ETHN 100

Maira Clancy
March 6, 2009
Fraser Ethno100
Listening Journal # 4 – Response to:
Talempong pacik: “Sidi” from Gongs and Vocal Music from Sumatra: Talempong, Didong, Kulintang, Salawat Dulang, Music of Indonesia Vol. 12.

I love how this song sets out in the beginning with the same pace that continues through the whole song. Within seconds of the song’s start, layers of different gongs chime in (literally), and they set up an entire percussive and melodic orchestra that never slows down nor falters. The interlocking of the lower and higher pitched gongs with the simple yet driving rhythm of the hand drum is really beautiful and works really well for me.
However, I am not a big fan of the wind instrument in this song. I believe it is made out of a palm leaf of some kind and the pitch is varied by the motion of your hand blocking or allowing the passage of air through the “horn” of this traditional instrument. It sounds like a mixture between a snake charmer’s clarinet and a kazoo – the tone is pretty irritating. Also, it seems so difficult to control the pitch that one produces that the melody played seems out of tune with the gongs. I just don’t think this instrument blends well with the resonant and metallic timbre of the talempong gongs.