M

ost teenagers in the city may scratch their heads when asked about traditional Betawi music called gambang kromong since the art form, which has influences from other cultures, has been slowly disappearing from the public eye amid current developments in modern music.

However, 14-year-old Vincent Rafeerty Marcelin knows in detail what makes a gambang kromong ensemble. The private junior high school student in Tangerang, Banten, has participated in an extracurricular class about gambang kromong for the past two years. At school, he is a part of a traditional Betawi orchestra and plays the tehyan (a violin-like instrument), which is crucial for the ensemble.

Vincent and another eight students took part in a recent gambang kromong competition held by the Tangerang administration at City Hall, where they performed traditional Betawi songs, such as “Jali-Jali” and “Ondel-Ondel”.

“Somehow, I feel proud playing gambang kromong because I know there aren’t many young people playing it now,” Vincent said.

Another participant in the competition, Fajri, 35, said his playing gambang kromong as traditional music was not solely a matter of preserving culture but was a way for him to make ends meet, as he had dedicated himself to nurturing his family’s art studio, Sinar Baru, which specializes in gambang kromong.

Fajri’s uncle Ukar Sukardi, 68, founded the art studio in Tangerang in the 1990s.

As a native Betawi family, his many relatives, old and young, are also actively involved in the musical group.

“Even though some family members already have other occupations, they would set aside their free time for this,” Fajri said.

During the early days of the Dutch colonial era, Chinese-Indonesians lived in an area of downtown Tangerang called Benteng, as part of the Dutch policy to control them. Later, as the policy changed, they spread into outlying areas of Tangerang and to Bekasi in West Java. Benteng itself refers to the historic area of Tangerang.

They share neighborhoods with the native Jakartans who call themselves Betawi and live at the same economic level.

The sense of openness between them also manifested in the style of music called gambang kromong. The orchestra consists of at least a gambang (xylophone-like instrument), a kromong (a set of small gongs), tehyan, flute, a percussion set, gongs and kecrek (a musical instrument with two or four thin metal discs attached to a frame). The ensemble usually accompanies traditional Betawi dances and lenong (Betawi comedy shows). (sau)