Third drum festival to feature noted percussionists

By Franki Raden

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has an infinite treasure of percussion instruments. Gamelan, a music genre making global inroads, is an orchestra mainly consisting of percussion instruments.

This phenomenon has influenced the development of Indonesian contemporary music. Composers and percussionists like Harry Roesli, Ben Pasaribu, Sapto Rahardjo, Inisisri, Embie C. Noer, I Wayan Sadra, Taman Husein, Elizar Koto, M. Halim, I Wayan Diya, Manda Daeng and Gilang Ramadhan, have experimented endlessly and managed to compose a music piece for percussion instruments, both acoustic and electronic.

At the upcoming Indonesian International Drum Festival (IIDF) to be held between July 14 and 15 for the third time at Ancol's Art Market, 12 composers and noted percussionists will be playing their newest works. They will transform the stage into an attractive scene of competition for music enthusiasts to enjoy the makings of contemporary music by Indonesian composers and percussionists.

Of the 12 works the group are to perform, three different approaches by the composers will be noted. Composers like I Wayan Sadra (Surakarta-Bali), Inisisri (Jakarta-Banyuwangi), I Wayyan Diya (Jakarta-Bali), Manda Daeng (South Sulawesi), Elizar Koto and M. Halim (Padang Panjang) will perform works totally grounded in the traditional music of their regions.

Sadra and his work Bamboo Splitting will explore and develop the power of rythm, the shades of sound and the technique brought forth by bamboo in various traditional music works from Java and Bali.

Inisisri with his different instrumental formations will also make use of the blunt powerful music rythm of Banyuwangi. With a combination of percussion instruments made from leather, wood and alloy, the full brashness of the rhythm will form a colorful and rich balance.

Elizar Koto and M. Halim will be working together in a piece based on rhythmic plays of various traditional percussion forms from West Sumatra. One of the dominant rhythmic traits in their work has been adapted from a traditional music genre called Tabuah Kamat, which uses a drum to call people to pray in a mosque.

Manda Daeng will be playing a very dynamic piece for tambours very much in the tradition of music from the Gowa region in Sulawesi. While I Wayan Diya will be staging traditional music from Bali in a colossal turnout of over 100 players.

These composers and percussionists aim to dish up a musical event as a cultural event. This is why I Wayan Diya will also create a Balinese cultural atmosphere at the Ancol Art Market.

The second group is made up of composers combining traditional and modern musical instruments. They include Ben Pasaribu, Santo Rahardjo, Embie C. Noer and Gilang Ramadhan.

Ben Pasaribu with his work called Sumatra Dwipa No. 7 will be combining traditional drums from Sumatra like the karo drum, malayan drum, marwas (tambourine), taganing, a set of drums following upon each other, 2 timpani, rototoms and a drum bass which will produce a richly integrated sound. This concept will also be used later by Gilang Ramadhan. Of interest in Gilang's work is his team work as a drummer among tifa drummers from Irian Jaya.

Two of Ben and Gilang's colleagues, Embie C. Noer and Sapto Rahardjo combine efforts to add more color to the sound of electronic instruments, especially the MIDI synthesizer, that is in the region of the membranophone.

Embie in his musical work Tinggal Landas (Launching), will integrate synthesizer sounds with percussion instruments like the rebana and beduk from Cirebon. Although Embie is from the region, his music presents an attractive nuance that surmounts cultural hurdles.

The same applies to Sapto Rahardjo who combines Javanese gamelan, synthesizers and percussion instruments. Sapto's effort to integrate music with the sounds of Yogyakarta's environment, his place of origin, immediately attracts the listener. His work entitled Dum G'Dum Dum has been transformed into a soundscape composition.

The third group of 11 composers and percussionists don't touch on traditional music at all. Harry Roesli and Taman Husein will present two different percussion varieties.

Harry Roesli is going to stage a stimulating experimental piece, while Taman, with his background in Jazz and Pop, will perform an awesome percussion formation of drums.

Aside from problems in Indonesian contemporary percussion music, IIDF 95 will also introduce international percussion groups who were specially selected to enliven the Indonesian Republic's 50th anniversary.

Outstanding Japanese taiko drummer Leonard Eto will be the first drummer of a large taiko group of Japan called KODO. Eto gave a spectacular performance when he played at a world music festival, "Great Music Experience", together with world music greats Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan and Wyane Shorter in a symphony orchestra conducted by Michael Kaman. In his upcoming performance at IIDF 95, Eto will be giving away an improvisation of traditional taiko music from Japan which is to be spectacular in sound and sight.

Another foreign participant will be Nantha Kumar, a percussionist from Singapore. Kumar is known as a member of the group "Flame of the Forest", but often plays together with famous international music groups like John Kaizan Neptune (member of Sakuhachi) and the Gypsy Kings.

In his work Cross Boundaries, which he will play at IIDF 95, Kumar works together rhythmic elements from traditional percussion sounds in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

From Australia, Ron Reeves and his trio will present a cultural shortcut which could be likened to a dialogue between percussion sounds from Sunda and traditional Aboriginal music from Australia and Africa. Reeves has delved deeply into the study of Sunda music.

Meanwhile, Gautam Kumar JHA from India will be representing his country's traditional music at IIDF 95 with his tabla accompanied by female sitar player Sharmistha Sen.