Indonesia is a country of 17,000 islands with a population, according to the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration of the Ministry of Home Affairs, as of June 2022 of 275.36 million people divided into 1,340 tribes and ethnicities. They then carry out various community activities in various forms that create art and cultural products.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology as of 22 November 2022 said that of the approximately 11,622 art and cultural products recorded, 1,728 of them have been designated as national intangible cultural heritage. They take various forms, such as performing arts, traditional crafts, oral traditions, culinary and so on.

One of the national intangible cultural heritages is talempong, a metal- percussion instrument from West Sumatra. According to professor emeritus of ethnomusicology from Monash University, Australia, Margaret Joy Kartomi, talempong is estimated to have entered Minangkabau in the 13th century, along with the development of Islam in the Minang land.

In her 1998 research report entitled Musical Strata in Sumatra, Java, and Bali, the art of talempong along with gongs is thought to have been brought to the archipelago by bronze artisans from Tonkin, in northern Vietnam. The sound of the beating instrument called Kartomi captivated the leader of the Pagaruyung Kingdom, King Adityawarman, and was only played to welcome royal guests. Along the way, the art of talempong became a symbol of the kings of Pagaruyung Kingdom's prestige and greatness.

The talempong instrument is made of a mixture of copper, white tin and white iron in the shape of a cylinder. The diameter is 17-18 centimeters and the height is 8.5-9 centimeters with the top and bottom not the same size. There is a lump or pencu at the top of the instrument and the bottom is hollow. The metal thickness of the talempong is around 3 - 4 millimeters.

At first glance, the talempong resembles the aguang (large gong) or bonang, the small gong in gamelan performances. The way to play it is the same, which is hit using a small wooden stick (stick). The quality of the sound produced by the talempong will depend on the metal elements that form it. The more copper content in the metal of the talempong instrument, the better the sound will be.

According to the website of the Directorate General of Culture of the Ministry of Culture, Research, and Technology, talempong has been integrated into the lives of indigenous people in Minangkabau and is played during special occasions. Generally, talempong is played with other traditional Minang musical instruments, such as drums, saluang, and sarunai.

Talempong is also often used as a tempo guide for the music being played. So, talempong is like salt in cooking, a dance performance or traditional event is incomplete without this musical instrument.

Talempong Pacik

There are two ways to play the talempong: the traditional technique (interlocking) and the modern technique. Both techniques produce pentatonic tones, typical of traditional musical instruments.

In the traditional technique, the talempong is played by three people, each playing two talempongs. It is held vertically with the left hand, up and down. The upper one is clamped by the thumb and index finger, while the lower one is hung on the middle, ring and little fingers. The index finger becomes the separator between the two talempongs, making the talempong sound loud.

In the first technique, the right hand holds and strikes the stick against the talempong. This way of playing is known as the dipacik or held technique. People in West Sumatra understand it as talempong pacik. There are three types of talempong pacik based on the category of sound produced, namely male talempong, talempong batino (female), and mating talempong.

According to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage website, the male talempong is tasked with combining the lowest and highest notes to create a whole tone. This is also the case with the female talempong, which plays changing tones depending on the needs of the scale being played, such as the second note and the fourth note or the third note with the fifth note.

The mating talempong, also known as paningkah, is the connector or hook of the male and female talempong tones. The melody of the paningkah talempong must be able to connect the harmonized tones produced by the male talempong to the female talempong or vice versa. That is what is called interlocking or enhancing each other so that the tones played do not collide.

Talempong like this are often included when there is a procession or to welcome traditional guests and the players also walk in the procession while clasping the talempong on their fingers. The talempong players are often immersed in the dynamic harmonies of the tones produced and their faces are mostly cheerful.

Uniquely, one talempong can weigh up to 1 kilogram. In fact, they are always clamped in their hands during the performance, which lasts at least 10 minutes. Generally, talempong pacik players are over 40 years old. This art is relatively rare among young people because of the unusual way it is played.

Modern Talempong

The modern technique tends to ease the task of the player because the talempong no longer needs to be held. This is because the talempong has been placed in a rectangular wooden container in which there are special chambers called rancakan as rails or rea. It functions as a holder for 8-20 units of talempong arranged in two rows and sorted according to the high-low flow of the pentatonic tones to be played.

In order for the talempongs to remain firmly on the rancakan stand or not fall out of the container, reinforcement is given in the form of a rope or steel wire tied to each talempong and connected to the wall of the room or wooden container. According to Asri MK, a Karawitan Lecturer at the Padang Panjang Institute of Indonesian Arts, in Literature-Based Talempong Unggan Music Learning, playing this type of talempong makes it easier for the players.

Asri thinks that players will find it easier to move their hands to hit each talempong arranged in the rancakan, even though when playing it the hands must be ready with the beater at a distance of about 10 cm above the pencu. "Both hands can move dynamically to play the melody of the notes that emerge from the talempong strikes. The flexibility of the arms in hitting the talempong is the key word. Because the tempo of this type of talempong is twice as fast as other types of talempong," he said. 

This kind of talempong is also known as talempong unggan, named after a jorong in Sumpur Kudus Sub-district, Sijunjung Regency, and is usually played while sitting. Many young Minang people can play this type of talempong and in some areas it has become an extracurricular activity in schools. You can find it at events such as wedding parties (baralek gadang), silat performances, or when accompanying the Wave Dance.

A young composer from West Sumatra named Agung Perdana, in a discussion about preserving Minangkabau culture held in Padang some time ago, revealed that talempong can be played with various other types of music, such as jazz, pop, blues, or even rock. He has proven this by performing in 12 countries and doing jam sessions with local music groups in various musical colors.

Writer: Anton Setiawan
Editors: Ratna Nuraini/Elvira Inda Sari/Sugiarti
Translator: Irvina Falah