Pujiono: 'Kendang' maker with a modest life

Pujiono: 'Kendang' maker with a modest life

By Singgir Kartana

BANYUWANGI, East Java (JP): To many, the kendang, a small drum
covered with leather at each end, is just another musical
instrument. To Pujiono, 44, however, it signifies life itself.

Thanks to this musical instrument, which is made of wood and
cow hide, he can feed his family. So when a kendang is played in
the morning, his life spirit soars to welcome another day.

Thick-set Pujiono lives in a small village in Jepit, Genteng,
Banyuwangi. He spends his days absorbed in the kendang and he is
well-known in Banyuwangi not only as an outstanding player but
also as an excellent kendang maker. Not only are his products
used by arts troupes in East Java, but they have also been
exported to such places as Malaysia, Thailand, the Netherlands,
Belgium, France, Brazil and Australia.

"Every week there are always some tourists coming to my house
to purchase or order kendang. At present I am making 12 which a
Dutchman has ordered," he said.

The kendang made by Pujiono are known for their neat and fine
workmanship and durability. A buyer can ask him to make a kendang
to his/her own taste. Pujiono does not set a high price for his
products which may be part of the reason his drums are so popular
among tourists.

"I love this musical instrument. The sound it makes is loud
and shrill. I will take it home as a souvenir for a friend of
mine, a choreographer now creating a blend of Indonesian and
American dances. She would love to have this," said Rob van Renn,
a Dutch tourist.

Pujiono has won acclaim from Banyuwangi traditional dancers
and musicians as an outstanding kendang player. He has played his
kendang for nearly all the traditional arts troupes in
Banyuwangi.

"It is true that Puji is not the only kendang player in
Banyuwangi. However, no other kendang players can compare with
him in terms of technique and improvisation and the dynamics of
his playing," said Edy Purwanto, an artist who is also a senior
at secondary school in Banyuwangi.

Puji has a lot of experience as a kendang player. He may be
asked twenty times a month to accompany a musical or dance
performance. During the season of festivities, such as the Besar
or Maulud months of the Javanese calendar, he plays his kendang
for a performance practically every day.

An elementary school drop-out, Puji says that he learnt how to
play kendang at the age of 16. Before this he used to frequently
join troupes of gandrung dancers in their performances. After
some time, he began to feel like playing all kinds of musical
instruments and to accompany gendhing, Javanese gamelan musical
compositions.

In less than a year, thanks to his great love of the
traditional musical instruments and his perseverance in learning
how to play them, Puji could play various traditional musical
instruments such as rebab, a two-stringed musical instrument,
saron, one of the metallophone instruments of gamelan, as well as
the violin and kendang.

Play it with feeling

In May last month, he was asked to perform in a number of
hotels in Bali over the course of a week. Apart from playing
music unique to Banyuwangi and Bali, he was also asked to play
kendang to accompany Western songs along with the hotels' musical
bands. Funnily, he did not even know what Western compositions
the bands were playing when he began to accompany them. No
wonder, since he is completely ignorant of Western music.

"I felt a bit nervous because there were quite a lot of
tourists in the audience. In the end, I had to fully rely on my
feeling when I played my kendang. Unexpectedly, the audience
loved my performance style. The performance became enjoyable and
everybody in the audience started dancing to the tune of my
kendang," said Puji, a father of two.

His intimacy with kendang means that he knows practically
everything about this musical instrument. One day in 1989 his
favorite kendang fell off the cupboard and the drum's wooden tube
was broken. This was a great disappointment because he needed the
instrument for a performance at the office of the ministry of
education and culture in Banyuwangi. Not knowing where to find a
replacement, he became bewildered. It struck him, however, that
he could always try to make the wooden tube himself. And he
succeeded.

This success later encouraged him to make his own kendang.
With only about Rp 100,000 on hand, he bought the raw materials:
wood, cow hide and rattan. He was quite lucky because he found a
buyer for his initial products.

Today Puji can make an average of four kendang a month. He
only makes kendang to order. If there are no orders, then he will
have nothing to do. In fact, a kendang can take only three to
four days to make. And orders keep arriving, although not as
frequently as before. Most of his buyers come from abroad. They
are either tourists on holiday or those who have just returned
from Bali.

He completes every stage of the drum-making process himself,
with the exception of cutting the wooden logs for the tubes. He
relies on a specialist to do this.

Puji's kendangs are sold for between Rp 350,000 and Rp
600,000. The price depends on the type of wood used for the tube
and the size. The most expensive kendangs are those with teak
wood tubes.

Apart from making kendang, Puji also repairs them. He will
provide the raw material and charge some Rp 150,000 a piece.

According to him, the most difficult and time-consuming aspect
of kendang making is to make a round hole and tube from one end
of the log to the other and then smoothen the surface of the
inside part to create the right shape. The inside part is removed
by scraping it with a carving instrument until the wooden tube is
about 3-4 cm thick.

Despite his success, Puji and his family do not lead a life of
luxury, even though he always sells his kendangs and accepts
invitations to play the kendang. Although not poor, their lives
remain very modest and their house reflects this as well. The
walls are yet to be plastered. The windows are covered with dull
bamboo plaited pieces. And the floor is still without floor
tiles.

Where have his earnings gone, then? He says that part of his
earnings from making and playing kendang are set aside to help
his fellow artists who lead poorer lives than him.

Despite his modest living, he always feels happy making and
playing kendang. Puji is a genuine artist faithfully devoted to
his life in the traditional arts community of Banyuwangi.