GAVRILA REGINA MUHALING (13/345800/SA/16864) A. ARIFAH (13/349749/SA/17027) MUHAMMAD HAFIDZ H. (13/349877/SA/17028) Culture is defined in Merriam Webster dictionary in three statements which are; - the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time - a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc. - a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization (such as a business) This idea of culture can be seen in one of Indonesian famous art in form of musical style, Keroncong. Kroncong is Indonesian traditional musical style which has been passed down from generation to generation. The dominant sound of this Kroncong music is produced by ukulele-like music instruments; in Indonesia they call the instruments 'cuk' and 'cak'. Kroncong is usually played by a Kroncong group which call themselves 'Orkes Kroncong' or Kroncong orchestra. The group consists of some music instruments players who play a flute, a violin, a melody guitar, a cello in pizzicato style, cuk, cak, and a string bass in pizzicato style. The singer can be either female or male. According to some sites, Kroncong was brought to Indonesia by sailors and sleeves from Portuguese Empire in 16th century. It was played by lower-class citizens and gangs from Maluku who adopted the new musical styles. In 17th century, Portuguese influence weakened, however this music did not disappear. Kroncong grew fast during the 19th century. The music spread widely across the archipelago. However, at the end of the 19th century, Kroncong lost its popularity. Other popular music styles invaded Indonesia. Music style like Rock and Pop became the most popular music. But, even though Kroncong lost its popularity, this music still had its segments. There were many groups of people, especially old people, who still played Kroncong. They enjoyed this music very much. Well, they still do. The good thing is nowadays Kroncong is still played in some places in Indonesia, especially in cities of Java like Yogyakarta and Solo. It's said that Kroncong music style grew significantly in Solo after it's spread from Sulawesi. We were granted to have some interviews with a Kroncong orchestra club which is D'PASTEL. From the interviews we know that the founders of D'PASTEL are all above 50. The club was created six years ago, in May 4, 2007, to be exact. The club was named D'Pastel, which is the short of 'Depan Pasar Telo', because the club was created when they were practicing in a place that's located in near front of Pasar Telo. Now, the place has become their basecamp. The main purpose of D'PASTEL beside to create refreshing facility for people is to conserve Kroncong music as Indonesian cultural heritage in form of music style and art of performance. They said that if they (old people) do not make efforts to impress young people in playing that old fashioned music style, those young people will not have initiative to conserve the music style. That is the reason why they keep on playing Kroncong. They hope that their perseverance will reach the hearts of young people to make Krocong popular again. D'PASTEL gives chance to young people who are able to play music and interested in Kroncong to learn how to play Kroncong. They have trained some people to play and sing Kroncong so far. It's a good offering if you're interested in Kroncong and you want to be able to sing or play Kroncong. D'PASTEL founders train younger people to play Kroncong music as an effort to conserve Kroncong. To know even more about D'PASTEL, please play the video above. SUPPORTING SOURCES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kroncong http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cultural_Anthropology http://www.kumpulansejarah.com/2013/02/sejarah-musik-keroncong-dan.html

• published: 14 Dec 2013
• views: 57