Minahasa bamboo trumpets find new home

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.