Vocal coach Bertha's unchained melody

Vocal coach Bertha's unchained melody

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

There are many adjectives to describe the rather complicated
personality of singing guru Bertha, but let's start with "moody".

Run a few feeling-out questions her way, even the basic one
like when she started as a voice coach, and you get a shrugged,
"I don't know, I just did".

Must singers take voice coaching lessons?

"I don't know. If they want to. But if they're not in the
mood, then don't".

Any benefit at all from vocal rehearsals?

"I don't know, I didn't ask them to come."

After the bit of verbal tap-dancing, Bertha opened up to
reveal her frustration with all the rules governing life.

"Who said it's a must? Why can't my daughter use her left
hand? Didn't God create the left hand too? Aren't we using the
left hand to play the piano? There are just too many doctrines
that I don't understand," she said, referring to the Eastern
designation of the left hand as "unclean".

She owned up to being a typically moody artist, but said she
was n the right place to vent.

"I'm an Indonesian, I can afford to be moody, unlike people in
the northern hemisphere who have to be prepared for each season.
Too many rules there, even about eating. I eat whenever I want,"
said Bertha, who is married to a British man.

Blunt she may be, but she is not rude. In fact, there is an
upfront decency in her behavior, because she believes in treating
people -- her inspiration and teachers in life -- with dignity.

Bertha (real name Etta Herawati) has forged a reputation as a
leading singing coach, with a motley group of clients: children,
top singers honing their skills, expatriates, as well as
government officials and their spouses with dreams of singing on
key.

More recently, she has become known as one of the advisers to
the contestants in the phenomenally successful star search show
Akademi Fantasi Indosiar (AFI). With the tearful departure of
each contestant (now household names in their own right), Bertha
was often on hand to offer them a comforting word and send them
on their way.

Bertha said she was not impressed with the demand for her
services, saying she does not have much to offer. She does in
fact, possess a deep, resonant voice similar to that of Ella
Fitzgerald's.

"If people look for me, I'll teach them. But that's only
limited to breathing technique," said the owner of Talenta Svara
Bertha vocal course.

Perhaps it is her warm personal style that touches people and
keeps them coming back. There is no strict teacher-student
relationship, but Bertha will be there to ask you what you need,
to talk and offer advice when need be.

"Jakarta is a stressful city. After enduring traffic jams and
all, I can't tell people to go straight up there and sing.
They'll die! So, we talk first, drink, eat, then we sing. Maybe
the time is shorter, but people will sing with all their heart,
and that's better," she said.

On meeting mediocre but stargazing students, she will not
rudely burst their bubble but instead return their revved up
"gear" to neutral.

"I'll talk to them gently, because they are human beings with
souls. I never stop people or order them to stop doing things,
because I would never accept that either. It's more meaningful to
respect people, then they will understand."

With no formal musical education background, Bertha said her
teaching career was God's way to provide her with a living to buy
food and feed her nine-month-old baby, Jasmine Malaeka McCarthy.

Born in Jakarta and raised in Malang, East Java, Bertha
started her career as a journalist for the Malang daily Suara
Indonesia, often performing on stage in her free time.

She sang all types of music -- from rock to keroncong (a
Portuguese-inflected local genre) and dangdut (a hybrid of Arab
and Indian influences), although she now mostly sticks to jazz
"for its agility".

After winning several singing festivals, Bertha arrived in the
capital in 1996 with little money to support herself.

"I had to sleep at bus terminals, under the bridge, until I
found a hotel and slept in the lobby. Of course, they kicked me
out," she laughed.

She credits the tough times with molding her into a stronger
person, someone who is patient and easy going ("I don't even lock
my house") in dealing with what life throws her way. "I had
difficult times in my life. I experienced physical abuse, but I
was all right. Never think of it as a suffering," she said.

She came to the attention of the local jazz community, meeting
top musicians like Indra Lesmana and Dwiki Dharmawan, with the
latter convincing her to teach.

The inevitable million dollar question: What makes a good
singer?

"There's no such thing as a perfect singer. Singing is a
matter of sounding good. Sing what you feel and feel what you
sing. Let God take care of the money. Singing is about heart,
which is moved by God. It's that simple."

Being a good entertainer is a different matter, however,
requiring people to keep abreast of what is going on around them
and know how to read others.

"Everyone can sing, actually. But people still stick to
certain standards, the Western ones. The good ones are always
black singers or Mariah Carey. Everyone bows to money, power,
everything that comes from the West. We have no dignity anymore
as a nation."

Pandering to the powers-that-be applies to the local music
scene, with some notable singers resorting to cheap, vulgar acts
to reap rich but short-lived rewards.

"Singing is about entertaining people, it's honorable. Be a
smart entertainer, use your brain and heart. If you're just using
your brain, then doing the drill dance and getting Rp 40 million,
it's enough for you," she said.

"I'm not being judgmental, I'm just saying what I see. Let's
stay aware. The responsibility of an entertainer is bigger than
just singing. Don't just hang out at the malls without knowing
what's going on in society. The struggle and pain (entailed in
being successful) will end up being nostalgia."

These are the points that she taught the young participants of
AFI, which she admitted to thinking was only an attention-
grabbing sensational show at its outset.

She was surprised by its success, and left feeling a bit
uneasy by the hysterical reaction of the fans to their favorites.

"I think the success is due to the hard work of the team. The
vision is clear. Everyone has their own role."

Bertha considers that she is contributing her knowledge to the
careers of the young people, not setting out to create a star
because the criteria is unpredictable. It's especially true now
that the recording industry is no longer a healthy place to be,
with manufactured products rolling off the assembly line instead
of diverse acts that complement each other.

"That's why I no longer have the ambition to be a recording
artist. Everything is so commercial right now. I don't capitalize
on my teaching. I don't have brochures, I don't set a fee. Don't
have any money? Join a charity class. It's free."

So, does she still want to continue teaching?

"I don't know. Perhaps 10 minutes from now I'll get hit by a
car and die. I have no idea. I don't own anything. I don't know,"
she said with a shrug.