreds of years in North Sulawesi, particularly Sangihe Talaud.

There are various models. A bamboo saxophone, for example, is called sesuho, while a bamboo trumpet is known as pepato.

He said the skill of making the instrument was passed down from one generation to the next; he began learning the process when he was six years old.

He said his grandfather used to tell him and his other grandchildren stories about how their great grandfather was a maker of bamboo trumpets. Yusuf was successful in his attempts to make the trumpet, which led to him setting up his own business in Yogyakarta.

Yusuf's original intention when he went to Yogyakarta was to develop an export-oriented bamboo handicraft business, and he quickly realized bamboo trumpets would be an added attraction.

He does not depend on the bamboo trumpets as the main source of his livelihood, saying the production capacity was too small compared to other handicraft items.

High-quality bamboo must be used to make the trumpets. "We must pick very old bamboo," he said, adding that the entire process of making the bamboo was manual.

"If you are only thinking about earning money, this is not a good business to go into."

It can take a long time, sometimes even months, before the bamboo is ready to be made into a trumpet. To ensure the trumpet will be durable and of good quality, the bamboo poles are steeped in flowing water, usually a river, for about three months.

The bamboo is then dried by being placed on a board above a small flame. The distance between the bamboo and the flame is arranged to ensure it will never burn the bamboo. The process lasts about four months.

It is only then that the bamboo is ready to be made into trumpets.

"In principle, all kinds of bamboo can be used to make bamboo trumpets even though each types has its advantages and drawbacks."

There are no fewer than 20 species of bamboo in the country, he said. The species suitable for sesuho and pepato include bambu tutul, spotted bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris), bambu petung (Dendrocalamus asper) and bambu wulung (Gigantochloa verticilata).

The difficulty in producing the trumpet does not lie in the way it is made. "Fixing and connecting the parts is quite easy to do. Harmonizing all the notes produced is difficult because it requires sensitivity and an artistic feeling," he said.

Yusuf's trumpets use the diatonic system. Determining the basic note, for example C, F or G, is complicated.

He said making the trumpets brought back fond memories of when he played them during special events in junior high school.

"Even if you can't play them, the bamboo trumpets can be used to decorate your rooms," he said.

Yusuf, who married a Yogyakarta woman, said bamboo trumpets were played, along with other musical instruments like guitars and local drums, to accompany hymns and songs sung at customary rites and wedding parties.

A novice will take about three months to learn to play a bamboo trumpet, he said.

Although Yusuf is good at making and playing bamboo trumpets, he does not want people to call him an artist or even a businessman.

"Well, though I prefer to be called an artist rather than a businessman, neither label should be conferred on me. I don't think such labeling is of any importance. What counts is what I can produce them."

Yusuf's workshop is far from the hustle and bustle of Yogyakarta. It is reached by a path along the banks of the River Progo, some 30 km to the west of the center of Yogyakarta.

He said he chose the remote location because it allowed him to facilitate aspects of making the instruments, such as steeping the bamboo poles in the river.

Yusuf lives in Kweni, Bantul, Yogyakarta, commuting every day to his workshop, called Usaha Dagang Kembang (Flower Trading Business). He employs 12 people.

The business also produces bamboo handicrafts and accessories such as table mats, cabinets, work-tables, armchairs, mirrors and rectangular tables. He sources the bamboo from the Dieng area in Muntilan, on the slopes of Mt. Merapi in Central Java, and also from Yogyakarta.

His bamboo trumpets range from Rp 100,000 to Rp 150,000. A bass trumpet, nearly the length of an average human, costs Rp 1 million.

He earns tens of million of rupiah every month from his business. Most of his products are exported to Mexico, the United States and Japan. The bamboo trumpets are usually used as interior decorations, the natural color of the bamboo giving an ethnic and artistic impression.

His products are also sold in Europe, with Potwell House in Somerset, England, handling their marketing in European countries.

He is not all business, however. He said he was obsessed with the idea of bringing a bamboo musical group from North Sulawesi to perform in Yogyakarta, a region under Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X which is conducive to the development of arts in general. "Man proposes, God disposes, though," he added.