Radio can turn up the volume for traditional music programs

By Rita A. Widiadana

On the brink of the new millennium, traditional arts and culture are at a crossroads. What is the role of the media, especially radio, in preserving and promoting tradition? Radio experts, musicians and scholars from the Asia-Pacific region shared their experience and expertise in recent meetings held in Surakarta, Central Java, and Candi Dasa, Bali.

CANDI DASA, Karang Asem, Bali (JP): Radio is the mass communication medium considered to have the most potential in efforts to develop and preserve traditional music and arts.

Jennifer Lindsay, an expert on traditional arts, attributed it the fact that radio was based on oral traditions and every culture has a tradition of storytelling.

"In the past few years, scholars and artists did not fully realize the significant roles of radio in the development of traditional or ethnic music and arts," Lindsay said.

Even today when television is so widespread, people in many cultures find much of their entertainment through listening, Lindsay said.

"The fascination of listening to a good tale has never been lost," said Lindsay, a project officer at the Ford Foundation.

The meeting was organized by the "Team of Eight" in cooperation with several organizations, including the Ford Foundation, the Indonesian Performing Arts Society, Komseni and several domestic and overseas radio stations.

Among the participants were delegations from Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States.

The main goals of the gathering were to build strong networking among the member countries and to encourage each government to devote adequate airtime for the broadcast of traditional music and arts.

The fast growth of audio-visual technology has helped traditional arts survive in the modern world, she said.

"People can now learn and understand a diverse range of traditional music through television and especially radio," she said.

Despite the rapid development of new technology and the wealth of traditions and culture of countries in the Asia Pacific, broadcasting ethnic music on most radio stations presents a challenge.

Broadcasting regulations of respective countries, inadequate recording materials, lack of funds and human resources and the domination of Western-oriented music have deterred many radio stations from playing ethnic music.

"Most listeners, the youth in particular, prefer to hear popular music, especially from the West," explained Errol Jonathan, chairman of the organizing committee.

Broadcasts of ethnic music require considerable outlay and knowledgeable radio producers and broadcasters, particularly when the music is performed live.

Many producers and radio practitioners do not have adequate knowledge of traditional music, and find it difficult to create interesting programs, he said.

They also face problems in finding recordings of ethnic music on the market and attracting advertisers.

"It is hard for commercial radio stations to arrange such programs because they mostly rely on advertisers for their income," Jonathan said.

State-owned Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI), he said, must be active in the promotion of traditional music.

Philip Yampolsky from the Smithsonian Institution in the United States said that RRI experimented with the broadcast of traditional songs and music, which it termed hiburan daerah (local entertainment), in the 1950s.

"But instead of presenting songs accompanied by traditional musical instruments such as gamelan and bamboo, RRI created local songs in Western musical arrangements," he said.

Traditional folk songs like Ampar-Ampar Pisang from Kalimantan, Burung Kakak Tua and O Inani Keke from Maluku, were arranged and recorded with the piano, guitar and violin. The music and songs were popularized by singers like the late Bing Slamet, he said.

"RRI should be free to experiment with various ethnic music programs because the station is supported by the government, meaning it doesn't have to worry about money."

Jonathan was pessimistic because RRI has so far acted more as the government's mouthpiece rather than a state radio network holding an important mission to fully support and nurture local music programs.

He is encouraged to see the recent development of radio stations in some provincial cities like Denpasar in Bali and Padang and Payakumbuh, both in West Sumatra, which have started to broadcast local music and other programs based on their traditions.

He said Radio Yudha in Denpasar and Radio Harau in Payakumbuh, West Sumatra, as good examples of how commercial radio stations could support traditional arts.

Their programming spans traditional music, talk shows, poetry readings, news and sports, all conducted in the regional languages.

"They are commercial radio stations, but they have a strong commitment to supporting the development of local culture," Jonathan said.

Their programs have proved appealing to both young audiences and advertisers.

Representatives from India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand also talked of similar problems in broadcasting traditional music.

Malaysia's government through Radio Televisi Malaysia (RTM) has established a radio station called Radio Orang Asli, which is intended to accommodate members of the indigenous population with programs in their own language and cultural sensitivities.

Zainal Abidin Iberahim of RTM complained that Radio Orang Asli's management found it difficult to find the music of the indigenous people for broadcast because they rarely made recordings.

Problems in India and Vietnam are also complex. Both countries comprise diverse ethnic communities, each with its own language, culture and traditions.

Traditional music programs in these countries must represent music compositions of all members of the community to avoid the emergence of social jealousy and conflict.