Monday, December 1, 2008
RSP Cultural camp: second day
The four RSP schools held the RSP cultural camp on the 14th and 15th November. As I was unable to come on the 14th of Nov (pri sch prize presentation), I shall report on events on 15 Nov.
The second day of camp was held at Victoria School. The facilitators split us up into four groups, so that we could interact with the other schools.
The first thing our group did was the slendro gamelan. The slendro gamelan is a traditional Malay instrumental orchestra, which is often used to accompany Malay dance. I played the gambang, the slenthem, a drum and the saron anak. 
The gambang shown above is basically the Malay version of a xylophone, just that the bars are made of wood, not metal. I learnt that the Malay notes are basically numbers instead of the western alphabets, which makes it a lot easier for people like me. The numbers rising in pitch are 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 1. You may ask: where is number 4? I was curious about that too and the truth is, slendro gamelan does not have tuning 4, but Javanese gamelan does. :D
We played two songs: Timang Burung (Cradle Bird) and Sampak. Timang Burung’s melody sounds nicer, probably because it has a variation in the notes. Sampak is simpler, and this is usually used to create the mood of the dance/play, at various speeds and volumes. I do not have any music experience, so I was soon muddled up and confused. But still, it was fun and satisfying when I got the whole piece right. But the bad part was that you had to replay the same song over and over again at different speeds and volumes (to accompany the long Malay dance), so I often got lost. :D
After a brief break, our group went to make wayang kulit.
A wayang puppet is an exquisite work of art, with flexible limbs and tiny holes in the body (for light to shine through so that it does not look like a block of shadow). The hero is called “Rama”. He is usually of royal birth, so this is reflected in his crown and refined features. The “Rawana” is the demon/bad guy. He has a red face, unproportionate features and a headdress. The “dalang” is the puppet master, who is able to actively control several puppets at once so he must have plenty of experience. The dalang sits behind a screen, and the source of light is traditionally the flame of a candle or oil lamp. We were told to make our own wayang puppet, and this is my finished product:
It was supposed to be and Egyptian princess and I had a lot of fun interacting with the other schools as I was making my puppet.
For lunch we had nasi ambing. It is a large plate with rice, chicken, tofu, yam, potato, bean sprouts etc. Five of us shared the large plate but nevertheless, we were unable to finish it, we had to eat Malay style: with our right hands. So of course in the end our fingers were really messy.
After lunch, we were supposed to rehearse for our group performance. All groups mainly chose the wayang kulit classic: Ramayana, but with a creative ending. I chose to be in the music section because I was interested in gamelan. Therefore in the early afternoon we practiced, got frustrated, practiced again and enjoyed myself on the whole. Then we went to go see group two and four’s combined performance. They showcased orang wayang, which was basically humans being part of the performance itself while contolling the puppets. I couldn’t hear what was being said because the narrator spoke too softly and in Bahasa Indonesia. Although I found the performance not very captivating, the music from the gamelan was excellent.
Then it was our turn. I felt really excited and I couldn’t stop laughing. The instructors had given up teaching us; they had thrown their luck to the winds and told us to just enjoy ourselves, it was too late to do anything more. Of course I muddled up and got lost halfway during the performance, but I was happy. :D Our group used shadow projection, which was a creative idea by an instructor, since candle flames and oil lamps were rather scarce in the modern Victoria School. In the auditorium, the dalangs-in-training sat in front of the projector, and the shadow of their wayang would be cast on the screen.
Lastly, the four schools put up their individual performance as a way to close the cultural camp. I am proud to say that RGS, in my opinion, had the best performance among the four schools, though VS’ angklung recital came in a close second. (Yay RGS!) I guess it was no surprise, for I think we spent the most time preparing for it. (Ahem waking up early on Thursday and practicing for the entire morning until my back ached!) My friend from RI said that they had only begun practicing the day itself, and he couldn’t even memorise the lyrics to the medley of Malay folk songs they were singing. The most fun part of the dance that we did was the “one, two, three…jump!” part. Everybody was laughing hilariously as we did that, and I guess our delight reflected on the way we danced!
Overall reflection: I think that this RSP cultural camp was a huge success and I certainly enjoyed myself learning, playing, interacting and just having fun. We should continue this next year and the many years to come!
The second day of camp was held at Victoria School. The facilitators split us up into four groups, so that we could interact with the other schools.
The first thing our group did was the slendro gamelan. The slendro gamelan is a traditional Malay instrumental orchestra, which is often used to accompany Malay dance. I played the gambang, the slenthem, a drum and the saron anak. The gambang shown above is basically the Malay version of a xylophone, just that the bars are made of wood, not metal. I learnt that the Malay notes are basically numbers instead of the western alphabets, which makes it a lot easier for people like me. The numbers rising in pitch are 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 1. You may ask: where is number 4? I was curious about that too and the truth is, slendro gamelan does not have tuning 4, but Javanese gamelan does. :DWe played two songs: Timang Burung (Cradle Bird) and Sampak. Timang Burung’s melody sounds nicer, probably because it has a variation in the notes. Sampak is simpler, and this is usually used to create the mood of the dance/play, at various speeds and volumes. I do not have any music experience, so I was soon muddled up and confused. But still, it was fun and satisfying when I got the whole piece right. But the bad part was that you had to replay the same song over and over again at different speeds and volumes (to accompany the long Malay dance), so I often got lost. :D
After a brief break, our group went to make wayang kulit.
A wayang puppet is an exquisite work of art, with flexible limbs and tiny holes in the body (for light to shine through so that it does not look like a block of shadow). The hero is called “Rama”. He is usually of royal birth, so this is reflected in his crown and refined features. The “Rawana” is the demon/bad guy. He has a red face, unproportionate features and a headdress. The “dalang” is the puppet master, who is able to actively control several puppets at once so he must have plenty of experience. The dalang sits behind a screen, and the source of light is traditionally the flame of a candle or oil lamp. We were told to make our own wayang puppet, and this is my finished product: It was supposed to be and Egyptian princess and I had a lot of fun interacting with the other schools as I was making my puppet.For lunch we had nasi ambing. It is a large plate with rice, chicken, tofu, yam, potato, bean sprouts etc. Five of us shared the large plate but nevertheless, we were unable to finish it, we had to eat Malay style: with our right hands. So of course in the end our fingers were really messy.After lunch, we were supposed to rehearse for our group performance. All groups mainly chose the wayang kulit classic: Ramayana, but with a creative ending. I chose to be in the music section because I was interested in gamelan. Therefore in the early afternoon we practiced, got frustrated, practiced again and enjoyed myself on the whole. Then we went to go see group two and four’s combined performance. They showcased orang wayang, which was basically humans being part of the performance itself while contolling the puppets. I couldn’t hear what was being said because the narrator spoke too softly and in Bahasa Indonesia. Although I found the performance not very captivating, the music from the gamelan was excellent.
Then it was our turn. I felt really excited and I couldn’t stop laughing. The instructors had given up teaching us; they had thrown their luck to the winds and told us to just enjoy ourselves, it was too late to do anything more. Of course I muddled up and got lost halfway during the performance, but I was happy. :D Our group used shadow projection, which was a creative idea by an instructor, since candle flames and oil lamps were rather scarce in the modern Victoria School. In the auditorium, the dalangs-in-training sat in front of the projector, and the shadow of their wayang would be cast on the screen.
Lastly, the four schools put up their individual performance as a way to close the cultural camp. I am proud to say that RGS, in my opinion, had the best performance among the four schools, though VS’ angklung recital came in a close second. (Yay RGS!) I guess it was no surprise, for I think we spent the most time preparing for it. (Ahem waking up early on Thursday and practicing for the entire morning until my back ached!) My friend from RI said that they had only begun practicing the day itself, and he couldn’t even memorise the lyrics to the medley of Malay folk songs they were singing. The most fun part of the dance that we did was the “one, two, three…jump!” part. Everybody was laughing hilariously as we did that, and I guess our delight reflected on the way we danced!
Overall reflection: I think that this RSP cultural camp was a huge success and I certainly enjoyed myself learning, playing, interacting and just having fun. We should continue this next year and the many years to come!