Inception and Evolution of Tabla Drum in the Music Culture of Malaysia till 21st Century
DR. ASHIS CHAKRABORTY
Tabla, amongst all North Indian percussion instruments, is most popular for its uniqueness and versatility. The instrument has had left its impression on the other countries and their culture, apart from India. Malaysia is one of them. The title of the topic is about, exploring the introduction of tabla in Malaysia along with the evolution from its inception till date. The title is also about its involvement in the Malaysian music and culture.
Malaysia (Pic 1)
Malaysian culture is a collective establishment of various major ethnic groups. The statistics of Malaysian Department of Statistics (1993) shows that the total population of Malaysia is segregated into five groups- Malays (54%), Chinese (29%), Indians (8%), Indigenous (8%) among which the Iban of Sarawak and Kadazan of Subah, Orang Asli are there, and others (0.5%,Arabs, Singhalese, Eurasians and Europeans)1.
The collective growth of Malaysian culture is needed to be understood with a thorough study of aesthetical and intellectual achievement of diverted cultural grooming of these different cultural characteristics, which are having a very narrow and tangentially maintained connections. With the reference of The Informational Malaysia 1994 yearbook, this can be mentioned that Malaysia has got 5 different cultural in existence- Islamic, Chinese, Indian, Western and Indigenous (including Malays and other Indigenous minorities)[1]. The cultural performances of any region comprise Drama, Music, Dance and other ritual practices. In order to establish the proposed topic, we need to focus on the Indian musical culture amongst all.
Indian musical culture in Malaysia
According to historical references, the Indian musical culture has a deep root in Malaysian Archipelago. The native people of Malaysia adopted this Indianized music culture in their life as a consequence of the setting up of four distinguished Indianized empires thousand years ago. The said empires are Funan (1-627 A.D) on the Mekong delta, Thailand; the Langkasuka empire in Kedah, Malaysia; the Sri Vijaya empire (650-1377 A.D), in South Sumatra; and the Majapahit empire (1293-1470 A.D) in Java, Indonasia[2] . As a second reference, Eugene Dairianathan and Phan Ming Yen, in their “A narrative history of music in Singapore 1819 to the present”, mentioned on the page no. 202, that according to Kernial Singh Sandhu’s information, Indians have been present in Singapore from the very first day of the foundation as a British trading post by Raffles in January 1819[3].We get the first trace of Indian cultural performance through the Bangswan musical theatre group. Bangswan was basically a Parsi organization. The group used to play the Indian and Arabic musical pieces at the beginning but later started playing various types of tunes which have become Malay classical pieces today[4]. Apart from this, the Parsi theatre included Khayal (Indian Classical Music style), Thumri& Daadra (Indian semi classical music style), and Ghazal (Melodic form of Urdu love poems) etc.to their music chapters[5]. Ghazal is an eminent style of singing, basically amongst the Indians of Malaysia. According to Matusky and Tan, in Abdullah Bin Mohamed and Adiban Amin’s citation, Malay ruler Temmanggung Abu Bakar brought Ghazal to Johar Baru. Basically it has been introduced by the Indian traders to Malay culture in 19thcentury[6]. In Malayasia, Ghazal is not a musical form of love poems, rather it’s the name imposed on the musical sessions which comprises local folk songs, accompanied by some foreign instruments and Harmonium, play a leading role to it [7]
Unlike Ghazal, the Bhajan, a typical Indian devotional singing form, is performed in various Hindu religious performances, especially in Hindu Mandir and Punjabi Gurdwaras.
Apart from these Vocal practices, the trace of Indian instrumental ensembles can be noticed with the formation of Singapore Indian Orchestra in 1985, under the People Association, that coordinates the socio-cultural activities at the national community level[8]. The idea of cross cultural musical performance was formed in Malaysia with the blend of the elements of two or more musical culture of different ethnic groups settled in the country, such as the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians, the Portuguese and other various Indigenous people[9]. This types of cross cultural musical performances, in terms of the involvement of Indian music, which is still being performed in various places of the country, can be categorized in three kinds- 1. Indian traditional instruments & Western instruments 2. Fusion of Malay, Chinese & Indian instruments and Western instruments 3. Fusion of Malay, Chinese and Indian instruments[10] .
Samuel J. Dass, a musician and composer of Malaysia, created the fusion ensemble ‘Varna’ in 2004, in order to promote localized Hindusthani (North Indian) music in Malaysia. Moreover, Indian music rendered its influence to the westernized Malaysian music as well.
In Malaysian Pop Music Hail Arnir and Uji Rashid introduced Hindusthani influenced music in 1970s and in the 1990s[11].
Use of Tabla in Malaysia
Tabla is a collective name of an Indian membranophonic mono-facial percussion instrument. It has two drums. The left one is called as Dagga which could be made of metal or earth either and the right one is called as Dahina or Chanti which is made of wood. Both faces of the drums are covered by animal hide which is called as Puri. Each of the leather covering has got three sections within- Kinar (the edge), Sur or lav (the middle) and Syahi or gaab (the centered point, made of charcoal and iron ore, affixed on the leather). Tabla was being played in India prominently from 13th century A.D. It is the most popular Indian Percussion Instrument within and outside of India.
TABLA
Along with the adequacy of Indian Music to Malaysian culture, the use of Tabla has also been popularized. In Malaysian music the role of Tabla could be discussed on the basis of the following chapters:
In Indian Music: According to Joseph Peter, In Bangswan s, amongst the most commonly used musical instruments, Tabla was being used along with Violin, Harmonium, Drums, Saxophone and Piano[12]. The Tabla drum and the approaches of its Tala (rhythmic patterns) repertoire has influenced the musical chapters of other cultural group as well. According to Joseph Peter the Raga- Tala formula provided basic unity amongst the musicians, although they are different in execution and approaches[13] (Dairianathan & Yen, 2002: .209). With the firm settlement of the North and South Indian traditions in Malaysia the Tabla has become the most popular instrument of Indian culture. In the social gatherings and other musical purposes Tabla has become a very useful instrument. Recently the fusion of North and South Indian music is attracting the gatherings. In this kind of Jugalbandi (Dual) performances, Tabla is being used along with all the instruments.
As mentioned earlier, another form of Indian music introduced to Malaysia is Ghazal. According to Mohd. Anis Mohd. Nor (1983) Ghazal was being used to accompany with dance in Johar as early as 1956. The Malay Ghazal has its two kinds: Ghazal Johar and Ghazal Parti[14]. In Ghazal Johar the role of Harmonium and Tabla is essential.
[The first specimen video is about one of the performances of Ghazal Johar. This video is showing the accompaniment of Harmonium and Tabla along with others.]
The basic Ghazal group includes two Tablas along with Violin, Guitar, Gambus, Tambourine, and Maracus. According to Chopyak, Malay Rebana and Gedang used to replace the second Tabla[15]. Within the Indian community Ghazal is still being performed in its original style, accompanied by Tabla, Harmonium, Sitar and Sarengi [16](Ang, 2002: 26 & 27). Through an interview by Valarie Ross,Ph.D; with the traditional musical performers of Malaysia, we have come to know that the Tabla is not just for Indian musicians exclusively but has become popular to many musical streams of the country because of the bols (syllables) used in Taalas and the nature of the Malaysian people or society, which can deeply be associated with the ethnicity of respective traditional musical instruments.
Amongst The Hindu religious rituals, one of the most eminent singing style is Bhajan. In Hindu Temples and Punjabi Gurdwaras, all over Malaysia, Tabla is used as an accompanying hand. Moreover according to Minni Ang,Ph.D; Kaharwa (8 beats) and Daadra (6 beats) amongst the taalas (rhythmic patterns with syllables) are mainly used to accompany.
[In the above specimen we may see Tabla is accompanying a Bhajan in Punjabi Gurdwara]
In other Malaysian Musics:Apart from Indian musical concerts, Tabla is being used in other kind of Malaysian music as well. In Asli (syncretic song based form) and Dangdut (popular song based form, originally from Indonasia), Tabla gets performed along with Flute and Harmonium[17].
In Western Music:Now- a -days the western classical trained composers are composing the cross cultural compositions and using various kinds of traditional instruments. In contemporary Pop and Jazz music, Tabla is being used in the rhythmic section along with Gamelan[18] (Ross, 2011).
In Film Music:According to Balakrishna Veerapan (2003), in 1960’s film music in Singapore Tabla was used with other Indian and Western instruments (Dairianathan & Yen, 226). Whereas according to Peter Manuel, in Indian Film culture up to 1975, most of the film songs had been rendered along with the Western and Indigenous instruments and Tabla was one of them[19].
In Orchestra: As mentioned earlier, Singapore Indian Orchestra, debuted in Malaysia in the year of 1985, under the umbrella of Peoples Association. Whereas very first Indian classical orchestra team in Malaysia was New Indian Amateur Orchestra. In this Orchestra Tabla was used along with all percussions. We also get the name of Gemini group, where Mr. Shekharan was a singer and a Tabla player[20] (ibid,233 & 234). In Varna of Samuel J. Dass we get the name of Mr. Prakash Kandasamy as a Tabla player[21].
[In the above specimen Tabla could be seen played in a fusion orchestration]
In various orchestra pieces, Like Prana (by Varna), Tabla was used to be performed along with other instruments. Although not with prominent syllables but with some sound touches it would usually help to run the rhythmic patterns smoothly. According to Pravin Manoharan (University Sains, Malaysia), in his Article “Towards fusion: New trends in Hindusthani Sitar Music in Malaysia,” we get how tabla has been used in fusion pieces like “Bombay Bossa Nova” and “ Damascus”.
[In the next specimen video Tabla is seen as a part of the band ‘AakashA’, plays the fusions along with the other instruments.
Classes of Tabla run by Malaysian Indian
It is now clearly evident, through the discussion so far, Tabla has got a remarkable involvement in the musical establishment in Malaysia irrespective of all ethnic groups. Performing Tabla is still a valid chapter in Malaysia and the table classes are running in different parts of the country. Some of them are as follows:
Indian Cultural Centre, Kualalampur, Malaysia.
Sangeetha Swara Laya, Malaysia
My Tamil Channel, Malaysia
Indian Music and Dance Academy, Johar Baru.
Underneath a Tabla coaching session video of Penang Tabla society, Malaysia is given where a huge number of learners are being imparted training from the instructor.
Conclusion
So far on the basis of the relevant references, we have explored the topic. We have discussed about the involvement of Indian musical culture along with the role of Tabla, to the ethnic musical establishments of Malaysia. Eventually, it is clearly evident that apart from maximum number of Indianized musical renditions, in some other Malaysian musical chapters, Tabla has been virtually embraced. Therefore, it could be inferred that Tabla is playing a crucial role in Malaysian music, irrespective of all ethnic groups. Despite of this fact, we don’t get any prominent time period that specifies the time of inception of Tabla in the country. Through the follow- ups, the journey of Tabla could easily be traced from the relevant scriptures. Starting from theatrical music of 19th century till the cross cultural orchestra or other kind of music of Malaysia of 21st century,the role of Tabla must have gone through certain changes. These changes could be about the implications of the instrument or the concerned playing style. The characters of the steps of these changes are certainly needed to be explored and analyzed. India has got a long and rich heritage of music bound by the traditional rules. Although Indian Music practices acquire a very small part of the whole chapter of Malaysian Music but is surely needed to be maintained in a proper manner. The character of everything on the earth is to be changed simultaneously with the time but the basic character of everything with its radical value must be sustained in order to be existing with its identity.
Tabla not only as an instrument but also as a delegate of Indian culture playing a crucial role in the musical society of Malaysia. It had although made its journey to Malaysia from India some decades earlier, but is needed to be upholding its purity despite of the change of trends that might have distorted due to the influence of the modern era.
References
- Eugene Dairianathan and Phan Ming Yen, A narrative history of music in Singapore, Technical report submitted to the National Arts Council, Singapore, based on the award of the research grant in 2002.
- Chinthaka Prageet Meddegoda, Adaptation of the Harmonium in Malaysia.
- Mohd Hassan Abdullah (University Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia), Idiosyncratic Aspects of Malaysian Music: The Roles of The Compang In Malay Society, Paper presented at the UNESCO Regional Expert Symposium on Arts Education in Asia, Hong Kong, 2004.
- Valerie Ross, Ph.D., Challenges Faced By Performers of Cross Cultural Music, Paper presented at the Performance Studies Network International Conference, University Of Cambridge, 14-17 July, 2011.
- Rita Mardhatillah BT Umar Rauf, Nurulhamimi Binti Abdul Rahman, Adee B Arifin; Key Success of Malaysian Music Market Towards Globalization, Institute Penyelidikan, Pembangunan Dan Pengkomersilan, Universiti Teknologi Mara, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, September 2008.
- Minni K. Ang, Ph.D.; An Introduction to Malaysian Music, Second Edition, Copyright ©2002 by Musicmall Conservatoire Productions.
- Praveena Manoharan, University Sains Malaysia, Towards Fusion: New Trends In Hindusthani Sitar Music In Malaysia, Wacana Seni Journal of Arts Discourse. Jil. / Vol. 7. 2008.
Picture Reference
- Minni K. Ang, Ph.D.; An Introduction to Malaysian Music, Second Edition, Copyright ©2002 by Musicmall Conservatoire Productions.
- Eugene Dairianathan and Phan Ming Yen, A narrative history of music in Singapore, Technical report submitted to the National Arts Council, Singapore, based on the award of the research grant,2002,202.
- Valerie Ross, Ph.D., Challenges Faced By Performers of Cross Cultural Music, Paper presented at the Performance Studies Network International Conference, University Of Cambridge, 14-17 July, 2011.