Bidayuh Music?!!

Oni wat ya nai muzik Bidoyoh?



Traditional Bidayuh Instruments



One day, I saw a discussion on Facebook between some friends that was about Bidayuh MUSIC. I couldn't remember as to whether the discussion was about holding a competition for Bidayuh music or organizing some sort of Bidayuh music festival. Not so sure which one was it. But let me just ask this question; what exactly do you mean by Bidayuh 'music'?.

For all I know, Bidayuh music that I have been exposed since I was a kid was those that involve an entire ensemble of gongs (tawak, kita'ak, pidabat and etc...). So when I read this discussion, it was odd for me to think that we would try to ask our modern songwriters to write new music from this type of ensemble. I was once told by village elders that to each kampung, their musical arrangement for this ensemble is different. So the beats played by the group from Grogo, will definitely differ from those who hail from Singgai, Pedawan or Serian. In fact, it even differs amongst the Jagoi group, like Stass or Rasou. I know that actually some Bidayuh regions have a bamboo flute as part of their musical intinerary. But in Bau, I still think that it is not a common Bidayuh instrument.

So to my understanding; drumsets, keyboards, electric guitars, electric bass and the entire set of amps and PA system that comes with it do not fall under the category of Bidayuh traditional instrument. That would mean making Bidayuh music from these instruments no longer categorize them as 'traditional music'. There's nothing 'traditional' about it. Actually, I am a strong advocate of musical traditionalization because to label yourself as playing traditional music, everything about it's creation must have direct relationship to that particular ethnic group AND their OWN traditional musical instruments.

To me, I would not prefer to stop by an airport store and buy a CD that's entitled 'Bidayuh Traditional Music' - then find out that a sape is playing over the gongs (I assure you that something like this has happened all for sake of promoting tourism). Yes, I know maybe some of you might think that the FUSION of traditional ethnic music is the way forward. Ok fine, I have no qualms about that, but that means they should have re-titled their CD  as Bidayuh-Kenyah Traditional Fusion. How would the Bidayuh feel if a Kenyah bought that CD and then laugh out saying, "Aik, bila pulak muzik tradisi orang Bidayuh ada sape?"

I am just stressing that people should honestly say it as it is. If it's traditional ethnic fusion music, then traditional ethnic fusion it is. By quoting my uncle's phrase, 'don't simply hentam' the identity of the music simply for the sake of commercialization. Commercialization has a dirty name you know, and it's EXPLOITATION.

So back to the Bidayuh 'music' story, I'd like to think that one person's idea in that Facebook discussion was actually about Bidayuh 'popular music' (or pop music). Popular ethnic music in Sarawak actually takes it's roots from either joget or dangdut. But recently, many artists have started to break away from this norm and have started to branch out into other types of music, such as rap, hard rock and many others. I sometimes switch to Cats FM's Rentak Ruai and suddenly hear Iban rock songs and rock ballads. Other Sarawak races such as Melanau, Kenyah and Kayan aren't doing so bad. For Bidayuh, I think they are on par if not one of the frontrunners in fusing their native tongues into popular music genres (as early as the 90s, there's been Bidayuh rock songs, credit to Spitfire la).

So if anything should be clarified by the discussion made by our Facebook friends, it's basically about having a songwriting competition for pop music in the Bidayuh language, and if the event is based in Bau, then of course the attention would be focused on the Bau dialect. Why not rope in our fine YB for this one, eh? I hear he's somewhat of a music aficionado. Not sure which YB I'm talking about? Hahaha, if you are from Bau, Sarawak...you should know la.

But I must give a word of advice. Music can only be brought to life, when you have fans that follow it. A song like 'Hey Jude' doesn't go round self-sustaining itself for ages...it's the fans that keep that music alive. You can write a song today, perform it tommorrow and then have it forgotten the day after.

Therefore, I still believe that even if you have a songwriter writing great songs, and a singer that sings it well, and the accessibility to all the various modern media (YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, etc...) to market it, the song MUST always be presented to a live audience. MUST is stressed, because a live performance is what will make the song visually memorable, whereby the message as well as the emotion of the song is propagated from the songwriter, to the singer and to the audience. The minute the music touches their hearts and minds, you have earned yourself a fan. This process of capturing listeners, is only attainable successfully on LIVE shows. Yeah, these days people do make a viral YouTube video that catches a big producer's eye but that only a handful out of the millions out there. 

Like it or not, the artists have to make their mark to a local following first and then build an empire from there.  So if anybody is actually organizing an event in Bau to showcase Bidayuh mainstream music, it would definitely be a great idea! I for one, would endorse it.