Malaysian music is influenced by neighboring Indonesian and Thai forms, as well as Portuguese, Filipino and Chinese styles . [ wikipedia.com ]
The natives of the Malay Peninsula played in small ensembles called kertok, which performed swift and rhythmic xylophone music. This may have led to the development of dikir barat. In recent years, the Malaysian government has promoted this Kelantanese music form as a national cultural icon.[1]
Arabic-derived zapin music and dance is popular throughout Malaysia, and is usually accompanied by a gambus and some drums. Ghazals from Arabia are popular in the markets and malls of Kuala Lumpur and Johor, and stars like Kamariah Noor are very successful. In Malacca, ronggeng is the dominant form of folk music. It played with a violin, drums, button accordion and a gong instrument from Indonesia. Another style, Dondang Sayang is slow and intense; it mixes influences from China, India, Arabia, and Portugal with traditional elements.
Chinese Music
The Hua Yue Tuan (華乐团), or "Modern Chinese Orchestra," is made up of a blend of western and traditional Chinese musical instruments. The music itself combines western polyphony with Chinese melodies and scales. Although the bulk of its repertoire consists of music imported from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, many local Chinese orchestras also regularly perform Malay folk tunes with various local composers making a definite effort to absorb elements of surrounding musical cultures, especially Malay, into their compositions. In Malaysia, Chinese orchestras exist nationwide in urban areas which have large concentrations of Chinese Malaysians. Sponsored largely by various Chinese organisations including schools and Buddhist societies, a typical orchestra consists of between 12 to 50 members.
The orchestra is usually made up of four sections:
Bowed string instruments, consisting of:
- erhu (二胡; range of three octaves; performs the role of the violin)
- banhu (板胡; a high pitched fiddle with coconut sound box)
- gaohu (高胡; pitch is higher than erhu)
- zhonghu (中胡; tenor erhu, similar to viola)
- gehu (革胡; like the cello)
- bei-da-ge-hu (倍大革胡; like the double bass)
plucked strings comprising various sized lutes:
- pipa (琵琶; highest pitch)
- liu-yue-qin (柳月琴)
- yueqin (月琴)
- zhongruan (中阮)
- daruan (大阮)
- sanxian (三弦)
- guzheng (古筝)
- yangqin (扬琴)
the wind section consisting of:
- dizi (笛子; transverse flutes)
- xiao (箫; vertical flutes)
- sheng (笙; mouth organ)
- suona (唢呐; reed aerophone)
percussion section consisting of:
- paigu (排鼓; drums)
- taigu (太鼓; drums)
- dabo (大钹; cymbals)
- lo (锣; hand held tam-tam)
- shih mian lo (十面锣; frame mounted tam-tam)
- ling (铃; bell)
- ma ling (马铃; 5 suspended bells)
- shuang yin mu (双音木), bang zi (棒子) and mu yu (木鱼; wood blocks)
There is no lack of virtuoso performers in the Chinese classical tradition in Malaysia. Advanced training is however not presently available with most Malaysian virtuoso musicians obtaining their advanced training either in China or Singapore. Various professional and semi-professional Chinese orchestras are in existence. Malaysian western trained classical conductors are employed full time. Much of the music played is imported from China. There are however some accomplished Malaysian composers for this medium such as Saw Boon Kiat and Chew Hee Chiat.
New generations of Chinese singers are more into pop music. These include Eric Moo, Lee Sin Je, Fish Leong, Z Chen, Penny Tai and lately Daniel Lee.
Indian Music
Indian music is strongly associated with religious tradition and faith. As its origins in India, there are two systems of traditional or classical Indian music in Malaysia, viz. Carnatic Music and Hindustani Music. Since Tamils from South India are the predominant group among the Indian population in Malaysia, it is the South Indian carnatic music which predominates. Simply speaking, Hindustani classical music is more lyric-oriented, while Carnatic classical music emphasises musical structure.
Indian classical music as it is performed in Malaysia has remained true to its origin. There is practically no other cultural influence. Other than reflecting Indian life, the purpose of Indian classical music is to refine the soul.
The fundamental elements of carnatic music are raaga and taala. A raaga is a scale of notes, while the taala is the time-measure. A carnatic music concert usually starts with a composition with lyrical and passages in a particular raaga. This will be followed by a few major and subsequently some minor compositions.
In Malaysia, traditional or classical Indian music are studied and performed by Malaysians of Indian ethnic origin with material that still comes from India. Musical productions are mainly in the form of dance dramas incorporating instrumental ensemble, vocal music and dance. Musical instruments used in the performances are imported from India.
Over the years, Punjabi music have established itself in Malaysia. One example of famous Punjabi music is bhangra. Many Malaysian songs today has the Punjabi influence. For example, the sound of the dhol, an instrument used mainly by the Punjabis have been incorporated in many Malay, Chinese and Indian songs in Malaysia. The increase of interest in Punjabi music have lead to the birth of Malaysia's very first Urban Bhangra themed group, called Goldkartz.
Jazz , Classical and World Music
The 21st Century has witnessed the rapid rise of a variety of new musical trends, imported from different shores and strongly influenced by an urban elite hip to jazz-fusion and fringe music (classical revivals, ethnic-flavored folk, trance, and so on). Students who studied in Europe and the Americas began returning with a staunch passion for more progressive musical modalities.
Ethnic music has also found a new and vigorous following, with world music festivals like the Rainforest World Music Festival, held annually since 1998 in a scenic open-air setting in Sarawak. The first Malaysian "ethnic fusion" group to play on this international platform was Akar Umbi - comprising Temuan ceremonial singer Minah Angong (1930–1999) and Rafique Rashid. Unfortunately, the charismatic Minah Angong (better known as Mak Minah) died just three weeks after winning over the hearts of a whole new audience at the RWMF 1999. This left Akar Umbi with only one posthumously released CD to its name ('Songs of the Dragon,' Magick River, 2002).
Private companies like Trident Entertainment have begun to invest in the production, distribution and promotion of the "ethnic fringe" in Malaysian music.
Petronas, the national petro-chemical corporation responsible for the construction of the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas and statutory bodies like the Sarawak Tourism Board have contributed significantly to the development of a broader interest in jazz, classical and world music amongst the new generation of Malaysians. Private institutions like the Temple of Fine Arts have also produced a steady flow of students skilled in world music, primarily Hindustani & Carnatic musical traditions. The Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (Petronas Philhrmonic Hall), home to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, has become a popular venue amongst the affluent new Malaysian middle class for acts encompassing jazz, classical, and world music concerts.
Malaysia has a handful of homegrown musicians who have achieved world class stature in jazz exposition e.g., keyboardists Michael Veerapan and David Gomes; freestyle bassist Zailan Razak; multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, The Solianos; and virtuoso drummer Lewis Pragasam. Mohar and Prabhu Ganesh, two flautists with ethnic leanings, are Malaysian musicians who have begun to make waves abroad. Many of these innovators are ex-alumni of the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and the Juilliard School of Music in New York. The promise of even more exciting things to come can be seen in the emergence of youthful, ethnic-flavored percussion ensembles like the Aseana Percussion Unit (APU) and the Diplomats of Drum.
Contemporary music
In the field of Malaysian contemporary music a number of composers have gained international recognition, for example award-winning composers Chong Kee Yong, Dr Tazul Izan Tajuddin, Yii Kah Hoe, Saidah Rastam, Adeline Wong and others, encompassing a diverse range of styles and aesthetics.For example, at the cutting edge of the avant garde are Chong Kee Yong and Tazul Tajuddin. Yii Kah Hoe is slowly exploring a similar direction as a departure, or perhaps an enrichment, of his work with Chinese orchestral music, while pianist-composer Ng Chong Lim treads the ground between atonalism and aleatoric music based on the live interaction of more tonal fragments.
Pursuing a more accessible tonal language is the colourful and rhythmically vibrant music of Adeline Wong and Johan Othman, the latter combining a quasi minimalist approach with elements of Malaysian aesthetics tempered with jazzy undercurrents. Saidah Rastam experiments with jazz and atonalism in combination with ethnic Malaysian elements, and has even worked with reinventing Chinese Opera through atonal jazz. Ahmad Muriz Che Rose works with a more populist approach to Malay traditional instruments in a contemporary language through his work with the Petronas Performing Arts Group, Prabhu Ganesh fuses European Classical Music with undertones of North Indian Raagas, bringing back similar feelings explored by Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar in the early 90's through their venture Passages(BMG).
Since the turn of the new millennium Malaysian composers have begun to earn recognition and respect for their work, and increaded coverage and interest in the media has also helped to bring the efforts of serious composers to the foreground of musical activity in the country.
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