Markasan Strategy in a Best-Selling Music

Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 19 (1) (2019), 55-61 p-ISSN 2541-1683|e-ISSN 2541-2426 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v19i1.20821

Markasan Strategy in A Best-Selling Music

Rully Aprilia Zandra

Department of Arts, Drama, Dance and Music, Faculty Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia

Received: March 18, 2019. Revised: May 7, 2019. Accepted: June 23, 2019

Abstract

Gesang and Didi Kempot, in dominating the market of the music industry in their era, incorporated local capital, i.e., the site in lyrics and scales in melody. Likewise with Markasan. However, little is known about the site and melody used by Markasan as a tool to dominate the keroncong market in East Java in the 1960-1965 period. This study aims to reveal lyrics and melody that songwriters can use to dominate the music competition market in their day. To address this gap, observations, interviews, and documentation studies were carried out. The subjects are Keron- cong-Markasanan musicians and RRI as melting pots of keroncong in Surabaya. Through ‘Blau- ran Wayah Sore’ song, we can observe Markasan’s efforts to construct songs, build resistance, and perpetuate domination in the music industry competition in his day. This research provides a strategy to utilize cultural capital consisting of lyric styles, popular site names, local scales, and identification of favorite song scales in a best-selling effort in the music industry today.

Keywords: scales, lyrics, music, keroncong, strategy

How to Cite: Zandra, R. A. (2019). Markasan Strategy in A Best-Selling Music. Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research And Education, 19(1), 55-61.

INTRODUCTION ries (Laksono, 2015). Gesang’s renowned Bengawan Solo and Didi Kempot’s famo- Gesang was a famous keroncong (In- us Stasiun Balapan and Terminal Titonadi donesian music adapted from Portuguese) have dominated the local market music; composer; his works are not only popular both composers incorporated the name of domestically, but also worldwide. Among a famous site in their song lyrics (Khoir, the phenomenal works by Gesang is Ben- 2016; Sarwinah, 2016). gawan Solo. The lyrics and melody of this The lyrics of the songs correlate with song are easily acceptable by many (Sanja- the messages explaining several public ya, 2018). The strength of the lyrics lies in places in Solo. Love stories and social situ- the way it explains a place in Solo (Dirgan- ations at the iconic places of selected cities tara, 2014), which is similar to what Didi are the themes of the songs. The selection Kempot did. of the public places, such as Bengawan Didi Kempot is a composer of campur- Solo, Terminal Tirtonadi, and Stasiun Bala- sari keroncong and singer. He often incorpo- pan, is because the places are closely rela- rates famous places, such as Tirtonadi Ter- ted to daily activities of the audience (Sar- minal and Stasiun Balapan, in the lyrics of winah, 2016). Anyone who have heard of his songs, which are mostly about love sto- Bengawan Solo river, Terminal Tirtonadi,

 Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]

55 56 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 19 (1) (2019): 55-61 and Stasiun Balapan are probably people pular for its chord, stem, and beat that dif- who come from cities other than Solo, such fers the Markasan keroncong with other sty- as tourists. les, such as old keroncong, Jakarta style, and Other than the lyrics and the melo- Solo style (Zandra, 2019). Other distinguis- dies, the composers of the songs are well- hing characteristics are its lyrics. The lyrics known for their works that are easy to un- of the old keroncong, Jakarta style, and Solo derstand and sing (Dirgantara, 2014). The style are mostly about the appreciation of melodies remain popular among people nature and heroes, while the Markasan (Widjajadi, 2005). Kusnaidi (2015) opines style emphasizes social critics, description that melodies and lyrics are the charms of of landmarks and public places, and social every song. The song by the two composers interaction (Zandra, 2014). is easy to imitate. Based on the preliminary The development of Markasan ke- observation involving 30 respondents (ten roncong went on hiatus in the middle of children, ten teens, and ten adults), 86.6% 1965 for two years due to the 30 September of the respondents can imitate the cantus movement by the Communist Party of In- firmus of the song right in the second cho- donesia or PKI (Zandra, 2019). This study rus. focused on the 1960 to 1965 period or the On that ground, the study on me- golden age of Markasan keroncong. In 1960, lodies in the songs mentioned above is Leo Ledung, the first Markasan keroncong worth investigating. It is to examine how album, was released. The golden era of the songs can dominate the chart during Markasan ended in 1965; this was also the its era. The concern indicates the necessity last year for Markasan to lead the OK Ane- to examine the lyrics and melodies deve- ka Warna keroncong group (Zandra, 2014, loped by the composer. A keroncong music 2019). group, namely Markasan, which emphasi- In several songs, Markasan often zed delivering attractive lyrics and melo- mentioned several landmarks or public dies, has been established in Surabaya; it places in Surabaya, e.g., Tugu Pahlawan, was on the top chart of the best keroncong Jalan Tunjungan, and Pasar Blauran. Pasar song. The name of this keroncong orchestra Blauran (a traditional market) is a famous is Aneka Warna, which was led by Marka- market to date. The melodies of Markasan’s san (Zandra, 2014). The genre of this style works associated with the trending music of keroncong is called Markasanan (Sulistio- at Surabaya, such as Remo and Jula-Juli. hadi, 2000). Concerning the above discussion, it is Keroncong was first developed in found that Markasan has his methods and Surabaya in 1942 during the East Asia War, strategies in composing his trending music that was when Japan invaded countries from 1960 to 1965. These methods and stra- that the Netherlands colonized (Widodo, tegies are the inspiration of the song Blau- 2002). At the time, Japan gave the freedom ran Wayah Sore, a keroncong song and the to people to develop local music, including icon of keroncong music in Surabaya. keroncong, to eliminate all western cultures The present study, underpinned by in Indonesia (Yacob, 2017). This genre of the above discussion, is aimed at exploring music has spread in areas other than East the way Markasan utilized the power of in- Java in Indonesia since 1942. In 1960, RRI corporating public places and landmarks (the national radio of Indonesia) had run in his easy-listening songs. It is intended to a keroncong music program (Zandra, 2014). map the lyrics and melodies of the compo- This initiative further stimulated the estab- sers and its utilities that brought the music lishment of keroncong groups, with many to be the trending music in its era. composers competed with each other in the music industry (Widjajadi, 2005). METHODS Markasan’s keroncong orchestra has its uniqueness (Sulistiohadi, 2000). It is po- This qualitative study employed a Rully Aprilia Zandra, Markasan Strategy in A Best-Selling MusicMinangkabau Women 57 case study approach. Documentation and song, and tunes of pop songs. After cross- recording method was used to collect the checking the data with the relevant lite- data. It focused on gathering information rature and the concepts of habitus, arena, related to the lyrics of the songs, popular mimicry, and hybrid, these data were pre- places, tunes in Markasan, and popular tu- sented to find out the answers to the rese- nes in society. This process was by tran- arch questions. scribing texts and audio of Markasan and Jula-Juli songs and investigating the popu- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION lar public places incorporated in the songs. Several stages of data collection in the field The lyrics and melodies of a song was attempted to maximize the effective- Blauran Wayah Sore incorporate the cul- ness of the process. tural value of the Markasan song. In this The first method was the passive context, the value refers to the lyrics and involvement; this stage involved obser- the pentatonic scale. The satire lyrics are vation of the rehearsal and repertoire of inspired by a keroncong song Liedje, a song the Surabayan keroncong in RRI for six about social critics. The pelog and slendro months. It was to record the response of pentatonic scale was from the folk music or the musicians regarding Markasan and his accompanying music in parikan (Javanese ideas and other information related to the rhymes) and other dances. Satire lyrics of problem of the study. Liedje keroncong are integrated into Wajik The second method was by an Abang keroncong in Surabaya, or a song tel- unstructured interview with composers ling the embezzlement of government ve- and musicians of keroncong who have the hicles committed by civil servants. The car opportunity to collaborate with Markasan. is known for its red diamond symbol on its All questions were to ensure the accuracy side part of the mirror. The vehicle is sup- of information retrieved from the respon- posed to operate from Monday to Friday. dents. The respondents were informed However, the car is now used on Sunday. about the purpose of the interview before Satire lyrics in the song mentioned above the researcher began to ask the questions. are to criticize the misuse of state assets for The method was performed reversely to personal gain. The straightforward charac- those who have a differing opinion with teristics are also visible in keroncong wajik Markasan. by Markasan, emphasizing the popularity A library study was carried out to of Aneka Warna orchestra from 1960 to generate information regarding the con- 1965. cepts of the research object; this method Folk music, parikan, and accompani- was also to prevent similarities with the ment track of Remo dance form an aural previous studies. Information was retrie- environment for Markasan since he was a ved from books, journals, research reports, child. Further, the aforementioned aural and other printed documents; the data in- environment raised Marksan’s cultural cluded the one from the internet regarding capital in the form of musical ideas, abili- the development of keroncong in Surabaya ties, and cultural codes. His cultural code and the figure of Markasan and his works. is shown in his artwork. Intentionally or The data were in the form of the musical unintentionally, through a proper intro- note transcription from the vinyl record, duction to the arena of his work, Markasan photos, images, audio recording, videos, has incorporated the local cultural capital and cassettes. The transcription process in the flow of cultural imports. was done using the Sibelius 7 application. Associated with efforts to resist a All of the collected data were grou- culture in The Location of Culture (Bhaba, ped based on the focus of this research. 1994), it is explained that the cultural con- The classification involved the style of texts colonizers and colonized people in- the lyrics, landmarks, tunes of Markasan fluence each other. Both have similarities 58 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 19 (1) (2019): 55-61 in terms of resistance and anxiety. Bhaba psychology, geography, daily social situ- further describes that the solutions to the- ations and places in Surabaya (Bourdieu, se problems lie in the culture of survival 1993; Zandra, 2014). Due to its too-visible strategy carried out by each group of the characteristics, these portraits are not con- people. The survival strategy carried out sidered special. However, according to by the colonized parties by utilizing the history, Liedje’ Keroncong easily received culture of the colonizers through imitation, popularity precisely by presenting com- and cultural transformation produce a lo- mon social portraits. Nowadays, Termi- cal culture with a hybrid identity. Hybrid nal Tirtonadi and Stasiun Balapan by Didi identity can be uncomplicatedly seen on Kempot also take the local sites as the ly- Markasan’s Keroncong (Javanese song) sty- rics’ parts and easily dominate the market. le because the Netherlands and Japan had Gesang also had success using Bengawan colonized Surabaya. Solo song to gain popularity. In the same The above condition links the simila- context, Markasan’s power strategy on the rity of Markasan’s research to the concept concept of lyrics was allegedly also ob- of Bhaha, which also seeks to examine the tained from his expertise in utilizing social form of local cultural resistance reflected portraits and places in Surabaya. As one in imported instrumentation. The text that example of the song Blauran Wayah Sore mentions the local place was reflected in both in the title and the lyrics mention the the lyrics of Kerocong. The common tone name Blauran Market. Activities in Blau- scale for Jula-Juli (one of the Javanese rhy- ran Market also become reproductions of me styles) is integrated into the Keroncong environmental portraits described in detail entity, which has the characteristic of Euro- throughout the lyrics. The concept of Blau- pean-style music. Keroncong music’s entity ran Wayah Sore’s lyrics is a reproduction of in its hybrid form has a mimicry camoufla- environmental portraits and sites used by ge strategy and produces an identity that Markasan to gain popularity. mixes local culture with imported cultu- The satirical, straightforward, and re (Bhaba, 1994; Haryatmoko, 2010; Jen- critical language style in the lyrics of his kins, 1992; Zandra, 2014). The hybridity song is also the communal utterances in of Markasan’s works was his foresight in Surabaya. Therefore, it can be said that using the music tastes of post-colonial so- the concept of the lyrics the songs is not ciety and wrapping them in popular music new but a reproduction from what alrea- commodities at that time. dy exists. Markasan personal development While in The Interpretation of Cultu- and thoughts are inseparable from the in- res: Selected Essays explained that politi- fluence of the surrounding environment. cal modernization from the beginning ten- The environment, which was the satirical, ded not to be calming (Geertz, 1973). The straightforward, and critical environment, transition from sovereignty to an indepen- was formed since his childhood. This is dent regime is more than a shift of power evident in the satire, straightforward, from foreign hands to indigenous’. The and critical lyrics of Liedje Keroncong that third worlds’ political themes of cultural existed long before the Markasan era. The perspectives examined by Geertz involve situation depicted in the lyrics of Keroncong nationalism of new countries, primordial Liedje persisted as a satirical, straightfor- sentiments, civil politics, and cultural poli- ward, and critical speech style of the peop- tics. Greetz also gave a concept to this rese- le of Surabaya to date. This kind of habitus arch in considering Markasan’s ideas from builds the cultural capital of Markasan’s the cultural politics in the 1960-1965 era. lyrics. The cultural capital of Markasan’s His power strategy that has been lyrics makes the lyricist a satirical, straight- found in discussions and data analysis is forward, and critical style. Likewise, the the concepts of lyrics and scales. His lyrics time context covered the connection of the contents are the portraits of demographics, people surrounding when the community Rully Aprilia Zandra, Markasan Strategy in A Best-Selling MusicMinangkabau Women 59 was familiar with satire, straightforward, in keroncong song that has European tone and critical. It can also be said that there is colors with Surabaya’s places and scales. a link between popular song lyric writing Markasan used Surabaya’s lyric style to strategies and their environmental backg- dominate the music industry in Suraba- round and context. In other words, the ya in the 1960-1965 era. All of them were analysis of objective structure cannot be reproductions and imitations of things that separated from the analysis of the origin of already exist in the music lovers commu- the mental structure of the individual who nity in Surabaya. They were easily and wrote the lyrics. And the analysis of objec- quickly approved by the people who were tive structures cannot be separated from basically familiar with the local structure the analysis of the origin of the individual that was re-uploaded in the form of Blau- mental structures of the prospective audi- ran Wayah Sore song. ence (Bourdieu, 1993; Haryatmoko, 2010). In this case, Markasan style was ori- The battle of strength and strategy ginally formed by the environment, which in the Keroncong music industry results in turn, shapes the tastes of the environ- in conditions for taking positions between ment and Surabayans precisely (Bourdieu, dominance and subordination of cultu- 1993; Jenkins, 1992; Zandra, 2014). His suc- ral capital at stake (Jenkins, 1992; Zan- cess reproduced the environment in the dra, 2019). At this point, what happens form of lyrics content on the place in the is power relations between social agents song still needs to be appreciated becau- who then form social classes consisting of se not everyone can do it, the success of class structures that dominate and be do- this reproduction is also a success to meet minated. As a result, the structured sym- the tastes and market demands (Eleanor, bolic violence mechanism appears due to 2009). Bourdieu explained that the dialec- Markasan’s efforts in implementing Sura- tic between actors and systems could only baya local cultural capital ownership stra- be created and perpetuated by social ac- tegy. This strategy is evident in the distin- tors conditioning the product and system ction of Markasan against S. Padimin or relations that surround them (Bourdieu, other keroncong songwriters in Surabaya 1990; Bourdieu & Johnson, 1993). (Haryatmoko, 2010). Distinction raised by Based on the data collected, Marka- Markasan is self-affirmation as the domi- san is considered to be very free to express nant class to distinguish themselves from himself in his work; his music writing stra- other social classes. His lyrics styles were tegy associated with the local auditory cul- his dominant trademarks and castes that ture capitals of Surabaya he has. Additive intentionally created and defended to win cultural capital in the form of pelog scale the Keroncing music industry in 1960-1965. was borrowed by Markasan to grab mar- Habitus and capital concept in win- ket appetites quickly. Market tastes can be ning the industry assist this research in fi- called the pelog scale because the scale of guring out the use of Blauran Wayah Sore the pelog is an easy listening scale for the song as one of the assets that preserve OK aspiring audience of song lovers. Pelog Aneka Warna directed by Markasan. The scale borrowing strategy in the success of other relation between his ideas and habi- dominance in the music industry at that tus was also seen in his scales. The scales time automatically perpetuated pelog sca- played by OK Aneka Warna were repro- le capital in the industry. The strategy and duction and imitation from Surabaya’s outcomes of the pelog scale domination Jula-Juli’s scales. Moreover, by 1 – 1 - 1 – 1 process were the contributions of Marka- - 1 interval scales, the scales are in accom- san in perpetuating the subject’s habitus. paniment track of Eastern Javanese dance Whether realized or not, the situation of such as ludruk, parikan’s melody, gamelan, the relationship between ideas in the work or macapatan’s melody. and the structure in its environment is the Thus, the hybrid idea is reflected right strategy to perpetuate the style of ly- 60 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 19 (1) (2019): 55-61 rics and the scale of Surabaya’s melody. gradually from its physical and social en- Both of them also succeeded in extending vironment, and the concept of musical ha- the duration of habitus in the Surabaya bitus that surrounds it over a long period. environment. The perpetuation of habitus The concept of the place created the lyric in the environment automatically builds text ‘Blauran market.’ While the musical the durability of permanent community concept sparked melody in the pelog sca- tastes. If the people’s tastes still like sati- les. These ideas are representations of len- rical, straightforward, and critical lyrics, ding style lyrics, popular places’ names, then songwriter strategies that use sati- local scales, and identification of favorite rical, straightforward, and critical styles tone scales of Surabaya’s cultural structu- will continue to sell. If the people’s tastes re. This study also provides strategies to remain on the pelog tone scale, then the utilize cultural capital in the form of lyric keroncong songwriter who uses the pelog styles, popular places’ names, local scales, tone scale will also continue to sell. That and identification of favorite song scales is, if a dominant songwriter can maintain for songwriters to excel in the music in- his market tastes, then he will still be able dustry today. to dominate the market with the same strategy. REFERENCES Markasan used the power of the site in song lyrics and proved to be the domi- Bhaba, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. nant class. He used satirical, straightfor- New York: Routledge. ward, and critical styles in social stories Bourdieu, P. (1990). Reptoduction in Edu- that placed in the background of popular cation, Society, and Culture. London: places and dominated the market as well. Routledge. Hence, it can be concluded that the strate- Bourdieu, P. (1993). The Field of Cultural gy of lending lyrics style and borrowing Production. London: Routledge. popular places’ names are two smart ways Bourdieu, P., & Johnson, R. (1993). The Field to maintain or gain market dominance in of Cultural Production: Essays on Art the music industry. 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