Jenglong as a basic audio producer : Nomis

Popular West Java Regional Musical Instruments

West Javanese 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 guitars, pianos, violins and so on. But before the emergence of these various modern musical  instruments, traditional musical instruments already existed.

More and more traditional cultures are being abandoned, including regional musical instruments . However, there are still many younger generations involved in preserving traditional instruments from West Java, such as the angklung and flute. Both musical instruments are often treated as traditional musical instruments.

In fact, there are many other regional musical instruments that should be proud and preserved so that our children and grandchildren can  become familiar  with these musical instruments later  . That is why we will review the  most popular traditional musical instruments from West Java through the article below.

 Rebab made of copper

This musical instrument from West Java has existed since 9 AD and survives to this day. During the voyage, merchants from the Middle East brought rebab to Indonesia. This musical instrument made of copper has 3 strings or strings as sound producers.

Over time, there have been changes in the basic material for the production of rebabs, which were originally made of copper, and now there are many rebabs made of wood with a shape resembling a crossbow.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 to run over the strings, just like when you play a modern musical instrument, specifically the violin.

Flute Musical instruments made of bamboo

Another 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 inflatable holes, there are also holes for adjusting the pitch so that the number of holes varies from 4 to 8.

The number of holes is adapted to the needs of the composition to be played. Most West Javanese flutes have 4 holes, according to Sundanese songs that are often played. The existence of the flute is very important as a musical instrument  because it is able to provide the melody of singing a song so that it sounds a very strong traditional tone.

Unique Karinding

A typical West Javanese musical instrument that is no less popular is the karinding.   This unique musical instrument must be placed on the lips in order to play. You can then tap the bat to create sound resonance by rubbing the handle and fingertips tapping the instrument.

Bamboo is often used as a material for making karinding, although there is also karinding from the leaves of palm trees. Usually, karinding from palm trees is used for men, while karingan from bamboo is used for women. In the past, karinding was not only used as a musical instrument, but also as a midge in rice fields.

 Calung Musical Instruments

Most people cannot distinguish between a calunga and another traditional West Javanese musical instrument, namely the angklung, because at first glance it looks the same. Calung is made of awi wulung or black bamboo type bamboo and there is also calung made of another type of bamboo, ater bamboo.

This musical instrument is played according to the type of calungu, whether calung jinjing or calung rantay. Calung jinjing is played only with the right hand, while the left hand holds the calung. Calung rantay is played with both hands that beat him. The way players sit must have their legs crossed to facilitate the movement of the hands.

 Multitonal and double angklung

Even if you are not West-Javanese, you must already know this traditional instrument, as it is often displayed as one of the popular traditional musical instruments from West Java.   This instrument made of bamboo is also known as multi-tonal or double.

How to play it also seems to be easy, by shaking the instrument. The impact of the bamboo body is the source of generating sound with different tones, depending on the angklung used. Since the overall vibrations of a musical instrument are capable of producing sound, an angklung is classified as an idiophonic musical 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. Unlike rebab, which has three strings, so you can already more easily and quickly  distinguish two musical instruments coming from West Java.

Even if you have two strings, you can only play one string by swiping. Meanwhile, the other strings are played by grasping with the index finger of the left hand. Tarawangsa is often played with other musical instruments such as the Jentreng to create such a beautiful tone or melody.

Traditional musical instruments, harps

Another interesting regional musical instrument in West Java is the lute. In Sundanese Chinese, the presence of the lute as an accompanying musical instrument is very important. This is related to the two functions of the lyre, namely the mother lyre and the baby lyre, when it accompanies traditional Sundanese music, so it is important to know the lyre.

The parent lute has the task of setting the tempo, opening the music, and the lute used usually has 18-20 strings. Unlike the children’s lute, which serves as an accompaniment to high-frequency music. There are fewer strings, which is 15 pieces, than the number of strings for a parent lyre.

 Arumba Traditional Musical Instruments

Another musical instrument from West Java that deserves our study is the arumba. For some people, they may still be unfamiliar with the name  of  this traditional musical instrument, especially for people outside of West Java. Arumba belongs to an ensemble group or a combination of several musical instruments at once.

This musical instrument is made of high-quality bamboo, such as black bamboo (wulung), rope bamboo or awi bamboo top. Although it is a combination of several musical instruments, eventually the arumba becomes a musical and separate type of music, which we know from several traditional West Javanese songs.

Jenglong as a basic audio producer

Another West Javanese musical instrument that you should not miss is the Jenglong. Jenglong serves as a basic song framework or sound maker, so his role is very important in playing traditional West Javanese music. Yet many of us  are unfamiliar with this musical instrument from West Java.

A special bat is used to hit the Jenglong to create a sound or sound. The beater used in this musical instrument is made of special materials to create the right sound. Usually this bat has a coating to make it softer, whether from wool or knitted yarn.

Celempung bamboo leather

Finally, we get acquainted with a traditional instrument called celempung, which is made of bamboo leather. The sound is produced by using resonance on bamboo poles. Therefore, it is not easy to make this traditional musical instrument , because each stem must have a different shape and size of internodes.

Celempung has two strings with different functions, namely strings for pelog tones and strings for slendro tones, so they can be reused for Siteran. In addition to celempung, the siter is also often used in gamelan instruments as a property that has been preserved to this day.

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 feels very similar to the traditional impression. So keep getting to know West Javanese musical instruments.

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