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Interview with Bpk Ismet Ruchimat from Sambasunda
In January 2002 Judith Shelley interviewed Bpk Ismet Ruchimat from Sambasunda on behalf of Inspirasi Magazine and Suara Indonesia Radio Show BayFM. Please see below for English Translation.
J: Apa Kabar Bpk Ismet? J: Saya baik juga dan saya mau bertanya kepada Pak Ismet mengenai Band Sambasunda yang sudah sering di dengarkan di Radio BayFM sebab kami suka menyiarkan lagu Sambasunda setiap minggu dan sangat populer juga dengan pendengar radio show kami. Jadi, mungkin Pak Ismet bisa ceritakan sedikit mengenai idenya pada waktu mulai bikin Sambasunda. |
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I: Itu tadinya kita cuma kumpulan seperti orang ngobrol-ngobrol, terus saya pikir kami punya kapasitas main gitu tradisi dan lebih baik kita realisasikan dengan bermain musik. Cuman waktu itu, tidak sebanyak sekarang. Dulu waktu itu sekitar 7 orang, itu sekitar tahun 1993 kita coba-coba, tapi kita belum berpikir ke produksi rekaman. Ya kita hanya mengeluarkan kemampuan kita masing-masing.
Pertama juga dari dulu, mulai pada waktu saya masih kuliah saya sering kerja sama dengan Efik, jadi saya kenal sama mereka dari dulu.
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J: Jadi pertama kali ada kumpulan Sambasunda ada 7 orang - siapa saja? J: Oh jadi waktu bikin Sambasunda masih kuliah semua? Maka dulunya kita bikin Musik Dedikasi namanya, kami bikin gabungan degung dengan musik Top40 - seperti Endless Love, I will Always Love You - lagu seperti itu - tapi pakai musik degung semua. Disana sudah kelihatan sekali bakat Efik luar biasa sekali. Dia main suling, terus kesini-kesini, saya pikir, kalau kita juga terlalu mengadaptasi musik barat juga, itu tidak enak, sementara sekarang kita coba kembalikan - kembali itu jadi kultur Sundanya mala lebih nampak, maka kembali lagi. Tahun 93 baru kita rencanakan untuk persiapan rekaman, baru agak mulai ada sedikit perkembangan sama-sama kawan-kawan terus sama Efik. Kebetulan pas waktu pertama Sambasunda keluarkan itu mala Efik ngak bisa ikut kasihan karena waktu itu dia mulai sibuk juga di Krakatau |
Ismet,
Aji and friend at STSI Bandung
J: Tapi sekarang dia masih aktiv di Sambasunda
I: Ya sekarang dia lagi banyak waktu tinggal di Sambasunda - kami juga semua senang.
J: Sekarang sudah berapa bikin Cdnya?
I: Kalau yang formil baru lima, yang tidak formil Samabasunda banyak sekali sebetulnya. Tapi kalau kita rekaman seperti di album-album yang lain sebelumnya, banyak lagu yang kita buat di studio. Apa lagi Album pertama yang degung sama, yang Rhythmical in Sundanese People, itu hampir 90% di bikin di studio lagu-lagunya ya, karena tandinya kita muda aja bikib itu kita seperti main di panggung, kita sudah biasa main itu, saya ingin coba langsung ke studio. Saya pikir juga hasilnya tidak jauh berebeda. Biasanya energi terlalu banyak, kalau kita latihan, latihan, latihan - itu juga sering terjadi latihan disini selam sebulan lebih tetap saja pas waktu di studio saya rubah, jadi kadang-kadang percuma latihan juga -kecuali kalau lagu agak sedikit prinsip perlu teknik yang agak rumit.
J: Terus, cara bikin komposisi baru bagaimana?
I: Kalau saya cara bikin komposisi baru selalu dasar musik sunda supaya mereka juga kalau interpretasi saya sampaikan sama kawan-kawan juga jadi tidak sulit. Semua ada semacam pegangan struktur tertentu tinggal memberikan
J: Mereka sudah biasa di musik tradisi seperti musik sunda - sudah belajar -
I: Kan dia tahu dasar di kenongan atau seperti itu, saya bikin melodi mereka tidak akan punya banyak kesulitan.
J: Terus semuanya sudah pernah belajar di STSI semua?
I: Ya.
J: Jadi seperti ada perkembangan juga mulai dari STSI. Kalau saya lihat itu STSI memang itu seperti inkubator musik disini.
I: Betul.
J: Saya juga senang sekali kalau saya keluar jalan-jalan saja dan mau kesana lewat STSI, bisa mampir lihat dimana-mana ada musik, ada orang belajar, jadi selalu ada aja musik dimana-mana. Dan juga ada tarian, dan juga orang sedang komposisi, orang sedang latihan, sedang bikin musik baru. Jadi produktiv sekali kalau saya lihat. Suasana kreativ.
I : Itu dari Institut sendiri juga seperti ada semacam apa ya - mahasiswa harus banyak berlatih di kampus - tidak seperti di institusi2 yang lain. Mereka aktivitas, di sekolah itu, terbatas, seperti mulai dari jam 5 tidak bisa berlatih disana di kampus. Kalau di STSI bahkan sampai 24 jam mau latihan boleh saja!
J: Kalau itu misalnya kamar -kamar disana yang ada alat musik, biasanya di kunci malam atau tidak?
I: Di kunci, kalau tidak di pakai tapi kalau kita mau pakai bisa langsung kapan saja. Itu sifatnya tidak formal, cara langsung ke security bisa latihan disana.
J: Kalau di Akademi yang lain tidak begitu.
I: Ya keberlakuan seperti itu kalau saya lihat - itu lebih terbuka, lebih bebas di STSI Bandung.
J: STSI di Bandung itu luar biasa ya. Bebas itu dan supportiv untuk orang. Pokoknya untuk semua orang yang main musik bisa disana. Kalaua saya lihat mungkin ada juga anak sekolah, datang kesana untuk belajar itu,orang yang main disana macam=-macam. Terus itu tadinya Pak Ismet cerita mengenai Samabasunda itu sebenarnya seperti yayasan non-profit karena apa itu?
I: Sebetulnya kita hanya sebagai semacam tim untuk semacam pengodokan dapur supaya orang yang ada di tim Sambasunda itu jadi kreativ, jadi konfident seperti, kalau main dengan orang lain itu. Terus yang kedua, kreativitas nantinya, terus yang ketiga, ya kemampuan antisipasi, jadi banyak kawan-kawan juga sering banyak rekaman dengan orang-orang luar negeri.
J: Dan Sambasunda sendiri sudah pernah main keluar negeri , jadi pengalamannya luas sekali
I: banyak kesempatan saja, sekarang memang agak sulit kembali,
J: Masalanya grupnya besar - berapa - 20 orang ! kalau misalnya tour dunia 20 orang itu banyak sekali. Tapi saya tertarik pada konsep ini non-profit itu . seperti tadi ceritanya kadang-kadang kalau anggotta ada keperluan bisa di bantu. Kadang orang musikus atau orang mahasiswa mungkin ada kesulitan, bisa dapat dukungan dari Sambasunda.
I: Ya, karena dulu juga, kita semua anggotta Sambasunda tidak berawal dari orang kaya semua sih - tapi kita ingin maju - jadi kita harus ko-operativ - itu penting sekali.
J: Jadi saling bantu, saling dukung itu.Terus kalau untuk musiknya. Lihat ada campur musik Sunda dengan Bali - ada pengaruh musik dari lain -lain lagi?
I: Ada- yang terakhir, kita bikin Album Salsa- Salse itu, semua album yang dari gamelan bambu - sebetulnya kalau Salsa itu memang kita di ambil dari basik Latin itu, kalau salse itu bahasa Sunda - jadi kebiasaan orang sunda yangering relax santai itu - itu jadi agak sama sedikit nama Salsa dengan salse. Jadi kebiasaan orang sunda seperti ini santai seperti itu ingin membuat musik seperti ini - (to be continued).
Sambusunda website: http://www.surf.to/sambasunda
Interview with Bpk Ismet Ruchimat from Sambasunda
J: How are you, Pak Ismet?
I: Just fine. How are you?
J: I'm well also and I would like to ask you about the Samasunda Band, who we often hear on BayFM Radio as we like to play Sambasunda every week and it's very popular with our listeners. So maybe you can tell us a bit about the idea that started Sambasunda.
I: Well, we were just a group of friends who used to get together, then I thought, we all have the capacity to perform traditional music, so it's better we realise our potential to play music. Only at that time, we weren't as many as now. At that time, we were only 7 poeple, that was in about 1993 but we hadn't started thinking about recording yet. We were just doing what we could.
From the beginning, starting when I was still a student, I often worked with Efik, I knew them from the beginning.
J: So who were the first 7 members of Sambasunda?
I: Myself, Efik, Dedy, Nandang, and then Unut, Asep and Rudi. Those were all friends of mine from Uni.
J: So you were all still studying when you started Sambasunda?
I: Actually, the name Sambasunda is still new but we started to concentrate on this type of music then.
The first thing we did was make so-called "Dedication Music". We made a fusion of Top 40 songs like "Endless Love" and "I Will Always Love You" with degung gamelan music.
Even at that time, Efik's talent was obvious. He played suling, and often came over. Then I thought, if we always just adapt western music it's not very good. We decided to return to our Sundanese culture for inspiration. In 1993 we started to plan to do a recording, we had just started to see some development happening among our friends, including Efik. Actually exactly at that time Efik ended up not being available as he was starting to get busy with Krakatau.
J: But now he is active with Samabsunda.
I: Yes, now he has lots of time with Samabsunda - we're also happy!
J: How many CDs have you made now?
I: Formally, just 5, but informally there are many! But if we make recordings like those before, we usually record most of it in the studio. Especially the first degung are and the Rhythmical in Sundanese People - it's 90% studio recording. It seemed easy for us to record in the studio just like performing on stage, the results were about the same.
But it takes a lot of energy. If we practise, practise and practise, the results are the same, because when we go into the studio we still keep improvising and improving as we record.
So sometimes it's useless to practise, unless it's a particularly difficutl piece technically.
J: So, how do you compose new music?
I: If I make a new compostion, I always start from the base of Sundanese muic so that it's easy to give interpretation to my friends. They all posess the basic structure so it's just a case of sharing with then.
J: They are all used to working with traditional Sundanese music, they have studied...
I: They know the basic for kerongan or other instruments, I make the melody and they have no difficulty following.
J: So all of them studied at STSI?
I: Yes
J: So it's a bit like development also started at STSI - from what I can see STSI is like the music incubator of Bandung.
I: That's right
J: I also really enjoy passing by STSI if I'm out and about. I can drop in an hear music everywhere, there are people studying, people practising - so there is always music everywhere.
There is also dance, and people composing, people making new music. It seems very productive and a creative atmosphere.
I: From the Institution itself it's like that - the students are meant to practise a lot at the campus, not like other institutions, where activities might be restricted and stop at 5pm. At STSI 24 hours is fine!
J: So for example, the rooms with musical instruments - are they locked at night?
I: Yes, locked, if they are not being used, but if you want to use it you can just ask the security to open the door.
J: At another academy it might not be like that?
I: No, it's more open and free at STSI Bandung.
J: STSI Bandung is really special. Free and supportive to people. Basically for all people who play music. I've also seen school children coming there to study. Many kinds of people play there. Also Pak Ismet mentioned to me about Sambasunda being a non profit making organisation. Why is that?
I: Actually, we are just a team who work together so that the people in the Samasunda team are supported in their creativity, and imporve their confidence to play with other people.
So our friends also often record with musicians from overseas.
J: And Sambasunda itself has also toured overseas, so you have very wide experience.
I: At that time we had lots of opportunities, now it's a bit harder.
J: The problem is - the group is so big - how many - 20 people . So if you tour 20 people is a lot! I am interested in this no profit concept, like you told me sometimes members in need can get help. Sometimes the musicians or students have a problem, so Sambasunda can help them.
I: Yes - because from the start all the members of Samabasunda have been people not from wealthy backgrounds, but we want to progress, so we need to co-operate - it's very important.
J: So you help and support each other.
In your music you often combine various influences like putting Sunda and Bali together - do you have other influences as well?
I: Well, the last album Salsa dan Salse is totally from bamboo gamelan. We took the basic rythms from Latin music. The work Salse is Sundanese meaning "people who usually like to relax" - this word is quite similar to the word salsa - so usually sundanese people like to relax like this and like to make music like this.
Sambusunda website: http://www.surf.to/sambasunda
The new Sambasunda CD Salsa dan Salse is available from AIAA for $25. Other Sambasunda and related CDs are also available.
Indonesian CDs for Sale
If you are interested in purchasing some Indonesian music for your home, school or workplace AIAA has some great CDs available, and funds raised go towards supporting Indonesia Artist-in-Residence Projects:
Please send your cheque (incl $4 postage) and order to:
PO Box 484 Byron Bay 2481 NSW
Ph: 02 66857789
Email: indoartsalliance@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.aiaa.org.au
Salsa and Salsae by Sambasunda.- $25
We live, We eat, We play music with bamboo. Very tribal sounding up tempo CD
From top Indonesian percussion/fusion band - Sambasunda
Sundabali by Sambasunda $25
A perfect cross cultural mix between Balinese Gamelan music and Sundanese music.
Rhythmical in Sundanese People by Sambasunda - $25
Mainly instrumental contemporary/traditional Indonesian music.
No Risk No Fun by Sunda Africa $25
Predominantly bamboo flute, Harp and drums, "music has power to ease tension within the heart and loosen the grip of obscure emotions".
No Risk No Fun by Sunda Africa 2 - $25
Acoustic Sundanese music with Indo Afro drums.
Bali Jaipong by Sambasunda -$25
A collaboration between Balinese Gamelan and Sundanese Jaipong.
Musik Dedikasi Degung - $25
Going through music of the archipelago.
India meets the Gypsies - $25
The return to the roots by musicians Harry Prosad Chaurasia (guitar) and Chicuelo (percussion). Fusion of Indonesian musicians and international musicians.
Predominantly flamenco guitar, bamboo flute, kendang.