The kompang is a traditional percussion instrument that is played by beating it with the hand to create various rhythms and beats. It is often played during special occasions, such as weddings and religious functions, amongst the Malay community in Singapore. Join host Munah Bagharib as she tries her hand at playing the kompang, alongside Jamaludin Idris, president of the Singapore Hadrah and Kompang Association.
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00:00 (drumming)
00:02 (laughing)
00:07 (upbeat music)
00:09 - Hello and welcome back to another episode
00:19 of Asia One Tries.
00:20 I'm Muna and today we are in Kampong Ubi.
00:25 So I assume we're going to do something related
00:28 to the Malay culture.
00:30 But then again, I've learned not to trust the producers.
00:33 So they might just be throwing me off.
00:35 So can you just give me my hints please?
00:37 - Here are three hints for you
00:38 and if you guess the activity correctly,
00:40 it'll help you on the activity challenge later.
00:42 - Okay.
00:43 - Round, rhythm, celebration.
00:47 - I'm playing an instrument.
00:48 - Maybe.
00:49 Muna, you have two more chances.
00:51 - It's a Malay dance.
00:53 Yes?
00:54 - Muna, you have one more guess.
00:55 - Like zafin or zafin.
00:57 Like 'cause you go around, right?
00:58 - Unfortunately, you got it wrong.
01:00 So the activity that you'll be trying today
01:02 is learning how to play a kompang.
01:04 - I've actually played the kompang before
01:06 but not like professionally or trained.
01:08 It's just I see a kompang and then like,
01:10 you just kind of like.
01:11 So I'm very excited to learn properly.
01:13 Let's go.
01:14 (drumming)
01:16 - Hello.
01:21 - Yeah.
01:23 - Hi, I'm Muna.
01:24 Nice to meet you.
01:25 - Nice to meet you.
01:26 - Hello. - I'm John Wooden here.
01:28 Welcome to the Singapore Hardware and Kompang Association
01:30 and nice to meet you, Muna.
01:32 - Thank you very much.
01:33 So tell me about what you do here at Pehaks
01:36 and how did it get started?
01:37 - It started off from way back 1978
01:41 where those kompang activists,
01:44 they gathered and they tried to form up.
01:47 We have meetings, we have trainings here.
01:49 I mean, the objective is to preserving
01:52 traditional kompang beating.
01:54 We will organize workshops,
01:57 especially for new teams,
02:00 get together with some other countries from Malaysia
02:04 to have a program exchange.
02:06 - Okay, and what is kompang
02:08 and what is the history of kompang?
02:10 - It started off from actually from Middle East.
02:14 It flows down to Indonesia, you know.
02:17 So until Malaysia then come to Singapore.
02:20 - What kind of occasions are kompangs usually played at?
02:22 - Okay, basically we have the wedding celebration,
02:25 Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration procession.
02:28 And even now we are involved in the chinggih procession.
02:32 - So events to celebrate
02:33 and to create awareness about different cultures.
02:36 - Okay, Muna, would you like to try?
02:38 - Yes, I'm ready.
02:39 - Come.
02:40 - Okay, so take me through the different kompangs
02:46 and the different components.
02:47 - And this is what we call jidoh.
02:49 Normally it's being used in like now, Malay wedding.
02:52 What we have here is the kompang I talked about just now.
02:55 The sound of this
02:57 (drum beating)
02:58 and this
02:59 (drum beating)
03:00 kompang is different.
03:01 Basically this is made of wood.
03:03 This is the wood skin.
03:06 What we have here is the hadra.
03:08 - Yeah, I thought this is the one.
03:09 - Symbol is here.
03:10 - Symbol.
03:11 - Hadra is smaller than this.
03:14 The size of kompang normally 14 inch.
03:16 - Okay.
03:17 - For hadra it could be 11 inch, it could be 12 inch.
03:20 - Okay, and then this one, this is different.
03:23 - Yes, it is.
03:24 (laughing)
03:25 This is made of extra plastic.
03:28 - Oh, really?
03:29 - Yes.
03:30 - Why?
03:31 - Trying out process or trying out some other means.
03:35 - Okay, so trying to find an alternative.
03:37 Can you teach me maybe the basics of playing a kompang?
03:42 - If you are what we call right-handed,
03:45 then you'll be with your right hand.
03:47 So you hold with your left hand.
03:50 Okay, generally we have three simple beating.
03:53 In high pitch, that means you got your palm here,
03:56 touch it, touches here.
03:58 (drum beating)
04:00 This is the high pitch.
04:01 And low pitch tone is,
04:03 you close your finger, half of your palm here.
04:08 (drum beating)
04:11 Okay, low pitch.
04:14 (drum beating)
04:15 - Yes.
04:16 So these are the different components of a whole kompang?
04:19 - Yes, the basic.
04:21 - Can I watch a whole demonstration?
04:23 Are you going to show me that?
04:24 - Yes, sure, why not?
04:25 - Yes.
04:26 (singing in foreign language)
04:31 (drum beating)
04:44 (singing in foreign language)
04:47 - Okay, first we have the first beating,
05:09 or the normal beating, what we call as melalu.
05:13 This is Mr. Abu.
05:14 Mr. Didi here will be playing the offbeat,
05:20 or what we call menyelang.
05:22 Mr. Shamil to do the third beating, that is menyingkah.
05:28 So Sherry have two people here,
05:32 will coordinate three beating.
05:35 (drum beating)
05:38 (drum beating)
05:40 - So Mona, are you ready to take your challenge?
05:52 - Yes, I think so.
05:53 But which beat am I going to play?
05:56 - Since you guessed the activity wrongly,
05:58 you will place Mr. Shamil in the rhythm beat.
06:01 - That's the most complicated one.
06:04 Okay, then I think I will try my very best.
06:07 - Okay, Mona, you ready?
06:08 - Yes.
06:09 - Three, two, one.
06:11 (drum beating)
06:16 (drum beating)
06:18 (laughing)
06:43 - That was my attempt at joining the Kompang troupe.
06:47 Tell me, on a scale of one to 10, what do you think?
06:51 - Four.
06:53 - Four, okay, okay, okay.
06:54 It's not so far from a fail,
06:57 but it's very close to a just pass.
06:59 - So how long does it usually take
07:01 for someone to be proficient at Kompang?
07:03 Three months.
07:04 - That is three months.
07:05 - For a new learner, it's okay what you have done here.
07:08 - Thank you so much, guys, for helping me.
07:10 Thank you.
07:11 I'll give this back to you.
07:13 - Thank you.
07:13 - At least I can say I tried, right?
07:15 Whether I'll come back, I don't know.
07:18 Okay, thank you, Jamal,
07:19 but I think maybe Kompang playing
07:21 is not in my future anymore, for the time being.
07:25 I want to know, are there any modern
07:28 or contemporary ways of Kompang playing?
07:32 - Yes, there is.
07:33 There are fusion beats also,
07:35 with instruments other than the Kompang itself.
07:38 The big drums, the Brazilian drums.
07:42 They play samba with Kompang.
07:46 - What is the cultural significance of Kompang in Singapore?
07:49 - Where we can really educate
07:53 or share the traditional ways of beating Kompang.
07:58 So, we have been doing,
07:59 we'll be having the workshops, competitions.
08:03 Future generation, especially from the younger generation,
08:06 they really understand what is Kompang beating about.
08:10 - Yeah, yeah.
08:11 Do you feel like the Kompang itself
08:13 helps to shine a lot more light
08:17 on the Malay music culture in Singapore?
08:20 - As far as music is universal,
08:23 Kompang can blend in with other culture.
08:25 We ever collaborated with Cengkir, Lion Dance.
08:28 We just listen to their beat.
08:31 We will go in into our style of beating
08:35 to match with their beating.
08:37 It's not impossible to blend in these elements.
08:42 As I said just now, music is universal.
08:45 - Yeah.
08:46 Thank you for sharing and thank you for trading me
08:49 to play the Kompang.
08:51 I might try again.
08:53 - Yeah, sure.
08:54 - One day, but not today.
08:57 Actually, my heart was broken when he said four points.
09:00 The challenge was really difficult.
09:02 I mean, first of all, I had to do the hardest beat.
09:07 I didn't get any help.
09:09 So I think today was my downfall.
09:13 But what I love about it is that
09:15 he always says that music is universal.
09:17 So that gives me a bit of hope, right?
09:19 Because whatever music you choose to make,
09:22 maybe someone will find joy in it.
09:24 And with that, thank you very much
09:27 for watching this episode of Asia One Tries.
09:30 Please watch the next episode
09:32 where I will try my very best to score 10 points
09:34 to make up for the six points I lost.
09:37 Heart pain, you know?
09:41 Very heart pain.
09:42 (upbeat music)
09:45 (upbeat music)
09:47 (upbeat music)
09:50 (upbeat music)
09:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]