Dabuih/dabus

Audio 5.4: Audio Example 4 in Chapter 5 of book: Margaret Kartomi, ‘Musical Journeys in Sumatra’, Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012. In the Minangkabau region of West Sumatra, the ritual performance known as “dabuih” (in Minangkabau language, “dabus” in Arabic and Indonesian) is one of several genres with a Muslim theme. “Dabuih” participants aim to attain union with Allah and often achieve a condition of altered consciousness, or trance through religious concentration, which enables them to perform exciting displays of self-mutilation without injury. On reaching the highest stage of mystical ecstasy, they feel that their bodies become immune to pain and would be invulnerable in battle. To attain union, they perform songs (“indang” or “dikia”, lit. ‘remembrance of God’) that repeat the names and attributes of Allah or the syllable Hu (meaning ‘He’) over and over and play frame drums (“indang” or “rabano”) with a vigor that reflects their intense religious concentration. Our example, recorded in January 1972, contains five excerpts from a “dabuih” performance which was presented by the Sungai Pendahan Dabuih ensemble led by Bp Burhannudin. At least six of the male soloists and chorus members of the group also played frame drums. The first excerpt is taken from the start of the performance, with the religious leader (“kalipah”) singing the greeting “Assalamū’ ‘alaikum” and other religious texts in free meter, with vocal slides and ornamentation in a very legato style. The chorus responds in a similar manner. The alternation between solo and group singing, which is heterophonic, recurs throughout. The second excerpt is an example of group drumming in strict meter with some incidences of interlocking rhythms. In the third and fourth excerpts, the men continue to alternate between solo and chorus singing in strict quadruple meter as they accompany themselves on the frame drums. The fifth excerpt is strongly metric, faster and trance-like; the chorus repeatedly sings a short motif, like a mantra, while providing a repetitive rhythmic pattern on the frame drums. Duration: 6 min. 18 sec. [Excerpt 1: 2 min. 57 sec; Excerpt 2: 0 min. 30 sec; Excerpt 3: 0 min. 35 sec; Excerpt 4: 0 min. 43 sec; Excerpt 5: 0 min. 43 sec.] Copyright 1972. Margaret J. Kartomi.