February 10th 2011
This is the last day of our Field Trip. We packed our things because we have to checked out after breakfast. Then, we had short briefing again and went to Primarasa. We shopped there. Then, we went to Saung Udjo Cultural Tour.
Saung Udjo – Angklung, traditional music in Indonesia
The place is so nice, comfortable, and uniquely traditional. Located in Jl. Padasuka no. 118, Bandung. The show was started on 15.30 WIB-17.30 WIB everyday.
It was build on 1966 by Udjo Ngalagena (Alm) that was usually called with Mang Udjo. He had a wife named Uum Sumiati. Saung Angklung Udjo (SAU) was a place for music performances, education center, and vacation place for culture as well. It has tradition culture of West Java. SAU tried to goals Abah Udjo’s dream where he was known as Legend of Angklung, they wanted to make Angklung as an art and a culture identity that can be proud of.
“Saya mendapat pesan dari Bapak Angklung Dunia, Daeng Soetigna (Alm), untuk meneruskan misinya memperkenakan ANGKLUNG ke semua orang di seluruh dunia agar dikenal dimana-mana, dengan sebuah gagasan bahwa melalui penampilan kesenian musik ANGKLUNG, akan dapat membantu mendorong terciptanya kedamaian di dunia, yang kita cintai dan kita tinggali ini”
Their show seperated in 11 parts. There are:
- Wayang Golek Demonstration. It was a Sunda culture than show a drama of wood dool that tells about ceremonies happen in Indonesia. In each Wayang show, it will reflect moral so that we will always obey Him and be good for others.
- Helaran. An Angklung show that usually played in traditional ceremony khitanan or even the ceremony of planting seed. It shows the thankfullness to God for all of His blessings given to us.
- Traditional Dances. In each traditional dances will have a story in it. Legend story or traditional story. Depends on the show. Such as: - Topeng Dances. The mask itself represent the character of human that refers to tempramental, unpatient, slooby. - Merak Dances. It is a traditional dance from West Java to show the beauty of Peacock and tells about the beauty of color.
- Calung
- Arumba
- Mini Angklung
- Padaeng Angklung
- Combine Rehearsal Angklung. Here, we, the audience have an opportunity to play Angklung. Each of us will get an angklung and the host will take a hugh paper shows 1-7. Where 1=C, 2=D, 3=E, 4=F, 5=G, 6=A, and 7=B. And we will play together there.
- Orchestra Angklung. Here, they performances a lot of songs from Indonesia. Even jazz music, they played it with our traditional music instruments.
- Jaipong Angklung
- Dance Together. Here, the music still played and the audience allow to dance together with the player in front. And it was a happy goodbye for us.
The process of making Angklung is not easy. It takes 6 months or a year to dry the bamboo. The way of drying are vary. Wind technique, oven, or gas technique. The duration is also vary. The more longer it takes, the better it will be. It also have specific time to do the drying. The best time is at 10.00 AM-15.00 PM. Because in this time, it requires photosynthesis where prevent the bamboo from bacteries and fungis. The sound that produce from each Angklung are different from each other. And how it can produce sound do, re, mi? It differentiate from the lenght of the bamboo, bamboo’s tube, and also the size. The smaller and shorter bamboo will produce high pitch, while the bigger and taller bamboo will produce low pitch. That is why a complete Angklung will be organized from the smallest to the biggest. It is just the same as the piano arrangement from the lowest to the highest. The age of an Angklung is about 20 years, but it have to be care well to prevent from fungis, dirt, and damage.
Then, we went to the airport in Jakarta and had lunch in a restaurant near there named Bukit Randu Bandara. Because we still had a lot of time, we played and took photos as well. It was so fun. After that, we went to the airport and checked in. We arrived at around 22.00 PM.
That’s all from 3 days of Week Without Walls Field Trip. I learn a lot from this activity. I had fun, but educated as well. Thankyou for reading!
