My Music Portfolio.
Dances
Asli
The origins of Asli as a music and dance form can be traced back to the 14th century. It is the most slow-paced of all the traditional Malay dances. Hence, it is the most graceful and elegant. Each movement in asli possesses a meaning. Asli music is also accompanied by pantuns that often tell of love and sorrow.
Inang
The music for the Inang is relatively fast-paced. Evolving from a court dance to a folk dance, it has retained its fast tempo and graceful movements. It is almost always performed by pairs of women and men as a means of socializing. Each region has its own form of the inang dance, and hence, inang is also performed when one community welcomes guests from another.
Masri
Masri is a modern Malay dance that has influences from the Middle East in terms of movement, costumes and musical accompaniment. The dance is usually performed by female dancers. At times, the dancers are dancing with the triangle.
Zapin
Zapin was once exclusively performed by males. Now, zapin can be performed by male-female pairs though it is still more commonly performed by all-male groups.
As with other traditional forms of Malay music, the musical instruments used in the performance of zapin include the hand drum (rebana), the violin, the accordion. One addition unique to zapin is the use of the gambus, an Arab-style lute, thus showing zapin's Arab origins.
Ronggeng
Ronggeng is the kind of art Javanese dance where couples exchange poetic verses as they dance accompanied by music from the fiddle or violin and drums.
Traditional Instruments
The Kompang
The Kompang is a well known traditional music instrument. It is usually made from wood and parchment, and is persistently played in a group in which all players are sitting, standing or walking. The Kompang is played using both hands, with one holding the instrument and the other beating it continuously.
The Angklung
The Angklung is a musical instrument from Indonesia made of two to four bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved to have a resonant pitch when struck and are tuned to octaves, similar to american handbells.