THE ART OF THE ARRANGER IN POP SUNDA, SUNDANESE POPULAR MUSIC OF WEST JAVA, INDONESIA by Indra Ridwan Drs. of Communication, Padjadjaran University, 1993 Magister Seni, Indonesian Institute of Art in Yogyakarta, 2004 Master of Arts, University of Pittsburgh, 2010 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2014 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Indra Ridwan It was defended on April 23, 2014 and approved by Mathew Rosenblum, Professor of Music, Department of Music Richard Scaglion, Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology Adriana Helbig, Assistant Professor of Music, Department of Music Dissertation Director: Andrew Weintraub, Professor of Music, Department of Music ii Copyright © by Indra Ridwan 2014 iii THE ART OF THE ARRANGER IN POP SUNDA, SUNDANESE POPULAR MUSIC OF WEST JAVA, INDONESIA Indra Ridwan, Ph.D University of Pittsburgh, 2014 This dissertation is a historical and stylistic analysis of music arranging in pop Sunda. Pop Sunda is modern commercial popular music in the Sundanese language accompanied by primarily Western instruments. The music blends traditional Sundanese and Western musical elements. I use pop Sunda as a case study to show that the role of the arranger is paramount in the production of pop Sunda, and that the arranger performs functions that are quite different from arrangers in other kinds of music. In pop Sunda, the arranger is also a composer who chooses the instruments and electronic sound timbres; composes melodic and rhythmic parts; determines the tempo; and sets the harmonic foundation of a piece. The arranger is a producer who coordinates the recording session and helps the composer, singers, and musicians understand the tastes of the audience. The arranger may also be a musician and studio engineer in the process of production. However, arrangers rarely receive credit as significant actors in the creation of pop Sunda. In order to demonstrate the central role of the arranger, I investigate the role of five prominent arrangers of pop Sunda: Mohammad Jassin, Tan Déséng, Yan Ahimsa, Doél Sumbang, and Ari Prigara. I use musical analysis to show points of interest and significant sonic devices to distinguish styles of arranging, from the 1960s to 2012. By tracing the history of pop Sunda through the lens of arranging, my dissertation aims to provide a new way of understanding the production of modern Sundanese music. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... XIV 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 ARRANGEMENT, ARRANGER, AND THE PRACTICE OF ARRANGING ....................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 ARRANGER AND ARRANGEMENT IN POP SUNDA................................. 7 1.3 ARRANGERS IN POP SUNDA ......................................................................... 8 1.4 POP SUNDA ....................................................................................................... 10 1.5 POP SUNDA AS MODERN MUSIC ............................................................... 13 1.6 THE TERMS “POP,” “POPULAR,” AND “POPULAR MUSIC” .............. 19 1.7 REGIONAL POPULAR MUSIC: POP DAERAH .......................................... 22 1.8 SUNDANESE, SUNDA, AND BANDUNG ..................................................... 24 1.9 SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STUDY ................................................................ 28 1.10 METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH ........................................................... 29 1.11 KENDANG (DRUM) AND TRANSCRIPTION ............................................. 34 1.12 TECHNICAL NOTES....................................................................................... 36 2.0 MOHAMMAD JASSIN AND NADA KENTJANA: THE EARLY STAGES OF POP SUNDA RECORDING ...................................................................................................... 38 2.1 BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF JASSIN .................................................................. 39 v 2.2 POLITICS AND MUSIC CONTESTS ............................................................ 46 2.2.1 “OUR OWN IDENTITY” .......................................................................... 46 2.2.2 MUSIC CONTESTS ................................................................................... 50 2.3 ARRANGING MUSIC ...................................................................................... 53 2.3.1 SELECTING SONGS FOR PERFORMANCES AND RECORDINGS53 2.3.2 DEVELOPING A MELODY ..................................................................... 56 2.3.3 ARRANGEMENT AS A COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP ........ 59 2.3.4 ANALYSIS OF “TOKÉTJANG” .............................................................. 62 2.3.4.1 VOCAL PARTS .................................................................................. 63 2.3.4.2 ACCOMPANYING PARTS .............................................................. 67 2.4 JASSIN’S INDIVIDUAL STYLE .................................................................... 71 3.0 TAN DÉSÉNG: THE “SUNDA SOUND” ............................................................... 73 3.1 DÉSÉNG’S LIFE AND CAREER ................................................................... 74 3.2 CHINESE-INDONESIANS .............................................................................. 80 3.3 DÉSÉNG’S CONCEPT OF POP SUNDA ....................................................... 83 3.3.1 LANGUAGE ............................................................................................... 83 3.3.2 THE SINGER AND VOCAL ORNAMENTATIONS ............................ 83 3.3.3 SUNDANESE TUNING SYSTEMS .......................................................... 86 3.3.4 STYLES PLAYED AND INSTRUMENTS USED .................................. 88 3.4 ARRANGING MUSIC ...................................................................................... 90 3.4.1 SELECTING AND COMPOSING SONGS ............................................. 90 3.4.2 ARRANGEMENTS, MUSICIANS, AND INSTRUMENTATIONS ..... 91 3.4.3 DÉSÉNG’S GUITAR STYLE ................................................................... 92 vi 3.4.4 “ES LILIN” (“POPSICLE”) ...................................................................... 98 3.4.4.1 VOCAL PART .................................................................................... 99 3.4.4.2 ACCOMPANYING PARTS ............................................................ 103 3.5 THE “SUNDA SOUND” ................................................................................. 110 4.0 YAN AHIMSA: REDEFINING THE POP SUNDA ARRANGEMENT ............ 112 4.1 YAN AHIMSA’S LIFE AND EARLY EXPERIENCE IN ARRANGING 113 4.2 EXPERIMENTATION ................................................................................... 115 4.3 A ONE MAN BAND ........................................................................................ 117 4.4 ARRANGING MUSIC .................................................................................... 120 4.4.1 SELECTING SONGS AND COMPOSING AN ARRANGEMENT ... 120 4.4.2 ONE MAN BAND ARRANGEMENT .................................................... 122 4.4.3 BECOMING A SOUND ENGINEER AND PRODUCER ................... 124 4.4.4 ANALYSIS OF “KALANGKANG” ....................................................... 126 4.4.4.1 INSTRUMENTATION AND SOUND ............................................ 126 4.4.4.2 THE KEY AND INTRODUCTORY PART ................................... 128 4.4.4.3 RHYTHM .......................................................................................... 131 4.4.4.4 PIANO AND CHORD PROGRESSION ........................................ 136 4.5 REDEFINING THE POP SUNDA ARRANGEMENT ................................ 139 5.0 DOÉL SUMBANG: EMPHASIZING FOLK MUSIC IN POP SUNDA ............ 143 5.1 BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF DOÉL SUMBANG ............................................. 143 5.2 DOÉL’S EARLY CAREER IN POPULAR MUSIC ................................... 146 5.3 BECOMING A POP SUNDA PRACTITIONER ......................................... 149 5.4 THE USE OF THE SUNDANESE LANGUAGE IN WEST JAVA ........... 152 vii 5.5 LANGUAGE IN DOÉL’S MUSIC ................................................................. 153 5.6 ARRANGING MUSIC .................................................................................... 156 5.7 ANALYSIS OF “SOMSE” .............................................................................. 162 5.7.1 VOCAL PART .......................................................................................... 164 5.7.2 ACCOMPANYING PARTS .................................................................... 168 5.8 EMPHASIZING FOLK MUSIC .................................................................... 176 6.0 ARI PRIGARA: THE DANCEABILITY OF POP SUNDA ................................ 178 6.1 BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF PRIGARA ........................................................... 178 6.2 COMPUTER MUSIC AND INSTRUMENTS .............................................. 180 6.3 THE KENDANG AND ITS POWER ............................................................. 182 6.4 “BANONDARI” (THE PRINCESS) .............................................................