- Title Pages
- Orthography
- Abbreviations
- Note on Informal Learning, Musical Notation, and Transcription
- Music Examples
- Figures
- Maps and Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
-
1 Sumatra’s Performing Arts, Groups, and Subgroups -
I West Sumatra and Riau -
2 Upstream Minangkabau -
3 The Minangkabau South Coast -
4 Tabut -
5 Four Sufi Muslim Genres in Minangkabau -
6 The Riau Indragiri Sultanate’s Nobat Ensemble and its Suku Mamak Stalwarts -
II South Sumatra and Bangka -
7 South Sumatra -
8 The Wartime Creation of “Gending Sriwijaya” -
9 The Island of Bangka -
III North Sumatra -
10 From Singkil to Natal -
11 The Mandailing Raja Tradition in Pakantan -
IV Aceh -
12 Changes in the Lament Dances in Aceh -
13 “Only if a Man Can Kill a Buffalo With One Blow Can He Play a Rapa’I Pasè” -
14 Connections across Sumatra -
Appendix 1 The Languages of Sumatra -
Appendix 2 Historical Studies of Sumatra and Ethnicity -
Appendix 3 Musical Studies of Sumatra -
Appendix 4 Tunings and Vocal Scales in South Sumatra -
Appendix 5 Gamelan in Sumatra -
Appendix 6 Audio Examples and Audiovisual Recordings on the Website - Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
- Index
- Production Credits
“Only if a Man Can Kill a Buffalo With One Blow Can He Play a Rapa’I Pasè”
“Only if a Man Can Kill a Buffalo With One Blow Can He Play a Rapa’I Pasè”
The Frame Drum as a Symbol of Male Identity
- Chapter:
- (p.316) 13 “Only if a Man Can Kill a Buffalo With One Blow Can He Play a Rapa’I Pasè”
- Source:
- Musical Journeys in Sumatra
- Author(s):
Margaret Kartomi
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
This chapter examines how the ergology and morphology of the variants of the rapa'i Pasè, the largest kind of frame drum in Aceh, relate to its performance practice, the genres in which it is used, the cultural memory, and the sense of Acehnese cultural identity among its makers, performers, and audiences. The rapa'i Pasè was traditionally played in ensembles with the singing of improvised texts at lifecycle and religious feasts and in intervillage competitions. It is said that only a man who can kill a buffalo with one sharp blow can play a rapa'i Pasè. This chapter first considers the defining and distinctive elements of Acehnese identity in its connection to rapa'i before discussing the loss of thousands of rapa'i Pasè during Aceh's armed conflict of 1976–2005. It also describes the attempts by Indonesian governments to appropriate, secularize, and aestheticize rapa'i and other forms of the traditional arts, as well as the various elite and nonelite views of identity.
Keywords: ergology, morphology, rapa'i Pasè, frame drum, Aceh, performance practice, cultural memory, cultural identity, Acehnese identity, traditional arts
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- Title Pages
- Orthography
- Abbreviations
- Note on Informal Learning, Musical Notation, and Transcription
- Music Examples
- Figures
- Maps and Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
-
1 Sumatra’s Performing Arts, Groups, and Subgroups -
I West Sumatra and Riau -
2 Upstream Minangkabau -
3 The Minangkabau South Coast -
4 Tabut -
5 Four Sufi Muslim Genres in Minangkabau -
6 The Riau Indragiri Sultanate’s Nobat Ensemble and its Suku Mamak Stalwarts -
II South Sumatra and Bangka -
7 South Sumatra -
8 The Wartime Creation of “Gending Sriwijaya” -
9 The Island of Bangka -
III North Sumatra -
10 From Singkil to Natal -
11 The Mandailing Raja Tradition in Pakantan -
IV Aceh -
12 Changes in the Lament Dances in Aceh -
13 “Only if a Man Can Kill a Buffalo With One Blow Can He Play a Rapa’I Pasè” -
14 Connections across Sumatra -
Appendix 1 The Languages of Sumatra -
Appendix 2 Historical Studies of Sumatra and Ethnicity -
Appendix 3 Musical Studies of Sumatra -
Appendix 4 Tunings and Vocal Scales in South Sumatra -
Appendix 5 Gamelan in Sumatra -
Appendix 6 Audio Examples and Audiovisual Recordings on the Website - Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
- Index
- Production Credits
