Indonesian traditional musical instrument
A tifa totobuang is a music ensemble from the Maluku Islands, related to the "kulintang" orchestra. It consists of a set of a double row of gong chimes known as the "totobuang" (similar to set of "bonang gong chimes") and a set of "tifa" drums. It can also include a large gong.
The name comes from the instruments' collaboration. The ensemble can accompany the Maluku Island's Sawat Lenso dance.
The custom dates back at least to the late 17th or early 18th century. Gong-chime and drum ensembles, labeled "tifa totobuang", were mentioned by François Valentijn, a Dutch army cleric who served in the Dutch army in Ambon, Maluku in two tours, 1686-1994 and 1703–1713. Valentijn talked about hearing "some Javanese lasses sing to the sound of a gong and a tifa (i.e. drum) and of a native zither...a large number of gongs and tifas."
Instruments.
Tifa.
The tifa drums used for the tifa totobuang have been classed into five sizes. These include, from smallest to largest:
Each size of instrument has a different sound, and they are blended together in the orchestra. Different images and videos of the tifas being played show them drummed with empty hands, with sticks and with a combination of the two.
Totobuang.
The totobuang is a set of gong chimes. Photos show the instrument in more than one configuration. One is laid out the same as the bonang, in two equal rows. Other images show a square pattern of 9 or 16 gong chimes.
Jaap Kunst, a musicologist who wrote about Javanese music, said that "totobuang" was probably another word for "bonang" which could be used for any instrument played with a hammer.
Sawat dance.
The "tifa totobuang" played music oriented toward Christians, up until 2000, when there were riots in Ambon. After that, the instrument began to play in cultural events with more "Islamic and Malay nuances." The "Sawat" dance is associated with traders, Arabs who traded in the ""Al-Muluk" peninsula". The Lenso is a dance from Christian areas, backed by tambourines, drums, or tifa totobuang. The two were deliberately combined into the modern Sawat by a group of women who wanted to dance together. The result is a modern product that combines two of the country's separate arts, one music and one dance.
References.
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