BIDAYUH BAMBOO AND PERCUSSION MUSIC AT THE RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

Date: 09 May 2006
Written By: Yeoh Jun-Lin

One of the main attractions of the Rainforest World Music Festival is that the unique music and instruments from the many myriad native tribes of Sarawak will be showcased at the daytime workshops and evening shows.

Sarawak, the biggest state in Malaysia, has many ethnic tribal groups. The Bidayuh also known as the Land Dayaks, inhabit around the areas not far out from the radius of Kuching, the capital city of the state, and around the Skrang River. This river is the historic site of many battles between the first white Rajah of Sarawak, James Brooke and the pirates that hindered trading and transportation into the interior of Borneo in the late 19th century.  

Each area where the Bidayuh villages can be found (around Lundu, Bau, Penrissen, Padawan, Serian, and also right up to the borders of Kalimantan Indonesia) has their own local dialect that can be vastly dissimilar from the other villages. In other cases, the words are similar but pronounced differently. Up till today, there is no one common dialect either spoken or written.

The Bidayuh used to live in the basin of the rivers up to the higher mountainous areas where they practiced shifting cultivation and hunted for their food. Their headhouses were very regal and distinctive in architectural design and have now become a symbol of their rich culture.

Music and dancing was a community experience. Most of their instruments were made of bamboo.

Each year, the Rainforest World Music Festival tries to feature one indigenous group of Sarawak over the 3 day weekend.

This year, BERINGKENG TUA’AN is one of the biggest bands at the festival, comprising of about 18 musicians.

They will come with their several types of drums ; the sebang or war drums, the small double-faced cylindrical gandangs, and the kitawak – which are brass gongs.

The pirunchong is also used as a bamboo percussion instrument. Different lengths and sizes of bamboo stems are hit with sticks one after another to create interlocking rhythms. There are fascinating stories also associated with the pirunchong and the musicians will be expounding on these at the workshops that they will be doing over the festival.

The anggu’ is also used percussively but are used by stamping the lower ends on wood or rock or on the floor.

One of the most exotic instruments they will be bringing is the tunton also known as the rhatong or the sirotuong. These are made from only the biggest and strongest bamboo as slits are cut along the length of the bamboo to form the “strings” of the instrument. It is very closely related to the valiha of Madagascar and, as there is also KILEMA from Madagascar coming to the festival this year, it will be interesting to see the two bands compare their instruments and their way of making music.

The Rainforest World Music Festival will run from the 7th to the 9th of July at the Sarawak Cultural Village, just 45 minutes outside of Kuching.

Daily tickets are priced at RM60 and RM30 for children aged 3 – 12 years. They are available at the Visitor Information Centres in Kuching, Miri and Sibu. Or check the website www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com for packages or travel agents or outlets and updates on the festival. More enquiries can be made by calling the Sarawak Tourism Board at 082-423600.

In Kuala Lumpur, tickets can also be bought at
SARAWAK PARADISE IN BORNEO
No. 25 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel:  03 - 214 26113 or 03 - 214 26111
Fax: 03 - 214 26112
E-mail:  swakkl@streamyx.com

The festival is run by the Sarawak Tourism Board with support from the Ministry of Tourism. They have on board with them, Malaysia Airlines who is Official Airlines 9th year running as well as fROOTS magazine as Media Sponsor.

PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association), the leading US-based travel industry, has also awarded the gold award in the Heritage and Culture category 2006 to the Rainforest World Music Festival and the award ceremony was just recently held at the 55th annual conference in Pattaya, Thailand on the  23rd – 27th April.

Together with the music of Sarawak, which will also include two brothers on the sape, the stringed lute of the Orang Ulu which has now become the symbol of the festival, there will also be bands from Korea, France, Mali, Latin America, Austria, Mongolia and more.

Yeoh Jun-Lin
Artistic Director
Rainforest World Music Festival