Musicians drum up support for saving traditional music

By Yudha Kartohadiprodjo

JAKARTA (JP): Imagine a caravan of mules and a group of experts climbing the hills of Sulawesi. Carrying heavy equipment, the group is searching for the world's most universal, and valuable, language: music.

Led by Philip Yampolsky, a U.S. ethnomusicologist, the group was on its way to record South Sulawesi traditional music. The group has been traveling across Indonesia for a few years, recording the sounds of Gendang Karo drums from North Sumatra to the string music of Irian Jaya.

Yet, the effort by these experts seems to be wasted since the younger generation is more interested in American groups like Pearl Jam or Oasis. Sad to say, many of us ignore our own traditional music.

"Actually it is not the end of the world for traditional music. It is right, some traditional music has ceased to exist, while others continue to survive," said Anthony Seeger, the curator of Center of Folklife Program and Cultural Studies in Washington D.C.

Both Seeger and Yampolsky were here last week to address a discussion on Indonesian music's place in the world.

Having lived in Brazil for 10 years to study the traditional music of the Amazon's Suya tribe, Seeger knows that the effort to preserve traditional music is an arduous struggle. Before he took his current position at the prestigious center, he led a struggle to maintain the social and cultural existence of the tribe.

Containing an extensive archive of American folk music as well as ethnic music from all over the world, the center is a part of the world renowned Smithsonian Institute. Among the 2,000 CDs, 17,000 commercial discs and 500,000 feet of motion picture film in its archive, the center has produced 31 titles which contain Indonesian music.

Fifteen of the titles are music recorded by Yampolsky in Indonesia, called Music of Indonesia Series, released through Smithsonian Folkways.

The effort is meant to provide detailed information about Indonesian traditional music, its history and present day cultural context.

Concentrating on music that is less known outside, and in some cases within, Indonesia, the series offers a sampling of musical variety by presenting an exploratory aural experience.

"We would like to increase our understanding and learn about the people in the world. Recording allows us to have a hold on traditional music," said Seeger. He added that the effort is a long-term drive to preserve the music for future generations.

Yampolsky, who also edited and annotated the musical series, said that although traditional music would never occupy the place it used to, there is still a chance for the music to survive.

"Even if the young generation is not interested with this type of music, there is a high probability that they would want to study the music later," Yampolsky said.

Currently, many Indonesian musicians add ethnic color to their compositions and this is seen as beneficial to the development of traditional music.

Some, like Djaduk Ferianto and Soedjiwo Tedjo, have explored Javanese music and succeeded to present their music in a contemporary setting. Soedjiwo's album has even gained quite a high sales record.

Gilang Ramadhan, a drummer from the well-known Krakatau group, also has a small collection of ethnic music in his studio. Gilang plans to eventually create a library of traditional music from all over Indonesia, from which he could draw some inspiration.

"Such an attempt actually shows how music develops. One of the main issues to be considered, however, is whether traditional music receives the proper credit when mainstream musicians start to use it in their compositions," said Seeger.

He added that in many countries, including Indonesia, most traditional music is considered to be a public domain, which explains why traditional music and musicians cannot develop commercially like popular music has.

In some countries like Ghana, however, the government collects copyright fees from the public domain. The government then uses the money to fund the development of traditional music through festivals.

The preservation of traditional music is futile, however, when it is not followed by audience development.

Currently, some local and international institutions have been directed to increase the public's appreciation of Indonesian traditional music. Communication for Arts Foundation (KOMSENI) has organized an art appreciation program for minors. The program has been successfully carried out over the past couple of years.

The Ford Foundation, which funded the Music of Indonesian Series, also supports activities that increase public interest in arts and culture. The foundation funded workshops between radio stations and traditional musicians as well as arranged for traditional artists to visit high schools in Jakarta.

"The place of traditional music in society will be in jeopardy when the public starts to lose pride in the music," said Yampolsky.