Children taking a fine arts course on Jl. Kyai Gede Utama, Bandung, were mesmerized immediately when their instructor introduced a traditional West African drum, the djembe, over four years ago. The introduction caused a percussion craze among the children, who dropped their sculpting and painting activities to pick up the djembe -- a switch that eventually brought them to fame.

The children's passionate response was beyond the expectations of Marintan Sirait, the manager of this youth arts institute called Jendela Ide (window of ideas).

A long wooden cylinder with a leather membrane on one end, the djembe is played with the hands like a conga drum. It is now the central instrument of the youth troupe that performs under the banner of Jendela Ide Percussions (JIP).

"Originally we only brought along simple percussion instruments like tambourines and smaller frog-like disks that clink. But they were considerably drawn to the djembes," said Marintan. Marintan, along with her husband Andar Manik -- both fine arts graduates of the Bandung Institute of Technology -- founded in 1995 Jendela Ide, a non-profit arts institute.

Practice makes perfect

On stage, JIP typically presents 10 musicians, ranging from 10 to 15 years of age and mixing both experienced and new players.

Besides djembes, the troupe also plays other percussion instruments like the bongo, conga, drum sets and cymbals.

Bintang, Marintan's and Andar's eldest child, leads the troupe with a whistle to signal the changes in rhythm while playing the djembe, Western drums and cymbals. Regular performers of the troupe include Alia and Jilly, both 10, supported by Abbe, Alfa, Digoen, Dimas, Gilang, Hilmy and Yonathan.

During a show, Alia, Jilly, Dimas, Gilang, Hilmy and Yonathan leave their djembes to gather in centerstage to play capoeira -- an acrobatic martial arts form from Brazil that is "danced" to music.

Ziner and Yudi Taryudi instruct the JIP members in playing the djembe. The two learned to play the drum at a workshop led by Mamadou Diabate, a djembe player from Burkina Faso, West Africa. They also have studied with Japanese musicians Tomoko and Keiko Takeya and Australia's Trio Dingo, as well as local musicians Jilly Likumahuwa and Slamet Gundono.

Ziner said he never imposed any musical style on the children of JIP; rather, he allowed them to explore their creativity and improvisational skills in creating compositions together.

"They are like world music pieces, but I prefer to call them `mixed compositions', as we all create the pieces together for public performances," he said.

The basic technique for playing the djembe consists of three types of drumming: open beats on the edge of the drum face, harder beating toward the middle and bass strikes in the center of the drum face. After gaining solid command of the basics, the youngsters are taught rhythm by balancing the drumming areas evenly to cover the entire face of the drum, which enables them to explore hundreds of tones and beats.

Despite the simple technique, playing the djembe is easier said than done.

In the beginning, the children had to get used to sore palms from continual beating, and some children's hands turned red -- some even bruised -- from practicing the djembe.

Even so, Jilly -- who became acquainted with the djembe at a school bazaar -- decided to take up the drum as a hobby. Her parents agreed when the 5th grader of Santo Yusuf elementary school asked her mother to take her to Jendela Ide.

"I like it, though I bruised my palms badly as a beginner," said Jilly.

All of the JIP members had the same experience during the first three weeks of djembe training, but ignored the pain. Out of their zeal and zest for the instrument, most of the young players gave no special attention to their palms -- except Digoen, who immerses his hands in warm water after each practice for better blood circulation.

In living with djembe beats over the last three years, Alia, Jilly and the other troupe members apparently have undergone some changes in their behavior and outlook. For example, Bintang noticed that the previously girlish Alia had become a tomboy bold enough to challenge boys.

"While she used to be calm and quiet, now she's fond of punching," he remarked, laughing.

Jilly's mother Yolanda, a psychologist, saw the drum as a form of therapy for her daughter, who found it hard to concentrate. Yolanda said her only child was hyper-kinetic, with abundant energy but poor concentration skills, and Jilly would forget what she was saying if her mother asked her to stop telling a story for a while.

"A long break made her unfocused. When she first started drumming, it was dissonant and uneven. Gradually, she was able to match her beats with the others' and learned to concentrate," Yolanda said.

Meanwhile, Marintan introduced her own children, Bintang and Gilang, to the world of percussion to expose them to musical instruments other than those in mainstream pop bands.

"As fine arts graduates, (my husband and I) have been trying to develop art forms beyond the mainstream, which have evidently spread to music. Traditional values are worthy of exploration, and the point was how to avoid being mired in something already established with a wide following," she explained.

Musical, social exposure

Through Jendela Ide, Marintan and Andar expose their students to various genres of non-pop music, such as ethnic music, jazz world music and progressive musical trends, to build their musical knowledge and repertoire before they join the professional music industry. In the meantime, the two are developing Jendela Ide into a cultural institution dedicated to promoting the cultural perspective of youths.

Although many may view the traditional percussion instruments the troupe plays as outdated rather than modern and popular, the players are proud of the drums.

"Compared to other musical instruments, the djembe is a lot more valuable, as we can preserve another culture's tradition that attracts equally big audiences (as pop bands)," said Hilmy.

A percussion player since he was 3 years old, Digoen, now 10, made a more critical comment: "Traditional tunes are better than modern melodies, because contemporary music knows no ancestral origins."

Digoen is fortunate that his father taught him to love traditional drums since he was a toddler. He learned to play Sundanese drums at the age of 3, and mastered this instrument at 7. He is also skilled at playing other drums as well as the angklung (a suspended bamboo instrument that is shaken) and bonang (small gongs). He is now learning the violin.

Digoen joined JIP after watching Bintang and his troupe perform at the Centre Culturel Francais (CCF) in Bandung.

"It's easier to play the djembe, which only uses our hands, unlike Sundanese drums, which requires us to play with our hands and feet," said the diminutive drummer.

The diverse backgrounds of the troupe's members have given JIP a distinctive identity.

Marintan, who does not play the djembe, said JIP was set up as a medium of social communication and not as a commercial band. Meanwhile, many parents hoped that their children would develop their motor functions by learning to play percussion.

"We teach (our students) how to appreciate other people and to create a sense of togetherness. We never insist that they should be musical or talented. The gifted should consider the entire group because they are part of it, and the contribution of each individual in it is significant," Marintan stressed.

Showtime!

Owing to the unique instruments they play, JIP stages one to two shows a month on invitation. As the troupe's members are children, Marintan has strived to adjust the performance calendar in accordance with school schedules, and also discusses them with the performers' parents.

In the past three years, JIP's performance calendar has included shows in Jakarta's Java Jazz Festival in 2005 and 2007, a special appearance with the Children are the Future event with Japanese musician Sadao Watanabe in the Java Jazz 2007 and the Jazz Aid for Tsunami at CCF Bandung.

The troupe has also performed as the opening act in the Freedom of Expression Festival of the Asia Europe International Artists Workshop, on Mara Radio, in a wayang suket (grass puppet) show and the United Nation's Fight Hunger: Walk the World 2007.

Several foreign missions also invite JIP to entertain their guests regularly.

According to Marintan, invitations for the troupe pour in every week.

"But we have to consider school exams, bad weather, potential epidemics and members' capacity. We were very interested in joining the recent Ubud writers festival, but the plan was canceled because the children were taking their exams," said Marintan, who has limited the shows to Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta.

The parents also have requested that JIP's performances be staged out of the children's desire rather than external pressures, so the events are now planned as part of leisure tours for the children to have fun.

Apart from composing music together, the troupe's members also select their costumes. While the parents are sometimes involved in arranging costumes, they cannot impose their will. For example, although the children wore headbands previously, they refused to do so this year because the headbands prevented them from whipping their hair around while performing.

To prevent the child performers from becoming "arrogant stage artists", their parents have decided that JIP should appear not only in public events, but also at orphanages or social gatherings. In line with this effort, JIP has performed for child earthquake survivors in Yogyakarta.

It seems the parents need not worry too much, as the youths of JIP have a healthy appreciation for famous artists, like most children and teenagers.

Yonathan, for instance, always brings his mobile phone so he can have his picture taken with celebrities.

"It's exciting to see a lot of artists, such as Luna Maya in the Fight Hunger event at Senayan, so we could be photographed together," he said candidly.

Even with their considerable training and experience, the youths refuse to give up practicing: Bintang and his gang wish to keep learning so they can fulfill their dream of touring the world with their percussion music.

Oddly, though, the troupe's members claim they never touch their djembes at home. Why?

"We're afraid the loud noise will drive our neighbors mad," said Jilly.

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