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rasa Bu Gito only likes singers with large breath capacities [napas landhung]—because hers is large. But then they arrive at the last note of the phrase way too late [nglèwèr]. Bu Gito used to say of Bu Béi: “her singing doesn’t sound like anything—her phrases are so short” [sindhèn ora ånå rasané—cekak-cekak banget]. (June 11, 1992)
7. Does melodic (or rhythmic) ornateness increase or decrease the rasa? When a tone sounds for a long time, usually it is made to fluctuate, to develop, to twist and turn, to rise and fall in fixed ways until the whole of it produces a sensation of beauty. This development of a tone is called luk or eluk. Luk is part of céngkok [adaptable melodic contour]—a part that adds to the beauty of céngkok and thus adds to the beauty of melody. Luk is not just an incidental ornament of céngkok or melody but an organic part of melody and an essential characteristic of Indonesian karawitan. Melody with céngkok and luk is beautiful and whole. Melody without luk, without céngkok, is like chewed sugarcane [sepah]—the sweetness is gone. (Sindoesawarno, in Becker and Feinstein 1987:383) [Commenting on Sindoesawarno:] Sepå [flavorless] means terlalu lugu [too plain]. (Suhartå, June 11, 1992) Anteng means “totally calm”; “expressionless” [tidak ada apa-apanya]. It’s like the way Pak [X]’s rebab [spike fiddle] playing used to be—too halus [smooth, refined, unadorned]. (Suhartå, May 2, 1992) The beauty is in the gregels [small ornaments]. [ . . . ] With no gregels it’s too bland [ampang]. [ . . . ] Gregel is what gives it expression [èksprèsiné ]. (Wignyosaputro, June 24, 1992) Bu [X]’s singing is too plain [barès]—it needs spicing up [kurang bumbuné ]. (Suhartå, May 14, 1992) After I sang Sudiråwicitrå, Pak Wartå59 said, “it’s still raw, it needs to be cooked, to be given a little M.S.G.” [masih mentah, masih perlu diolah,60 dikasih Moto]. After that, Pak Wakidjo61 told me, “but you shouldn’t use too many céngkoks [ornaments] for a båwå or it will sound like a sindhèn.” (Fieldnote, December 21, 1990) Pak [X] is a really straightforward [lugu] person; his céngkoks [melodic patterns] are also plain and straightforward. A lot of older folks like his voice: “it’s nice, it’s really plain [lugu].” But for the younger generation, whose singing is filled with melodic
59. The late Suwarto, the principal båwå singer at the Mangkunegaran Palace. 60. Diolah means “to be cooked” in Javanese, but in Indonesian (which is the language Suwarto was using) it means “to be worked on.” He was clearly using the word in its Javanese meaning. See Benamou 2006 for more on food metaphors. 61. Wakidjo was until 1996 the drummer (and hence one of the lead musicians) at RRI, the national radio station in Solo. Since then he has taught part-time at STSI/ISI.