Indegenious people in Asia
...al and historical experiences. Hence, dream songs vary according to geographical location, historical time period and each individual dream song receiver. The ceremonies for which the received dream songs are held in are usually in the central hall of the longhouse or the multipurpose room of an extended family house. During the ceremony, the medium is usually answered by a choral response that is usually sung by females. In the event of a ceremony concluding a mourning period, however, the males would join in. Members of the chorus play pairs of tube stampers and occasionally drums, providing rhythm and pitch. The stampers (goh) provide alternating high and low pitches while single headed drums (batak) provide the rhythm. Fig 2.1 Playing the bamboo stampers. (Cath Davis, 1995) Listening extract: Dream songs and healing sounds in the rainforest of Malaysia Track 2 Marina Roseman In this track, the song was received in a dream from the female spirit of the peak of Mt. Səwilu:?. This is an example of the Tangə : y genre prominent in Kelantan. The spirits that gave the songs tended to be from the mountains, rivers, birds and other forest animals. The song uses a four-note scale and an octave range, with melodic phrases emphasizing the movement from the fifth and a major third above, down to the tonic, often continuing on to the fourth below the tonic. The Temiars call this “Semai-style” singing. Another characteristic of the “Semai-style” is the emphasis on the final tone and the female chorus that alters the melody slightly when echoing the medium. The song text describes the long-range vision of the spirit guide as she leaps across the top of mountains and soars above the forest canopy. She describes her rainforest travels and her view of the ceremonial setting. She talks about her feelings and those of the patient. The following shows the translation for the text. Leaping across and into the ceremonial house/ Feeling tired, weary in spirit. Each participant circling, following the leading of the spirit medium/ Welcome to you (the ethnomusicologist) whose country is so far away; remember (chorus members) to play the bamboo tubes well, for many songs will follow; young, flirtatious women of the chorus, listen well! I travel across the wide country/ I verse beautifully. Many people look for flowers; we prepare the ceremonial ornaments/ Feeling harmonious as we return home, chattering/ Distance, the vastness of this country. I sing about the baroh bird (heard on track 1), whose ornamented song is like the bamboo-tube percussion/ Sheltering the weary soul of the patient from the midday heat/ Endlessly/ I blow above in the cold wind. We prepare the ceremonial ornaments/ Respond quickly, chorus: it will be morning soon/ I see far, from the other side of the sky. The long, wavy hair and curving body of the princess of the mountain is like the slanting path of the falling rain, firming the leaves/ The princess spirit of Mt. Pahmah has hair and body long and curving like falling rain/ I verse of a weary feeling in the heart/ We search for leaves and flowers, then prepare the hanging ornaments; the chorus responds with gracious accompaniment. Fig 2.2 Temiars singing in a longhouse. (Andy Hickson, 1995) Ceremonies These ceremonies, held to celebrate a good harvest or for healing purposes, are usually held in the night. The medium would position himself at the centre of the room, near to the players of the tube stampers. He sits on the ground, breathes deeply, and moves his head in a circular movement. He then stands up and slowly begins to dance and sing, gradually going into a trance. This song, sung at the start of the ceremony, serves as a religious and secular instruction for the Temiars. If any one of the members falls ill, they are brought forward at this point, before the medium, dressed down to the bare necessities. Their skin would be covered with rice powder and they would be placed on the ground, next to the fire. The medium, already in trance, would stop his dance-song to bend over the sick person and suck noisily through his fingers are a closed fist placed near the person’s skin. This gesture represents the medium “sucking” out the spirit responsible for the illness out of the body. He releases the spirit, away from the village and people, by clapping his hands in the direction of the entrance. At the peak of the trance, the medium starts to tremble and falls to the floor. At this point, his soul leaves his body and wanders around while the chorus continues to sing and play the instruments. The soul meets other detached souls and invites them to return to the longhouse with it. The spirits then appears, moving through the bodies of the people through the form of songs, movements and Kahyek, a cool spiritual liquid. Fig 2.3 A medium going into trance (http://www.artfilmsartohalonen.fi/Unelmoija-suom.html) After the medium stops shuddering, he begins to dance again and sings with the spirit’s voice about its reverie, relating the spirit’s words to the people. His spirit then rises above the canopy of the forest together with the guest spirit to see long distances into the horizon. This is to represent wisdom. The entertainment for the guest spirit then follows. The people dancing, including the medium, roll onto the burning fire and eat burning sticks. The unlit place becomes bright when the dancers blow on the firebrands they keep in their mouths for a few minutes, the smoke communicates with the spirits. The men then drink some hot water left in a bamboo tube near the fire and pour the rest in nests of leaves held in their arms. This is the drink for the guest spirit. After adding fuel to the fire, the medium and the dancers lay down onto the fire to extinguish it. Listening extract: Dream songs and healing sounds in the rainforests of Malaysia Track 18 Marina Roseman A young boy suffering from fever, chest congestion, and headache exacerbated by breaking food restrictions surrounding earlier treatments is the focus of this healing ceremony. This track shows the slow tempo of the start of the ceremony, as the singer begins to serve as a medium for the voice spirit. The medium begins standing, waving his leaf whisk and singing. At 3:39, the child comes to sit before him. The medium sings into the crown of the child’s head. He starts to suck, blow and click his tongue as he draws from his leaf whisk, the cool spiritual liquid that flows along with song from the spiritguides, and blowing it into the head of the child. He works up and down the child’s limbs, focusing on the head, chest and back, then draws cool spiritual liquid from his breast, and blows it into the child’s head-soul area. Speaking with the voice of the spirit- higher in pitch, with greater vocal constrictions than his normal voice- he asks the child’s relatives about the circumstances surrounding the child’s illness. The song is one the medium has received from the Panaseh flower, and is sung in a genre characteristic of the Temiar of Kelantan, Tangə : y. The ceremony ends with some quiet singing, after which the Temiars return to their quarters to eat and rest. Listening extract: Dream songs and Healing sounds in the rainforests of Malaysia Track 20 Marina Roseman As the ceremony quietens down towards the end, the dancers retire to the sides. The wife of the village headman then sings a song from the spirit of the hill rice, passed on to her by her grandfather. In her song, she compares the sounds of the rice mortar pounding with that of the bamboo stampers. The rice spirit sings of her sadness when she returns and finds her rice-field emptied by the harvest. Here, the spirit plays with half steps or semitones, tritons and the alternation between major and minor third relation to the tonal center. The second of the two melodic phrases is often repeated several times per verse. The moderate tempo and the absence of dancers, whose dance steps no longer set the floor slats clacking, helps to quieten the ceremony as it closes. The translation of the text is as follows: The rice mortar pounding/ The rice sifter sounding/ Feeling longing as it sifts side to side. Sunlight glitters on the rice knife/ at the rice field of Laboh. Harvesting rice shaft by shaft/ With five fingers. The ripe rice head leans heavily/ The female spirit of the rice/ Drooping with weight, the rice stalks/ I come home to the rice field at Sidu:y/ Feeling sad, my home harvested. The beauty of the river waters at Lasah/ Melancholy after harvest, it’s hard to speak/ Older sister. I’m too ignorant to sing/ The waters near our fields at Galapa:r/ Moving from old fields to new. Feeling lazy/ then willing to sing each day/ forever. The sound of the rice mortar pounding/ the mother of a male child dances/ Singing so clearly. Cooling the heart/ I return to the empty rice fields/ There are no more Saridin leaves/ Here in the settlement of Bersah. I feel sad remembering the one who first received this song/ Remembering in my heart, then singing/ Changing from soul to soul at death/ I’ll arrive, but don’t expect much. Sending my voice high into the rafters of the house/ As the morning sun slants from Mt. Kiyel/ Singing, scattering cool liquids. Musical Instruments There are a few common instruments that can be found in most of the Orang Asli groups. Musical instruments are made from forest materials such as wood, bamboo, vines and leaves. Below are the examples of the few common instruments that can be found. Kereb or Zither The zither is made up of bamboo and the strings are made of vine, root or nylon. It is in tubule construction, and measures 40-50cm in length. Its diameter is 10-12 cm. There are two strings; the long string is referred as ‘male’ and the shorter one is considered to be female. Sometimes the strings are cut from the cortex of the bamboo tube itself. The strings remain attached at each end of the tube and small wood bridges are inserted to tune the instruments. Its music motif is normally short repeated two or three melodies are played to imitate work activities. It is usually played women and is mainly for self-entertainment. It is capable of producing a soothing and tranquil atmosphere, and imitating the sounds of the natural environment portray the sounds and movements in work activities. Listening extract: Dream Songs and Healing Sounds of rainforests of Malaysia Track 5 Marina Roseman In this extract, the zither player imitates the sounds of clearing the fields. This is done by musically mimicking the repetitive labour of cutting trees and brush with small adzes and bush knives. These actions, although repetitive, contains slight variations. Goh or Stamping Tube Another Orang Asli musical instrument called stamping tube is made of bamboo. It consists of a pair of tubes, one long and one short. They called ‘ father’ and ‘ mother’ respectively. Its length is about 60-70 cm long and produces intervals of a 4th or 5th .The tube is closed at the bottom by the natural node and opened at the top end. The music motif for this instrument is short identical repeated beats in a precise rhythmic pattern. It is normally played to accompany singing during the nighttime ritual ceremonies. It serves primarily as a percussion instrument and is held in the hand as pair and struck onto a wooden board or bamboo. In accompanying ...