Popular West Java regional musical instrument
West Java regional musical instruments have their own characteristics compared to musical instruments from other regions. Nowadays, perhaps we are more familiar with modern musical instruments, such as guitar, piano, violin, etc. But before the emergence of these various modern musical instruments, there were already traditional musical instruments.
More and more traditional cultures are being abandoned, including regional musical instruments. However, there are still many younger generations who participate in preserving traditional tools from West Java, such as angklang and flute. Both musical instruments are often presented as traditional musical instruments.
In fact, there are many other regional musical instruments that should be taken pride in and preserved so that our children and grandchildren can learn about this instrument later . This is why we will review the most popular traditional musical instruments of Western Java through the article below.
Copper rebabs
This musical instrument from West Java has existed since the 9th century AD and continues to this day. During the voyage, Middle Eastern merchants brought the ribab to Indonesia. This musical instrument made of copper has 3 strings or strings as a sound producer.
With the passage of time, the basic material for making the rebabs changed which was originally made of copper and now there are many rebabs made of wood that are made with a crossbow-like shape. The way to play it is to swipe the strings, just as you play a modern musical instrument, namely the violin.
Flute musical instruments made of bamboo
This is followed by the most popular Western Javanese musical instrument, called the flute. This musical instrument made of bamboo or wood is played by blowing up the available holes. In addition to inflatable holes, there are also holes to adjust the tone so that the number of holes varies, ranging from 4 to 8.
The number of holes is adjusted according to the requirements of the song to be played. Most Of The Western Javanese Janjhundrus Have 4 Holes According To The Sundani Songs Which Are Often Played. The existence of the flute as a musical instrument is very important as it is capable of giving melodies to the singing of songs so that traditional melodies can be heard which are very thick.
Unique Crending
A common Western Javanese musical instrument that is no less popular is the crending. This unique musical instrument should be placed on the lips to play it. Then, you can tap the bat to create a sound echo from the rubbing of the handle and the fingertips that tap the instrument.
Bamboo is often used as a material to make crending, although there is also crending from the fronds of palm trees. Generally, the curries from palm trees are used for men, while the crayon from bamboo is used for women. In the past, the crending was used not only as a musical instrument, but also as a mid in rice fields.
Calang Musical Instrument
Most people can’t distinguish between the klang and another traditional Western Javanese musical instrument, named Angklang because it looks the same at first glance. Calang avi is made of woolang type of bamboo or black bamboo and there is also another type of bamboo, perfume bamboo.
This instrument is played according to the type of callang, whether it is the tingling calang or the rante calang. Carry-on calling is played using only the right hand, while the left hand has to hold the callang. Kelang Ratay hit him with both hands. The manner in which the player sits should cross-leg to facilitate the movement of the hands.
Multitonal and double-pitched angkling
Although you are not a Western Javanese, you certainly already know this traditional instrument as it is often displayed as one of the popular traditional musical instruments of West Java. This tool made of bamboo is also called multitonal or double-pitched.
How to play it also seems easy, i.e. by moving the instrument. According to the angklang used, the effect of the bamboo body becomes a source of sound production with different tones. Because the overall vibration of the musical instrument is capable of producing sound, the angklang is classified as an ideophone instrument .
Similar to Tarawangsa Ribab
In appearance, Tarawangsa may have similarities with Rebab, but the difference is that the number of strings of Tarwangsa is only two pieces. Unlike ribab which has three strings so that you can already separate the two musical instruments more easily and quickly from West Java.
Although you have two strings, you can only run one string by swiping it. In the meantime, other strings are played by breaking them using the first finger of the left hand. Tarawangsa is often played with other musical instruments, such as the Zentrang to produce such beautiful notes or melodies.
Traditional musical instrument, loot
Another interesting Western Javanese folk musical instrument is Harp. In The Sudanese Tambang, the presence of the lute as a companion instrument is very important. It is related to the two functions of the harp, namely the mother’s harp and the child’s harp when accompanied by traditional sundani music, so it is important to know the harp.
The task of the parent harp is to determine the tempo, to initiate the music, and the harp used usually consists of 18-20 lines. Unlike a child’s light that serves as a companion to high-frequency music. There is less number of wires, which is 15 pieces compared to the number of strings for the parent lyre.
Arumba traditional musical instrument
Another musical instrument from West Java that we should learn is the arunba. For some people, they may still be unaware of the name of this traditional musical instrument, especially for those outside West Java. The Arumba ensemble belongs to the group or a combination of several musical instruments at the same time.
This musical instrument is made of quality bamboo, for example black bamboo (woolang), bamboo rope or bamboo avi teman. Although it is a combination of several musical instruments, the arumba eventually becomes a musical and a different kind of music that we know from some traditional Western Java songs.
Jenglong as a basic sound maker
Another Western Javanese musical instrument that should not be missed is The Jenglong. Jenglong serves as a song structure or basic sound producer so that its role in playing traditional Western Javanese music is very important. Nevertheless, many of us are not familiar with this musical instrument of the West Java region.
A special bat is used to hit The Jenglong to produce sound or sound. The beater used in this musical instrument is made of a special material to produce the right sound. Usually, there is upholstery to make these batsmen more gentle, whether it is from wool or woven thread.
Seelamping of bamboo skin
Finally, we’ll learn a traditional tool made from bamboo skin called celempung. The sound is produced using a resonance on the stick parts of the bamboo. So it is not easy to make this traditional musical instrument as each rod should have a different size and size of internodes.
Celempung has two strings with different functions, such as strings for pegg tones and strings for slandro tones so that they can be used for longer sitrans. In addition to salamping, the sitter is also often used as a feature in gamelan sitran devices that are still safe today.
There are still a lot of traditional musical instruments that you can find from West Java with their own uniqueness. Most traditional musical instruments are made of nature, whether it is wood or bamboo, so it is very noticeable to the traditional effect displayed. So, don’t stop to continue to know the traditional Western Javanese musical instruments.