The History of Caklempong

Caklempong traditional music is said to have brought to Malaya by the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra settled in Negeri Sembilan as early as the 14th century. Minangkabau society call the caklempong as talempong. (Source: Abdul Samad Idris, 1970) In the earlier tradition, other than the purpose for fun, caklempong was also played as an important role in everyday life, such as integrating the Minang community residents besides being played during the ceremony of the coronation of the Sultan.Today, caklempong is famously being played for various purposes including the wedding ceremony, opening, entertainment, music accompaniment silat martial, dance and more. Music of caklempong has now been received by the plural society in Malaysia as the nation's musical heritage. Caklempong is now being taught at institutions across the country with a view to inculcate the spirit of love of traditional music in Malaysia THE MUSIC OF CAKLEMPONG Caklempong is included in the group Idiofon (Idiopho ne) that is in the category of musical instruments made of metal, wood, bamboo and coconut shells.It is usually played by hitting, impacting, shaking and pounding. Among the instruments included in this classification are gong, saron (gamelan) bonang (caklempong) kenong (gamelan) angklung, and xylophone. Bonang caklempong has a shape like a small gong made of bronze, 16cm in diameter, 8-10 cm high and 2. 5cm in height cembol midst. Originally, caklempong is played in a pentatonic scale of notation C, D, E, F and G, but it has now include all of the other notations that are A, Bb and B. The complete set of caklempong consists of the following: GeretehGereteh consists of 15 Bonang was written in the tone one octave C Major, including seven not options in the two parallel lines with the 1st line having 8 bonang, while the 2nd line having 7 bonang. Gereteh plays the role of playing the main melody. There are two sets Gereteh in a complete set caklempong. Gereteh Tingkah Tingkah consists of eight pieces that begins with E, F, G, A, Bb, B, C and D. Tingkah focuses on controlling the pace and rhythm produced by the beating of drums. Saua Similar to tingkah, saua consists of eight pieces of bonang. The only difference between tingkah and saua is the way they are played.Saua is played by Ostinato rhythm patterns and moving melodies in the code. Ostinato the notation of saua starts from the note low E. Tingkah / Saua Drum Tambor drum or timber usually made of jackfruit. Leather used is the skin of cattle or buffalo skin. Drum vibration have low (bass) sound. One is known as gendang ibu and the other is known as gendang anak. The role of gendang ibu is to control the tempo whilst the gendang anak creates the dynamic of a certain arrangement. Drum Wooden Armatur The wooden pounder of caklempong is about 22 centimeters long.One third of the wooden pounder is wrapped with rope to the top so that when the sound not too loud when knocking. Wooden Armatur ELEMENTS OF MUSIC Mus ic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. Rhythm is the flow of music through time. Rhythm has several interrelated aspects: beat, meter, accent and syncopation, and tempo. Beat: is a regular, recurrent pulsation that divides music into equal units of time.When you clap your hands or tap your foot to music, you are responding to its beat. A note may last a fraction of a beat, an entire beat, or more than a beat. More specifically, rhythm can be defined as the particular arrangement of note lengths in a piece of music. The rhythm of a melody is an essential feature of its personality. Meter: In music we find a repeated pattern of a strong beat plus one or more weaker beats. The organization of beats into regular groups is called meter. A group containing a fixed number of beats is called a m easure.There are several types of meter, which are based on the number of beats in a measure. When a measure has 2 beats, it is in duple meter; we count 12, 12, The first, or stressed, beat of the measure is known as the downbeat. A pattern of 3 beats to the measure is known as triple meter. All waltzes are in triple meter, we count 123, 123, etc. Another basic metrical pattern is quadruple meter, which has 4 beats to the measure. As usual, the downbeat is strongest; but there is another stress on the third beat, which is stronger than the second and fourth beats and weaker than the first: 1234, 1234.Upbeat: It is an unaccented pulse preceding the downbeat. Sextuple meter contains six rather quick beats to the measure. The downbeat is strongest, and the fourth beat also receives a stress: 123456. Quintuple meter, with 5 beats to the measure, and septuple meter, with 7 beats to the measure, occur frequently in twentieth-century music and are found occasionally in earlier music. Each of these meters combines duple and triple meter. In quintuple meter, for example, the measure is subdivided into groups of 2 and 3 beats: 123/45 or 12/345.Accent and Syncopation: An important aspect of rhythm is the way individual notes are stressedhow they get special emphasis. A note is emphasized most obviously by being played louder than the notes around it, that is, by receiving a dynamic accent. When an accented note comes where we normally would not expect one, the effect is known as syncopation. A syncopation also occurs when a weak beat is accented, as in 1234 or 1234. Tempo: is the speed of the beat, the basic pace of the music. A fast tempo is associated with a feeling of energy, drive, and excitement.A slow tempo often contributes to a solemn, lyrical, or calm mood. A tempo indication is usually given at the beginning of a piece. As with dynamics, the terms that show tempo (at the left) are in Italian. largo| very slow, broad| grave| very slow, solemn| adagio| slow| anda nte| moderately slow, a walking pace| moderato| moderate| allegretto| moderately fast| allegro| fast| vivace| lively| presto| very fast| prestissimo| as fast as possible| Qualifying words are sometimes added to tempo indications to make them more specific. The two most commonly used are molto (much) and non troppo (not too much).We thus get phrases like allegro molto (very fast) and allegro non troppo (not too fast). A gradual quickening of tempo may be indicated by writing accelerando (becoming faster), and a gradual slowing down of tempo by ritardando (becoming slower). An accelerando, especially when combined with a rise in pitch and volume, increases excitement, and a ritardando is associated with less tension and a feeling of conclusion. Metronome, an apparatus which produces ticking sounds or flashes of light at any desired musical speed. The metronome setting indicates the exact number of beats per minute.Melody: After hearing a piece of music, we usually remember its melody best. melody is a series of single tones which add up to a recognizable whole. A melody begins, moves, and ends; it has direction, shape, and continuity. The up-and-down movement of its pitches conveys tension and release, expectation and arrival. This is the melodic curve, or line. -A melody moves by small intervals called steps or by larger ones called leaps. A step is the interval between two adjacent tones in the do-re-mi scale (from do to re, re to mi, etc. ). Any interval larger than a step is a leap (do to mi, for example).Besides moving up or down by step or leap, a melody may simply repeat the same note. -A melodys range is the distance between its lowest and highest tones. Range may be wide or narrow. -Melodies written for instruments tend to have a wider range than those for voices, and they often contain wide leaps and rapid notes that would be difficult to sing. How the tones of a melody are performed can vary its effect, too. Sometimes they are sung or played in a smoo th, connected style called legato. Or they may be performed in a short, detached manner called staccato.Spiccato: it is a technique used only by string instruments to performe very short notes. -Many melodies are made up of shorter parts called phrases. -A resting place at the end of a phrase is called a cadence. Incomplete cadence: Â  sets up expectations; the second phrase ends with a Complete cadence: Â  gives an answer, a sense of finality. Often the highest tone of a melody will be the climax, the emotional focal point. -A repetition of a melodic pattern on a higher or lower pitch is called a sequence. This is an impelling device of varied repetition that gives a melody a strong sense of direction.Frequently, a melody will serve as the starting point for a more extended piece of music and, in stretching out, will go through all kinds of changes. This kind of melody is called a theme. When folksingers accompany themselves on a guitar, they add support, depth, and richness to t he melody. We call this harmonizing. Most music in western culture is a blend of melody and harmony. Harmony: refers to the way chords are constructed and how they follow each other. -A chord is a combination of three or more tones sounded at once.Essentially, a chord is a group of simultaneous tones, and a melody is a series of individual tones heard one after another. Consonance and Dissonance Some chords have been considered stable and restful, others unstable and tense. -A tone combination that is stable is called a consonance. Consonances are points of arrival, rest, and resolution. -A tone combination that is unstable is called a dissonance. -A dissonance has its resolution when it moves to a consonance. When this resolution is delayed or accomplished in unexpected ways, a feeling of drama, suspense, or surprise is created.In this way a composer plays with the listeners sense of expectation. -Dissonant chords are active and move music forward. Traditionally they have been cons idered harsh and have been used in music that expresses pain, grief, and conflict. Now that consonance and dissonance have been defined, be aware that they can exist in varying degrees. Some consonant chords are more stable than others, and some dissonant chords are more tense than others. Dissonant chords have been used with increasing freedom over the centuries, so that often a chord considered intolerably harsh in one period has later come to seem rather mild.The Triad A great variety of chords have been used in music. Some chords consist of three different tones; others have four, five, or even more. Depending on their makeup, chords sound simple or complex, calm or tense, bright or dark. The simplest, most basic chord is the triad (pronounced try-ad), which consists of three tones. The bottom tone is called the root; the others are a third and a fifth above the root. -A triad built on the first, or tonic, note of the scale (do) is called the tonic chord. The triad built on the fifth note of the scale (sol) is next in importance to the tonic.It is called the dominant chord (sol-ti-re). The dominant chord is strongly pulled toward the tonic chord. This attraction has great importance in music. A dominant chord sets up tension that is resolved by the tonic chord. A progression from dominant chord to tonic chord is called a cadence. The word cadence means both the resting point at the end of a melodic phrase and a chord progression that gives a sense of conclusion. Broken Chords (Arpeggios): When the individual tones of a chord are sounded one after another, it is called a broken chord, or arpeggio.Arpeggios may appear in the melody or in the accompaniment. -The central tone is the keynote, or tonic, of the melody. When a piece is in the key of C, for example, C is the keynote, or tonic. The keynote can also be E, or A, or any of the twelve tones that fill the octave in western music. Key: involves not only a central tone but also a central scale and chord. A piece in the key of C has a basic scale, do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do, with C as its do, or tonic. Key, then, refers to the presence of a central note, scale, and chord within a piece.Another term for key is tonality. After 1900, some composers abandoned the traditional system, but even today much of the music we hear is built around a central tone, chord, and scale. Practically all familiar melodies are built around a central tone. The other tones of the melody gravitate toward this central one. Since the central tone is especially stable and restful, a melody usually ends on it. Modulation: Change of Key Shifting from one key to another within the same piece is called modulation. A modulation is like a temporary shift in the center of gravity.When the music starts out in the key of C major, for instance, C is the central tone, and the C major scale and chord predominate. With a modulation to G major, G temporarily becomes the central tone, and the G major scale and chord are now the main ones. Though modulations are sometimes subtle and difficult to spot, they produce subconscious effects that increase our enjoyment of the music. Texture: homophonic, Polyphonic, Monophonic Polyphonic Texture Simultaneous performance of two or more melodic lines of relatively equal interest produces the texture called polyphonic, meaning having many sounds.In polyphony several melodic lines compete for attention. (When several jazz musicians improvise different melodies at once, they produce polyphony. ) The technique of combining several melodic lines into a meaningful whole is called counterpoint. The term contrapuntal texture is sometimes used in place of polyphonic texture Polyphonic music often contains imitation, which occurs when a melodic idea is presented by one voice or instrument and is then restated immediately by another voice or instrument.Homophonic Texture: When we hear one main melody accompanied by chords, the texture is homophonic. Monophonic Texture: When we hear one main melody without accompaniment, the texture is monophonic. Form: in music is the organization of musical elements in time. In a musical composition, pitch, tone color, dynamics, rhythm, melody, and texture interact to produce a sense of shape and structure.