Preserving Musical Tunes of Ngada

KOMPAS/TATANG MULYANA SINAGA

Marselus Selu

The sound of the double flutes blown by Marselus Selu, 64, broke the silence of Wogo traditional hamlet on Wednesday (22/6/2022). His fingers were moving adeptly, shutting and opening the flute holes to produce beautiful tones. He has loyally preserved the tunes of the musical instruments of Ngada for almost half a century.

Wearing a red boku (headdress) and black sarong with a horse motif, Marselus was walking along Wogo hamlet in Ratogesa village, Golewa district, Ngada regency, East Nusa Tenggara. Dozens of sa’o, traditional bamboo houses with cogon-grass roofs, enhance the exoticism of the hamlet.

He was holding double flutes called foy doa. Each one of the flutes has three tone holes. This instrument is played by blowing a hollow piece of wood that joins the tips of both flutes, playing both flutes simultaneously. “I have no idea when this instrument was used for the first time. I myself have played it since the age of 15,” he said.

That afternoon, Marselus pointed out the location where President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo set his feet in the hamlet in early June. In fact, the President had not originally planned to visit Wogo traditional hamlet in his working tour of Flores Island.

However, the enthusiasm of people lining the roadside attracted the attention of the President and he paused. The residents were also singing and playing traditional musical instruments like foy doa, foy pai (a bamboo instrument in figure-4 form) and bombardom (a big bamboo-tube instrument).

Marselus said at the time some residents carried a banner reading, “Pak Jokowi, Mohon Singgah walau Cuma 10 Detik” (Pak Jokowi, Please Come

by Even for Just 10 Seconds). “It turned out the President stayed here for almost half an hour,” he said.

KOMPAS/TATANG MULYANA SINAGA

Marselus Selu

The chairman of Satu Tekad Musical Group was happy and proud, as the traditional music of Ngada could be enjoyed by the chief executive of the republic. This also served as a motivation for him to preserve the heritage.

Marselus’ love of foy did not grow overnight. It began when he was a teenager and watched residents of his hamlet play the “twin flutes”. He was fascinated by the tones coming from foy doa.

Out of curiosity, he wanted to try to play the instrument. However, he was admonished by seniors for trying to take the foy doa lying on the terrace of a house. “They feared lest I might damage the flutes. They said the flutes were very difficult to craft. I was only allowed to listen from a distance,” he recalled.

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Rather than being deterred, his curiosity grew even more. It was around the early 1970s and he was interested in buying the foy doa of his neighbor sold at Rp 5.

Having no money, Marselus offered his services to the neighbor. His job was carrying 30 bamboo stems on his shoulders as far as 1.5 kilometers. He shouldered two bamboo stems per trip. In this way, he had to walk 22.5 km for the sake of foy doa.

Although he was not yet skilled in producing melodious tones, he started to be able to understand the lip movement needed to blow the hollow part and the method of opening and shutting tone holes with his fingers.

After training for five months, Marselus began to understand how the instrument worked. Although he was not yet skilled in producing melodious tones, he started to be able to understand the lip movement needed to blow the hollow part and the method of opening and shutting tone holes with his fingers.

Still unsatisfied, he wanted to know more about the interior of the foy doa. “There was no other way; I took a knife and split the flutes,” he said.

Marselus’ curiosity grew from his desire to merely play foy doa to his knowledge of how to craft the instrument. Based on information provided by the hamlet people, he walked 20 km to the bamboo forest on a hilltop.

KOMPAS/TATANG MULYANA SINAGA

Marselus Selu

Bamboo trees are felled in the dry season. This is meant to reduce their water content. They are cut during the new moon to avoid bugs that infest bamboo stems. “If the water content is low, bamboo tubes are thin so that the sound will be clear when blown,” he said.

Moke approach

Marselus persevered in honing his skill. Not only at home, he also frequently played foy doa when he helped his parents with plantation work. At the time, not many teenagers followed in his footsteps.

His friends were fond of playing football and marbles. His invitation to play traditional musical instruments was often rejected.

He refused to give up and kept training. His skill in playing foy doa began to be noticed. He was invited to perform at such events as wedding ceremonies and musical concerts several times.

In 1993, Marselus was invited to appear in a traditional music show in Ubud, Bali. He zealously welcomed the opportunity, but at the same time felt confused, because he had no musical group yet to present with at the show.

He asked several youths in his hamlet to train. His bid was again rejected. Without losing hope, he offered moke as “compensation”. Moke is an

alcoholic drink made from distilled sugar-palm juice. “I brought moke and they promptly gathered. It was drunk from coconut shells. At first, we were only chatting,” he said.

At moke gatherings in the following days, Marselus started displaying the traditional musical instruments of Ngada like foy doa, foy fai, bombardom and ga’ali (bamboo xylophone). The teenagers at first rejected his displays, but gradually became interested.

“We trained for about three weeks. As they began to be fond of the instruments, the training became enjoyable. Our performance in Bali was fairly satisfactory although we had trained for less than a month,” he explained.

He does not want the traditional music to be eroded by the times or worse, abandoned.

At his advanced age, Marselus feels concerned about the small number of young people playing foy doa. He does not want the traditional music to be eroded by the times or worse, abandoned.

Responding to the challenge, since over 10 years ago, he has been teaching traditional music at schools in Golewa. Although it is not a mandatory subject, he remains enthusiastically engaged in it. He also trains children in the Wogo hamlet. But when they become skilled players, many of them leave for other regions to find employment.

“I cannot forbid them, it’s their right. I just warn them not to forget the skill in playing traditional musical instruments they have already learned,” he said.

KOMPAS/TATANG MULYANA SINAGA

Marselus Selu

In his view, traditional music is not always in conflict with foreign music. In order to prove his words, he blew foy doa and played the popular tune “Are You Sleeping (Brother John)” loud and clear.

Marselus Selu

Born: Ngada, 15 October 1957

Children:six

Grandchildren: ten

Occupation: Chairman of Satu Tekad Musical Group

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira).