Sasando stands strong amongst more sophisticated
electronic based musical instruments.
The blast of music at the 2010 Java Jazz Festival held
in Jakarta International Expo of PRJ Kemayoran
Jakarta did not st––and in the way of Jacko Hendrick
Ayub Bullan in strumming sasando strings.
From the tips of his fingers flowed several musical
numbers – to name a few – Amazing Grace, Mother How Are
You, and Tanah Air Beta. His show that took place at early March
2010 showed how the traditional musical instrument of Rote Island,
Kupang, Nusa Tenggara Timur, still holds in them midst of
electronic based musical instruments revolution.
Jacko Hendrick Ayub Bullan, now 38 years old, is the on-going
generation of sasando player. Since a decade ago, Jacko settled in
Jakarta and concentrated in sasando for full time. Many people
see this unique, strange, and exotic musical instrument as not
something made in Indonesia. When the fact is, said Jacko, this
musical instrument is originally from a village in Rote Island of
Nusa Tenggara Timur Province. “Indonesia is rich in culture, but
is unable to manage it, making many of the products taken and
claimed by other countries,” he regretted.
Rote Island is the furthest southern territory of Indonesia. It is
known for the cultivation of palmyra, tourism of nature, cashew,
and farming. Rote Island was established to a district in 2002 under
the name of Rote Ndao District. To reach there can only be
traveled by fast ferry from Kupang for about an hour ride. It is
from this small island at the north ofAustralia that sasando was
created centuries ago by the ancestors.
The instrument is made of materials provided by the nature of Nusa
Tenggara Timur. The sasando holder is made of bamboo, plugged at
both ends with redwood, oakwood or sandalwood. On the bamboo,
strings and string arrangers are set. On the top, a spool is made to allow
it to be connected to an amplifier. The instrument can be played
acoustically or even electrically like a guitar. At one side of the holder,
a palmyra leave is set (called haik) shaping in a curve or half circle.
When played acoustically, the haik will be the resonance facility to the
string strums, making the sounds deeper.
There are two kinds of sasando: gong and violin. Gong sasando
has 10 strings; and in the past was used to play alongside the reciting
of Nusa Tenggara Timur lyrics. Usually to console families
those are mourning over the loss of a loved one, or for weddings,
and events to greet important guests of the local government. It is
used to play alongside the reciting of ancient lyrics such as the Te’o
Rendo, Lelendo, Ta’e Beno. The sound of sasando gong resembles
the gong in Java. Aside from sasando, in the show there is a gong
that plays together with it.
Violin sasando progresses more. The number of strings also keeps
adding up to 32, 42, 52, and so on. Diatonic and pentatonic notes are
all there. Sasando produces sounds from three musical instruments,
which are the harp, piano, and guitar. This instrument also has a specialty
where melody, bass, and background sounds all harmonize in
one instrument, and can be played by one person with two hands
moving in opposite directions.
However, there are not many people that can play this instrument
anymore. In Nusa Tenggara Timur, said Jacko, professional players
are no more than 9 people. In Jakarta, there are only 2 professional
players left: Jacko and Bertolens Pah, Jacko’s brother who now resides
in Cibinong of Bogor, West Java. Both are from Central Kupang.
Jacko has a high play rate. Last September he flew to Washington,
New York, and Canada to play the sasando; sponsored
by the Indonesian Department of Tourism and Culture. In
America, there weren’t so many enthusiasts, but over in Canada
he received amazing appreciation.Not many of the young During his teenage years he often enlists in youth exchange programs
in performing arts in various provinces of Indonesia. Semarang, Denpasar,
Surabaya, Pontianak, and other regions were visited by him
along with his sasando. So busy with the sasando and participating in
many exhibitions, his schooling was abandoned. Although so, many
of his friends are quite envious of his play rate that continues to soar as
an artist. “They are sometimes envious because I fly to many different
regions. But they will never keep up because they would rather play
the guitar than learning the sasando,” he affirmed.
Aside from that, he also plays in the house of Jeremiah Ougust Pah,
73 years old, his uncle from his Mother’s side, whose residence had
become a performance center, workshop, and sasando souvenir retail;
over in Timor Raya Street Kilometer 22 of Oebelo Village, Kupang
Tengah District, Jeremiah’s house had been one of the tourism destination
with sasando as the object, since mid 1980s to date.
However, the economy crisis in 1997 and the riot of East Timor in
1999 changed the economy in Kupang. Plenty of hotels, restaurants,
entertainment places, and travel agents closed down. Tourists were
reluctant to visit. Cruise ships no longer dock. The situation was
nearing death for Kupang’s economy and tourism. There were no
invitations to play the sasando.
At the same time, the society there is more appreciative towards
bands than sasando. “Sasando is only given Rp 200 thousand to
Rp 300 thousand for every performance, while as bands can get up
from Rp 500 thousand to a million,” he regretted. In the year 2000
Jacko decided to migrate to Jakarta to change his luck.
Now, aside from coming into various invitations to play the sasando,
Jacko also gives private lessons to several students who wish to
learn the sasando. Those sasando learning students must purchase
the sasando from him. “This is because there is no one that can
make and sell sasandos in Jakarta,” he explained.
His house in the Main Road of Tipar Cakung, East Jakarta, also becomes
a workshop that produces sasando. The woods and palmyra
leaves are brought in straight from Kupang. One sasando costs from
Rp 2,5 million, Rp 5 million, and Rp 15 million. “It depends on the
material. Sandalwood can make it more expensive,” said Jacko.
The family of Jeremiah August Pah, 73 years old, is a portrait of
a sasando artist and crafts family who is loyal to the musical instrument
from Rote Island. Jeremiah’s father who lived in Rote Island
is a sasando artist and craftsman who developed the 5 strings
sasando to 15 strings. In Jeremiah’s hands, the strings were developed
into 45 to 57.
After Jeremiah’s father passed in 1872, Jeremiah went on to develop
sasando. To introduce sasando in a broader way he moved
to Kupang in 1985. Together with his first wife and four children,
he resided in the TimorRaya Street Kilometer 22 of Oebelo Village,
Central Kupang District. It is this house that until now has
been the sasando tourism object. Not only sasando, but over there
visitors can also see the process of sasando making and purchase
sasando souvenirs.
Slowly but sure sasando is starting to be recognized by people. Jeremiah
continuously participates in traditional music exhibitions
in various regions representing Nusa Tenggara Timur. In the year
2006 he was even performing sasando play in Yokohama, Japan.
Five of the ten children Jeremiah Pah has from his three wives – the
first and second wives have passed – are able to play the sasando.
Jeagril Pah, Jitron Pah, Bertolens Pah, Inan Pah, and John Pah are
the next in generation to preserve and develop the sasando. There
are also Zakarias Ndaong, Leuwi Pingga, and of course, Jack Bullan.
In short, the sasando players inNusa Tenggara Timur are still a
family under the Pah surname.
Bertolens Pah, 23 years old, the son of Jeremiah Pah, migrated to
the Capital City five years ago to change his luck. He chooses to
leave his hometown, Nusa Tenggara timur. He now lives in Bogor
in pursue of his dreams. “Making life better,” he claimed.
There are not many young people that can and like to play the
sasando musical instrument. It is no wonder then if in Kupang,
sasando central is only in the East Main Road of Central
Kupang, which belongs to his father.
The life in Kupang as a sasando artist goes on flatly. Each day at his
house, there are foreign tourists that visit to enjoy the strumming
of sasando. Jeremiah Pah’s house, has all the facilities; workshop
place, exhibition space, dance performance accompanied by the
sasando play, souvenirs, and the making process of sasando from
raw material to the furnished and ready to play state. “From one
place there is a lot to know about the sasando.”
The tourists usually come in one or two buses. One group
pays Rp 700 to 900 thousand for every hour of performance.
There is a guide who is used to taking the tourists around. For
his choice of life that is far from Kupang, Berto explained, “I
will not go back to the village, will not settle there.”
It is dark as midnight falls. The sound of lyrics Bou Lele Bou can
be heard softly from the sasando played by Berto. ”Bou...lele bou/
Nusan lele bou..../Ma lole tak malole/Ita nu san nde malole.../Bau
lele bou..../Tanah Timor lele bou..../Baik tidak baik/Tanah Timor
lebih baik...”
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