Popular Regional Musical Instruments West Java
West Java regional musical instruments have their own characteristics compared tomusical instruments from other regions. Nowadays we are perhaps more familiar with modern musical instruments, such as guitar, piano, violin and so on. 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 that participate in the preservation of traditional tools from West Java, such as angklung and flute. Both musical instruments are often performed as traditional musical instruments.
Actually, there are many other regional musical instruments that we should be proud of and preserve so that our children and grandchildren can get to know the instrument later . Therefore, we will discuss the most popular traditional musical instruments from West Java through the article below.
Rebabs made of copper
This musical instrument from West Java has been around since the 9th century AD and still exists. While sailing, traders from the Middle East brought rebabs to Indonesia. This musical instrument made of copper has 3 strings or strings as a sound producer.
With the passage of time, there was a change in the basic material for making rebabs that were originally made of copper and now there are many rebabs made of wood with a shape resembling a crossbow. The way to play it is by sweeping over the strings, just like when you play a modern musical instrument, namely the violin.
Flute musical instruments made of bamboo
The following is the most popular West Javanese musical instrument, which is called the flute. This musical instrument made of bamboo or wood is played by blowing the available holes. In addition to the 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 to the needs of the song to be played. Most West Javanese flutes have 4 holes according to the Sundanese songs that are often played. The existence of the flute is very important as a musical instrument because it is able to give melodies to the singing of songs, so that traditional tones are heard that are very thick.
Unique Carinting
A typical West Javanese musical instrument that is no less popular is carinthing. This unique musical instrument must be placed on the lips to play it. Then you can beat the bat to produce a sound resonance through the friction of the handle and the fingertips tapping on the instrument.
Bamboo is often used as a material for making carinthing, although karindrie is also given through the leaves of palm trees. Most often, carinving of palm trees is used for men, while karingan of bamboo is used for women. In the past, carinthing was not only used as a musical instrument, but also as a mosquito in the rice fields.
Calung Musical Instruments
Most people cannot distinguish between calung and another traditional West Javanese musical instrument , namely angklung because it looks the same at first glance. Calung is made of bamboo of the type awi wulung or black bamboo and there is also calung made of another type of bamboo, ater bamboo.
This instrument is played according to the type of calung, whether it is a jinjing calung or a rantay calung. The hand luggage calung is only played with the right hand, while the left hand must hold the calung. Calung rantay played with both hands to hit him. The way the player sits should be used cross-legged to facilitate the movement of hands.
Multitonal and double-sided Angklung
Although you are not a West Javanese, you certainly already know this traditional instrument because it is often exhibited as one of the popular traditional musical instruments from West Java. This tool made of bamboo is also known as multitonal or double-pitched.
How to play it also seems simple, namely by shaking the instrument. The impact of the bamboo body becomes a source of sound production with different tones, according to the angklung used. Because the overall vibration of the musical instrument can produce sound, the angklung is classified as an idiophone instrument.
Tarawangsa similar to Rebab
In appearance, tarawangsa may have similarities with rebab, but the difference is that the number of tarwangsa strings is only two pieces. In contrast to the rebab that has three strings, which makes it easier and faster to distinguish the two musical instruments from West Java.
Although you have two strings, you can only play one string by swiping over it. Meanwhile, the other strings are played by strumming with the index finger of the left hand. Tarawangsa is often played with other musical instruments, such as Jentreng to produce such beautiful notes or melodies.
Traditional musical instruments, lute
Another interesting West Javanese folk musical instrument is the harp. In Sundanese tembang, the presence of the lute as an accompaniment instrument is very important. This has to do with the two functions of the harp, namely the harp of the mother and the harp of the child in accompanying traditional Sundanese music, so it is important to know the harp.
The parent harp has the task of setting the tempo, starting the music and the harp used usually has 18-20 strings. In contrast to the children’s winch that serves as an accompaniment to high-frequency music. The number of strings there is less, which is 15 pieces compared to the number of strings for the parent lyre.
Arumba Traditional Musical Instruments
Another musical instrument from West Java that we should learn is the arumba. For some people, they may still be unfamiliar with the name of this traditional musical instrument, especially to people outside of West Java. Arumba belongs to the ensemble group or a combination of several musical instruments at the same time.
This musical instrument is made of quality bamboo, for example black bamboo (wulung), bamboo rope or bamboo awi temen. Although it is a combination of different musical instruments, arumba eventually becomes a musical and a separate kind of music that we know from some traditional West Java songs.
Jenglong as a basic geluidmaker
Another West Javanese musical instrument that should not be missed is the Jenglong. Jenglong serves as a song framework or basic sound maker, so his role is very important in playing traditional West Javanese music. Yet many of us are not familiar with this musical instrument from the West Java region.
A special bat is used to hit Jenglong to produce a sound or sound. The beater used in this musical instrument is made of a special material to produce the right sound. Usually, these batsmen have upholstery to make them softer, whether it is wool or knitted yarn.
Celempung of Bamboo Skin
Finally, we will get to know a traditional tool called celempung made of bamboo skin. The sound is produced by using the resonance on the bamboo stick segments. Therefore, it is not easy to make this traditional musical instrument , because each rod must have a different shape and size of internodes.
Celempung has two strings with different functions, namely strings for pelog tones and strings for slendrotons so that they can be used for longer Siteran. In addition to celempung, siter is also commonly used in gamelan siteran instruments as a feature that is still preserved today.
There are still many traditional musical instruments that you can find from West Java with their own uniqueness. Most traditional musical instruments are made from nature, whether it’s wood or bamboo, so it’s very noticeable the traditional impression that’s displayed. So don’t stop to get to know the typical West Javanese musical instruments.