Sounds of the Archipelago Echo in Gamelan Melayu
By Liani MK
February 2018 FEATURE
This gamelan group in Penang does its best to keep various Malay traditions alive.When I arrived for my first gamelan Melayu rehearsal at the Wak Long Music Centre in Penang, Mohd Jufry Yusoff, affectionately known as Cikgu Jufry, was already seated behind the gendang (Malay drums), absorbed in the scores of music before him, written in numbers rather than musical notes, over Western music stylised bars.Later and in the following rehearsals, Cikgu Jufry led the group to play Ayak-ayak, Demi...
Liani MK
is an independent writer, journalist and artist whose works span areas of language, film, culture, indigeneity and migration in Southeast Asia.
