"A Musicological Argument for Cultural Relationship Between Indonesia- Probably the Isle of Java, And Central Africa"

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A Musicological Argument for Cultural Relationship between Indonesia: Probably the Isle of

Java, and Central AfricaAuthor(s): Jaap KunstSource: Proceedings of the Musical Association, 62nd Sess. (1935 - 1936), pp. 57-76Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/765551 .

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18 FEBRUARY, 1936.

CAPTAIN EVELYNBROADWOOD, M.C.,IN THECHAIR.A MUSICOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR CULTURALRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDONESIA-PROBABLYTHE ISLE OF JAVA-AND CENTRAL AFRICA.

BYJAAPUNSTBilthoven,olland).YouRAssociations so kind s togiveme theopportunityodiscuss omeresults btainedn the realm f musicologyduringecent ears,nd willgladly se ttoshowyoubysingle xample owmuch hatbranch fscience s able tocontributeoourknowledgefthehistoryfcivilisation.The followingaper s onlypartlyhefruitfmyownwork ndstudies: theman,to whommusicologynd thehistoryf civilisationwe thetheoryf blownfifths,nwhich ll thefollowingpeculationsre based, s thelateGerman-AustrianusicologistrichvonHornbostel.

A musicalnterval,hat s thedistance etweenwonotes,is generallyepresentedya fraction,hosenumeratorasthevibration-numberfthehigherote nd as denominatorthat f the owernote. In certainasesthefractionanbesimplified.o onemayrepresentheoctave ythefraction2/I; thenatural ifthy3/2; thenatural ourthy4/3.When,however,hetwovibration-numberso nothaveacommon ivisor, umeratornd denominatoremain atherunmanageableumbers. n sucha case it is often ifficultwhich of the intervalscompared s the largerone.For instance,ne cannot ee at a glance hat he ntervals296 79996nd are equal.235 634Therefore,more implendplainmethodfrepresenta-tionhasbeen ooked or. Keepingnmind hestructureftheEuropean hromaticcale, certainlyne mustpreferto all other ystemshe method f theEnglish hysicist,Alex.J.Ellis,which ates rom884. Ellisdivideshe emi-tone four emperedhromaticcale nto oo equal ntervals,which ethereforealls ents.Anoctaveonsequentlyncludes1,200 C., the natural ifth02, thetemperedifth00,andso on.

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58 CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesia ndAfricaWhen, starting roma givenfundamental ote (say C),one constructs seriesoffifths,t willappearthat he twelfthfifth,partfrom he differencen octaves, eads back to astarting oint: thecircle s nearly losed. This constructionis usually alled thePythagoreanircleof fifths.A reductionto cents learly hows, hatthe circle s notreally losed. Infact t would be better alled a spiral:-

I2X 702=8,424 C.7x ,2oo=8,4oo00 .Difference: 24 C.This differences calledthecomma f Pythagoras.In our tempered cale the commahas been eliminated ybeingdistributed verthetwelvefifthsf thecircle. (Thatis thereasonwhy t is so difficulto tunea pianoaccurately;each fifthmustbe diminished y 2 C.)Some centuries efore ythagoras,hinesephilosophersadalreadydiscovered he circle of twelvefifths,asing t upon

almostthe same principles. The modern Chinesemusicalsystems derived rom hiscircle. However,by interpretingthe old legendof Ling Lun in a new way, Professor onHornbostelhas arrived at the conclusionthat beforethePythagorean,notherystemwas in use,based onphenomenaobservedwhenblowingbamboopipes.Starting rom fundamental oteC, No. I, thefollowingseries of harmonics s obtained:-C c g c' e' g'1 2 3 4 5 6They can be produced on a wind-instrumenty over-blowing. Whenthepipe is closed at one end,only heoddnumberedpartialscan be produced; therefore,he firstharmonic o be heard s the thirdnote oftheserieswhich sa twelfthbove the fundamental.Now the old Chinese theoristsdeterminedhe pitchoftheirfundamentalymeans ofa bambootube,closedat oneside by a knot and one foot or 230+3 mm. in length.

At the sametimethistubewas thebasis oftheir ystem fmeasurement. t was called huang chongi.e., yellowbell)and sounded,as can easilybe ascertained, fundamentalf366 vibrationsnd,beingclosedat oneend,the twelfthbovethefundamentals the first armonic.A second bamboopipewas, by exactmeasuring, iven headequate lengthforsounding note one octavelowerthan



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CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesia ndAfrica 59the harmonic f the huang chong; that s to say, one fifthhigher hanthe fundamental.Again thefundamental f a thirdbamboo pipe was tunedto the lower octave of the first oundingharmonicof thesecondpipe, and so on, untila note was reachedwhich,fortheunaidedear, seemed denticalwith the huang chong,hestarting oint. This, however,does nothappen, s itdoes nthe case of theWesterncircleof fifthsobtained by string-division), fter welve teps,butonly fterinking p twenty-three uch intervals.The reasonfor his deviation s that hefifth btainedbyoverblowing stoppedpipe is notquitetrue,butby a smallamount averaging 4 C.) too flat.' The truefifth eingequivalent o 702 C., the blownfifthonsequentlywill be equal to 678 C. A simplecalculation howsthatthegap in the circle of blown fifthss much smaller hanthesurplusn thePythagoreanircle -23X 678= 15,594C.13x 1,200oo=5,600 .

Difference: 6 C.This difference f only6 C., a quarterof the Pythagoreancomma,mayin most cases be neglectedwithout ppreciableerror.Now, Professoi von Hornbostelhas made the surprisingdiscovery hat the musical scales of civilisations,f peopleswidely separated from each other, are derived fromtheancientChinese circleof blownfifths.All thesescales are composedof a seriesof notes,usuallyfiveor seven,whichin thecircle of blown fifths ollowoneanother egularlyither n direct uccession, r by constantlyomittinghesame number ffifths.Realising hisremarkablefact, undoubtedlyone will be inclinedto ask whether hecircleof blownfifths avingoriginatedn a logicalapplica-tion of the phenomenon f harmonics,hesameconstructionmaynotpossiblyhave been hit upon, independently romancientChina,in otherpartsofthe world s well Andmaynot these scales therefore, otwithstandingheir identicalstructure,have a multipleorigin Undoubtedly uch anassumptionwould not be impossible n itself. In all cases,

1 See Hornbostel, Musikalische Tonsysteme in the Handbuch derPhysik,ed. Geiger and Scheel, Vol. VIII, p. 425 et seq.). On p. 430he says: "Actually, the differences not exactlythe same forall sizesand diameters of pipes: the longer the pipe, the diameter remainingconstant, the smaller the blown fifthobtained. But for the usualaveragedimensionswe mayreckon,withoutgreaterror,with a constantdifference f 24 C."



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60 CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesia ndAfricahowever, hescales are notonly imilarn structurend canbe derived rom circleofblownfifths,ut eventhe circle'svery tarting oint ppearsto be one and thesame. In otherwords,not only the structural elation f the notes of thescales compared s alwaysthe same,but also theirabsolutepitch. This fact disposes of the hypothesis f a seriesofaccidental oincidences. It provesthat therecertainlyxistsan historical elation etween hese musicalsystems.At presentwe know that the influence f the ancientChinesescale system preadnotonly o the South Indochinaand Indonesia),butalso to the East (where thas beenfoundon panpipesthroughout elanesia,Polynesia, re-ColumbianPeru,and among omeBrazilian ribes), nd to theWest, asI propose o showmoren detail ater n. Moreover, he engthof the huang chongube (230+3 mm.),whichwas at the rootofthe musicalsystem,nd at thesametimethesacrednormof thesystem fmeasurementftheChinese,has provedtobe connectedwiththeunitsof measurementfancientPeru,Mesopotamia nd Egypt.2That absolute pitchesshouldremainunchanged hroughseveral thousands of years, is astonishing ndeed. Butcertainlyherewas strongmotive orkeeping hemconstant,viz.,themagic powerof normalisedounds and of melodiesbased on them.Originally,music s nothingut ncantation,magic ction.A songis a magicformula nd therefore ust be performedexactly n the righttraditionalway, or it will produceaneffectquite contrary o the one aimed at.3 The magiccharacterof music is verypersistent; even in advancedcivilisationst can stillbe traced. It willsufficeo pointoutthedoublemeaning fthe Latinwordcarmenmagicformulaand song), nd to compare hemeanings ftheFrenchwordsenchanterto charm, o fascinate)nd chant song). I cannotenlargeon this subject, and for the presentpaper it isunnecessary. It need onlybe rememberedhatthroughoutChinese historyt has been one of the first eeds of everynew dynasty o redeterminehe exact length f the huangtchong,hesacredunitofmeasurement,n orderthathence-

2Hornbostel, " Ueber einigePanpfeifenus Nordwest-Brasilien(Th. Koch Gruinberg,Zwei Jahre unter den Indianern, I9xo); id."Ueber ein akustisches riteriumir Kulturzusammenhdnge(Zeit-schrift lir Ethnologie,1911, p. 6ox et seq.); id. A summary of thetheory fblownfifthsnAnthropos, ol. XIV-XV, p. 569-570, 19I9-20) ;id. "Die Maassnormls kulturgeschichtlichesorschungsmittel(PaterWilhelmSchmidt-Festschrift,. 303 et seq., 1928).3Jules Combarieu, Histoirede la Musique, Vol. I, p. 8.



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Cultural elationshipetweenndonesiandAfrica 61forthmusicmightontributeotheprosperityf thedynastyandnotcause tsruin, s itevidentlyadcaused he uin ftheprecedingne.'Every ear henativesftheMelanesiansland fBougain-ville,nanelaborateeremony,arefullyune heir ewflutesto the acredpanpipeswhich rekept nd ealously uardedbytheparamounthief.5 ven nJava,whichnjoysuch nold and refinedivilisation,hepitch fcertain amelanssesteemedmorehighlyhan hat f other rchestras,ot onmusical, utonlyon traditional,hat s, really n magicalgrounds. nstancesfhighlyeverenceditchesre that fthevery ldgamelanldndroajem, wnedbytheRegent fTasikmalaja ndthat foneofthe ritonicamelans unggangin the Solonese raton.7EveryJavanesendBalinesemusical calecanbe reducedto one of two differentystems,alledpdlog nd sldndro.Sldndros alwayspentatonicndgenerallyas nearly qualintervals; ilog t firstight eems o be heptatonic,ut nrealityt s only conglomerationfnon-equigradeentatonicscales n which ccasionallysixth,reven seventhegreeis used as a less importantccessoryote.To givea clear dea oftheevolutionfthese cales,wemustreturno ourstarting-point,he circle fblown ifths.The Chinese avedividedtsdegreesnto wogroups:yangandyin; themale eries ndthefemaleeries. The huangtchongtself,n its twofoldunctions basisofmeasurementand originalourceofbothmaleand female rinciples,sbeyond hatdivision; thereforene has avoidedrealisingthis acred oneon musicalnstruments.heyang-seriessformed y theodd, and theyin-series y theevenfifths.Hombostel as proposedor series fthistype henameUmschichtreihei.e.,alternatingeries ftones).Now, many pdlog-scales ave issued fromsuch anUmschichtreihe.ure alternatingcaleshowever ave notbeenpreservednJava, robablyecause hey ell hort fthe requirementsf morehighly evelopedmelodies. Inthefirst lace,beingcomposedf a seriesof intervalsf

4Maurice Courant,Essai historiqucur la musiqus lassiquedesChinoisEncyclopddiee la Musique, avignac,Vol. I, p. 8o).sHornbostel, eberin kustischesriteriumfiirulturzusamnmenhdnge,p. 614.6Kunst,De toonkunstanBali, Vol. I, p. i5o, note.7 Id. De muziekndenMangkoe agaran Djawa, Vol. IV, MangkoeNagarannumber,. 28, 1924).



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62 CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesia ndAfrica156C.,8they acked the ndispensable ifth-intervals.gain,a simplecalculationwillshowthat,whenblowing n a pan-pipe tuned to an "alternating" cale,one has no fifths702C.) at one's disposal: 4x 156=624, and 5X156=780 C.Referringo factsrecently iscovered, hedevelopmentfthisUmnschicht-pdlogaybe sketcheds follows At a certainmoment he need of fifths ould have been felt. We maysuppose thatoriginallyheywere obtainedby playing n amale and female nstrumentt the same time.9 Soon thenative musicianswould have discoveredthat this ratherdifficultnd awkward echnique ouldbe simplifiedytrans-ferringhreenotesfrom hemale instrumento the female,and viceversa. Thus scalesofa mixedor,as itwere,herma-phrodite haracterwere obtainedwhich,expressed n cents,result n thefollowingeriesof figures:-156 156 210 156 156 156 210This scale indeedfits he purposesoughtfor; it suppliespracticalfifths. Thus: 3x 156+ 21o=678, equals exactlytheblown ifth.Such pdlog-scalefmixed haractersequiva-lent to an uninterruptedrc ofthecircleofblownfifths.Another, resumably lder,formof pilog-scaleProf.VonHornbostelquite recently iscoveredto be a successionofseven intervals f a half-fourth,lso derivedfrom hecircleof blownfifths hich,whenplacedinscale-succession,esultin this series of intervals-102 156 264 156 oz02 156 264This scaleis also to be found n manyJavanese rchestras.It has the sameadvantages s thescales ofmixedcharacter,derivedfrom male and female" alternating" eries. For156+102+156+264=678 C.=the blownfifth.Sldndro he otherscale systemalso originated romthecircleof blownfifths. ts development oweverhas passedthrougheveralphasesand is, therefore,ather omplicated.Accordingto the latest investigations,10o less than fourconsecutive cale formsmust be distinguished. It would

8 2 678= 1,356 C.IX 1,2OO =,200 C.Difference: 156 C.9Of such a custom the fact that Burmese and West Javanesepan-pipes alwaysare played in couples, is possiblya last remainingvestige.In the Javanese instruments he sex-difference lso appears in theirnames: mother indung)and son (anak).10Kunst, e ToonkunstanJava1934),p. 22 etseq.



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CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesiandAfrica 63take too long to examinethemthoroughly ere. Suffice tto say that the final result-a pentatonic cale with equalintervals-is precededby three differentypeswithslightlyunequalintervals,whichhave been christened:-i. Pentatonic emi-fourthscale;2. Pre-sldndro;3. Real sldndro.One of the manifold nstrumentsfJavaand Bali whichcan be tunedto a series of-notesderivedfrom he circleofblown fifthsbelonging ither o pilog,or to sldndro),s thegender. You have probably eenpictures fthis nstrument.It consists of a series of slabs hungabove resonance-tubesbymeans of strings. The slabs are usuallymadeof bronze,though ometimes f iron; in Bali occur also gend&rs ithbamboo slabs. The resonatingubes are generallymade ofbamboo also. In each tubea knot s left s a partitiont acertaindistancefromthe upperend so thatthe air-columnvibrates n resonance with the slab above it. As the air-columnmustdiminish n proportiono therisingpitch,therow of knotsappears as a sloping ine on the front f theinstrument. Sometimes n modem instrumentshe tubesaremade ofglass or zinc and providedwith rtificial nots.)In Bali hereandtherewe alsomeetwith oconut esonators,"and there re certainndicationshat venthelabu a kind ofgourds), ccasionallywereused as resonators.nOnlywhereJavanese ivilisation as of old left ts impres-sion-to wit, besides in Java itself, n Madura, Bali andLombok, nd inBorneo ntheneighbourhoodfBandjermasin-metallophonesand xylophones fthegenderypeare to befound,besides other more primitive nd more commonlyknown forms e.g., withslabs lyingon a frame, r withoutresonatingubes). Outsidethearchipelagohere s onlyoneregion,apart fromCentralAmerica,'"where nstrumentsfthe genddr-typeccur. This region-and now at last Iam entering n mediasres-is Africa,from Mozambiquein the South-Eastto Senegambia n the North-West. Atfirst ightthe Africanxylophonesusuallycalled marimba,butalso in somepartsofthecontinentalafo rmbila),differ

11P. A.J.Moojen, unstpBali (1926), plateXXIII; Dr. V. E.Korn, De dorpsrepubliek nganan Pagringsingan1932), P. x8.12CurtSachs,Die Musikinstrumentendiens nd ndonesiensist ed;1915), P. 34, fig. 20; Kunst-Goris, Hindoe-Javaansche muziek-instrumenten1927), p. 102-3." They onlycame to CentralAmerica aterbywayof theslave-trade.



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from the Indonesianinstrumentsn havingmore or lessoblonggourds n place of the Javanesebambooresonance-tubes. However,that s not an essentialdifference.As Isaid, in Javaand Bali also resonators f othermaterials reknown nd, moreover, ambooresonators re to be found nAfricaalso.14Long ago their imilarityn shaperaisedthequestion s towhether heAfricanmarimba id not originate rom outh-East Asiatic cultural nfluences. That supposition ecameall themoreprobableas so manyotherparallels n diversedirections adalready eendiscovered.15n 1911Hornbostelventured hehypothesisfsucha cultural elationship ainlyon the strengthf the measurement f the scales of twomarimbas.' Undoubtedlytwo such measurements,whentheyproveto be almost dentical,mayencourage certainview,be it onlyas a provisory orking ypothesis,nd maystart nvestigationsn a certaindirection. Hornbostel'sintuition as right,s usual,but nthemselves hesemeasure-mentsare insufficientasis forestablishingn incontestableproofof culturalrelationship.Yet, such a proofwould beofgreatvaluewithregard o the fact that hithertoll othercultural arallelswithAsia and Indonesiahavefailed obringthe leadingAfricanists o a certain greements regards herelationbetweenAsiatic and Africancivilisations. If thatproof ould be furnishedn an unimpeachableorm, hen atleast on one pointreliablefootholdwould have beengained.But,even ifmoreAfricanxylophones ad beenmeasuredat thattime,manynecessaryparallelswould have escapedattention, ecause then the differentreliminarytages inthe developmentf pelogand sldndrowere notyetknown.Even theessentials f theveryJavanese caleswere notyetascertained,s a fewmeasurementsnlywerethento handwhichwere not quite in agreementvenwith ne another.7

14Examples: Cat. of the Congo-Museumat Tervueren,Nos. 34538(from the Balinda tribe in N.W. Belgian Congo); 34939 (from theYakoma in South Belgian Congo). Still other materialsare used forresonators,e.g., buffalo-hornsexamples: British Museum Cat. CC1910 No. 224; 1932 6-8 I (Yates collection) ; and tins (see PercivalR. Kirby, he Musical nstrumentsftheNative RacesofSouthAfrica(1934), plates 2oB and 2zA).15For a historical survey cf. Siegfried F. Nadel, Marimba-Musik(SitzungsberichteerAkademieerWissenschaftennWien, 12. Band3(I931), passim.16Von Hornbostel, Ueber ein akustischesKriteriumfir Kultur-zusammenhange7eitschrifturEthnologie,ol. 43), 1911.17See the survey n Vol. II of the Encyclopaedie an Nederlandsch.Indie 2nd ed., p. 817.



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Cultural elationshipetweenndonesiandAfrica 65Again, heorigin,tructurend interrelationsf thescaleswere till bscure-the heoryf blown ifthsas to be borneightyears ater,-consequentlyherewas as yetno proofthat nthis aseonehadto dowithnfluencesadiatingromancient hina.In 1931Siegfried. Nadel, nhisessay lreadymentioned,considered new the possibilityf an intrinsic elationbetween ndonesian nd Indochinesecales and thoseofAfricanmarimbas,nd triedto add some measurements(made on sevenmarimbasn theViennese thnographicalMuseum) othefew lreadyxisting. ut,becausehe ackedan adequate onometerndapparentlyadno accessto theNetherlandscientificorksandthereforeothe ndonesiancomparativeaterial),heproblemfscalewasnotfurtheredto anyextent yhim.I have now triedto solve this problemdefinitelyymeasurings great numberfmarimba-scaless couldbeobtained,ndbycomparinghemwith hevariousheoreticalscales derived romhecircle fblown ifths,nd withmypreviousndonesianmeasurements.Ofthe otal umberfmarimbaseasured96),onebelongsto theEthnographicaluseum f theTrocaddron Paris;seventy-oneo theCongoMuseum t Tervueren;fourteentotheRoyalConservatoirefMusic nBrussels;eightotheBritish useum and wo otheVictoriandAlbertMuseuminLondon. The greaterart fthe nvestigatednstrumentswas in good,even in verygood condition;onlya fewspecimens erebadly reserved. yfar he argest umber,namely ighty-two,amefrom he northernnd southernpartofBelgianCongo; onecamefromGambia, wofromLowerGuinea, wofrom heWest Coast withouturtherindications),ne from he FrenchCameroon,hreefromNorthern igeria, wofrom ierra eone,whilst s to theorigin fthree pecimens o particularsouldbe obtained.Among heseninety-sixarimbasherewere wowith nlyoneslab; thereforeheywere fnomomentor urpurpose.Of theremaining inety-fournstrumentshereweretwo,the cales fwhich idnoteem obeconstructedystematically.Further,he caleofoneconsistedfnaturalifths,utfromtheabsolute itch f theslabsone canconjecturehat heywere riginallyonnected ith hecircle fblown ifths. sforthe other nstruments-ninety-onepecimens,hat isnearly 5 percent-there an be nodoubt hat heiruningoriginatedn thecircle fblown ifths.



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66 Cultural elationshipetweenndonesiandAfricaThe majority,iz., sixty-nine,howed n "alternating"series ftones r a pdlog-scaleerived romucha series;besideswhichwerefifteenldndro-scales,hree emi-fourthsscales (primevalldndro),hree ombinationsf pdlog ndsldndro-scales,nd one case whichmight e defineds a"pre-alternating"cale.Spacewillnotpermithediscussionfall these cales nturn; I shall onfine yselfhereforeo someof themoststrikingxamples. utbeforehandt willbe wellto recall:first, hatby transposingnoteup anoctavetsvibration-

numbers doubled; secondly,hat differenceftwo orthree ibrationsn a totalnumberf several undreds aybe practicallyeglected. he first f thefollowingxamplesshows regularalternatingseries,owhich netone nlyofthethrees added,whichwouldhave hangeda part f)thescale ntomoderndlog:-MARIMBAf theBakuba; village usambo(Belgian ongo, outhernegions,etweenthe Kasai and the Sangkuru)CongoMuseumCat. No. 2251).Pitch of the 194 216 - 252 274 292 305theslabs .. 307- 427 461 5o6 55o -461'5Alternating IX XI XIII XV XVII XIXseries of the 194'75 213 233 255 279'5 305'5male type18 . 389'5 426 466 510 559 611XAdded 288pilog-tone 576The next woexamples erynearlypproachdlog-scales,derivedromalternating"eries fblown ifths-MARIMBAromheWestCoastofCentralAfricaVictoriandAlbertMuseum, at.No. Io8o-68). 162 183Pitch of the 202 222 242-5 266 298 324 358the slabs .. 392-5 446 494 548 596 652 724

Series fblown II IV VI I III V Ofifths-VI x62z25 183200o25 219'5 240o25 270o5 296-25 324'25 366400o5 439 48o'5 541 592-5 648'5 73218The degrees of the circle of blown fifths, alculatedfrom0=366 vibr.upwards,re numberedwithRomanciphers.



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Cultural elationshipetweenndonesiandAfrica 67MARJMBAftheBakuba; village usambo(Belgian ongo, outhernegions,etweenthe Kasai and the Sangkurti)CongoMuseumCat. No. 2251 bis).378Pitch of the 235 - 28 304 - - 383 - 426the slabs 5o8 - - - - 74o 826Series fblown XIII XV XVII XIX XII XIV XVI XVIII XIfifths 233 255 279'5 305'5 315'5 345 378 414 426XI-XIX 466 510o 559 6II 631 690 756 828 852

Finally,nthefollowingables,Africanmarimba-scalesrecompared ithBalinese ndJavaneseilogandsldndro,ndwiththecorrespondingheoreticalcalesderived rom hecirclefblown ifths. he nstrumentsunedo hese alinese,JavanesendAfricancalescouldwithoutny nconveniencebe interchangednthe nsemblesowhich hey elong,heirscalesbeing racticallydentical.P~log.Gamelan (141) (151'5)slundingfrom 189 204 224-5 - 282 303

Kingetan, S. 378 408 449 - 564 606BaliMarimbaf heBakwese, S.W. 14o05 I52-5 171'5Belgian Congo 189 205 227 252 276 302 338(Congo Mus- 368 411 456 510o 572 634 692eumNo. I5862)Marimbaf heBakubu, S. x4x15 151 172Belgian Congo x85 5 205"5 228 248 281 309 332(Congo Mus- 376 412 458 516 568 620o 688eumNo.15861)Series fblown XVI XVIII XX XV XVII XIX XIVfifths x39'75 152'75 172"5IV-XX 189 207 226 255 279'5 305'5 345378 414 452 510 559 61I 690

Sldndro.Gamelan of the Regent 258-5 289 339 384'5 442ofTjiandjur,WestJava 517 596 678 769 884Marimbaf heNgbandi,N.W. Belgian Congo 258 293 340 387 438(Congo Museum No. 522 590 680 776 88634512)Series of tonesderived XXII/I III V/VII IX XI/XIIIfrom the circleof blown 259 296"25 339 389-5 446fifthsreal slindro) 518 592"5 678 779 892



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68 CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesia ndAfricaGenddr wayang from (305'5) 350 397 459 522Pliatan, South Bali 6xx 700 794 918 1,o44

I,222Marimba of the Togbo, 303 349 399 460 525N.W. BelgianCongo 604 6o8 806 920 I,o76(Congo Mus. No. 34566) XIX XXI/O II IV/VI VIIISeries of tonesderived 305'5 350 400*5 459 527from he circle fblown 61x 700 8oi 918 1,054fifthsreal slgndro) 1,222The number fpossible cale-typess practicallynlimited,itwould notbe reasonable hereforeo ascribetheconformityestablishedabove to mere chance. On the contrary,heoriginof the marimba-scalesmust withoutany doubt besought n EasternAsia; from henceJavaand Bali, as wellas the civilisationo whichAfricaowes her marimbas, usthave received heirmusicalscales. Moreover,Java,besidesAfrica,19 eing the only regionwhere instrumentsf thegenddr-typeccur,one feelscompelled o concludethat t isto old Javanese ulturalnfluence hat CentralAfrica--eitherdirectly,or indirectly--owests marimbas f this highly

specialised type.It maybe added thatscale structurend pitchare by nomeanstheonlyfeatures ommon o Indonesian nd Africangend&s. For example, hetypeof xylophonewithonlyoneslab and a spherical esonator hichoccurs nbothregions20;also thepractice fbeatingwithforkedmallets, hown ntheone case on the Panataranreliefsa and some Madjapahitterra cotta statuettes,=nd being still used in the modernBalinesegambang-ensembles,2and in the othercase in theNorth-Eastpart of BelgianCongo amongtheAzand04 andamongthe Vendas in Northern ransvaal."2 Finally here sthe remarkable aytheslabsarearranged n someBalinese"eand some Congolese" xylophones,iz., in a series from owtohigh, xcept hehighest otewhichcomesat thebeginningbefore he lowest.19DisregardingCentral America; see note 13.20Kunst, De Toonkunst an Bali, Vol. I, p. 127, 235 (reprod. 39) and236 (reprod. 40), and id. De Toonkunst an Java, Vol. I, p. 129-130.21Id. De Toonkunst anJava,Vol. I, p. 74-5 ; II, p. 341 (reprod.47).22 Id. ibid. Vol. II, p. 342 (reprod. 48).23 d. De Toonkunst an Bali, Vol. I, p. 237 (reprod. 42).2 Junker,Reisenin Africa 1899), Vol. III, p. 15.25Kirby, The Musical Instrumentsf the Native Races of SouthAfrica (1934), Table i6B.26Kunst, De Toonkunst an Bali, Vol. I, p. 75 and 136.27E.g., Congo Museum No. 24897 (Azandi).



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CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesiandAfrica 69To conclude, let me referto the latest history f themarimba.Having crossed the Atlanticwiththe slave-trade,it became the mostpopular nstrumentf CentralAmerica,more particularlyf Guatemala."* Here it was discoveredby theYankees, nd tuned, f this had notalready eendone,in Europeanfashion; thecalabashes werereplacedby brassresonators,he wooden labs byaluminium lates.A damper-pedal and, bymeans of a small electro-motor,devicepro-ducingvox humana ffects ereadded. Thus modernisedndstyled"Vibra-Harp, the improvedMarimba," the ancientgenderook he musichalls oftheWestern ontinenty torm.Such a vibra-harp,gaintunedto a Javanese cale, has of

late been ordered n Chicago by the SoloneseprinceH.H.MangkuNagaraVII, and incorporatedn his oldestandmostbeautiful amelan,heKjahi KanjutM~sem (whichnEnglishmeansSir Seducerto smiles.) Thus thegenddr,ftermanyvicissitudes, as completed,n some thousands f years, tsjourneyroundtheworld.DISCUSSION

THE CI~IRMAN: Ladies and gentlemen,efore ask youtopass a hearty ote ofthanks o Dr. Kunst, wantto ask youto join in a discussionon the interestingnd entertainingpaperwe have ust heard.Mr. Fox STRANGWAYS: should like to hear the gramo-phone records several times; I thought heywere verybeautiful. The second one in particularwas a lovelything.Somebody aid it was likeStravinsky. thoughttwas a gooddeal better.What was von Hornbostel's authority or saying thatstoppedpipesproduced flatfifth I askbecauseMr. D. J.Blaikley, ithwhom consulted s to thebehaviourfstoppedpipeswhenthe thirdpartial s blownon them, aid thatwasnot the case. As the whole theory urnson the factthatthesefifthsreflat,tseems vital o establish tfirst. fthesefifthsroved obe intunethePythagoreancalewouldresult,as Dr. Kunstexplained. But theyare flat, nd the fourthsthereforere sharp. Two series of these sharpfourths retaken nd dovetailedwitheach other, nd eventuallyroducetheseJavanese cales,which consistof quite non-Europeanintervals.

28These Guatemala nstrumentsrealso playedbymeansofforkedmallets: see Sachs, GeistundWerdender Musikinstrumente1929),p. 128-9.7 Vol. 62



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70 CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesia ndAfricaSurely here reanyamount fsldndrocales; they renotonlyof one kind? And thepilog? They are all in modes,are theynot?Dr. KUNST: Up to now I havefound142pilog-and 11osldndro-scales,utI think hey re notall in practicaluse.I can only say thatProfessorHornbostel oldme he hadmadetheexperiment,ndthathefound hat hose fifths erealwaystoo flat, ot alwaysbythe same amount, ut in thatregion fthe tonalspectrum hey re on an average wenty-four ents oo flat."Mr. Fox STRANGWAYS:Did ProfessorHornbostelaythatthisonlyappliedto pipes ofnineincheslong?Dr. KutNST: No; but 230+3 rmm.about nine inches)is thelength f thepipe on whichthefundamentalonewasproduced.Mr. Fox STRANGWAYS:Hornbostel oldyouhe had takenan average rom he scales thathe hadmadeout,butdid notsayhe arrived tthetwenty-fourents ifferencerom lowingpipes? That is the point.Dr. KUNST: So faras I knowhe didmaketheexperimenthimself.Miss SCHLESINGER: There are three mportant ointstobe examined in connectionwith ProfessorHornbostel'stheory. Firstof all: since he goes back fora basis in hisresearch o the AncientChinese standardpipe (the lu) andfinds n thisthe norm rpointofdeparturef mostprimitivescales, his estimate f the pitchof thatpipe needs revision.The lengthof the standardpipe, as given by the ancient

Chinese authoritiess theChinesefootof230 mm.,towhichHornbostel as assigned pitchof 366 v.p.s. That estimateis absolutelympossible. It is notmerely question fa fewvibrationshat s at stake,buta misconceptionf theformulaand of an importantrinciple.The length orrespondingo 366 v.p.s.=232 mm. not230)is not the measurementf the pipe; it is thewave-lengthproductiveof the vibration-frequency. he wave-lengthconsists f the actual ength fa pipewith headdition f thediameter fthe bore. It is obviousthat pipe 230mm. ong,witha pitchof 366 v.p.s., whichhas a wave-lengthf 232mm.,couldonlyhave a diameter f2 mm.which, fcourse,is an impossibleproposition.29 Cf. also: Hornbostel, usikalischeonsystemeinGeiger Scheel,Handbuch erPhysik, ol.VIII, p. 425,ff), 6.



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Cultural elationshipetweenndonesiandAfrica 7IHornbostelhas nottaken hediameternto account. Thusa pardonablefailure o recognise he difference etween helengthof the pipe and the lengthof the sound-wavepro-ductive of pitch,mayin thispipe reduce the vibration re-quencybyat least5 or 6 v.p.s.; which nthe two-footctaveis a considerablemargin,argeenough o leavethedooropenfor n alternativeystemndalso to invalidatenyconclusionsbased upon a fundamentaloteof 366 v.p.s.The secondpoint n Hornbostel's heory, ponwhichbothhe and Dr. Kunstare awarethat am in totaldisagreement,is thetheory fthecycleof blown-fifths. he crux hereis

the assumptionthat a stopped-pipeinevitably verblowsflattenedharmonics. This is a fallacy. When the fifthwhichshouldbe overblown erfects flattened,he fault ieswiththe piperand the stopped-pipemustnot be leftunderthe unjust slur of blowingfalse fifths. For, in all pipesharmonics re producedby an aliquotdivisionof thewave-lengthof the fundamental, hich includes the lengtheningdue to the diameter fthepipe. Harmonics re constituentsof the fundamental; therefore,whatever the vibration-frequency f thefundamental,t bears within tself he con-stituentharmonicsproperto its wave-length,ll in perfecttune.Wishingfora confirmationn thispoint, summonedskilledtunerfrom ne of thebig piano factoriesnd blew along-drawnnote on one of the pipes of myAgarichefromBolivia-a setofthealternativeanpipesmentioned yHorn-bostel-which is tuned to a traditionalncasic modal scale.As I overblewthe fifth,Mr. A. said: " That fifths deadtrue!" Then I purposely verblew lightly latand he atonce denouncedthe harmonic s false. This testwas firstmade a yearago and repeatedrecentlywith the same con-firmationf thepurity f theharmonic.What happenswhen thefifths blownflat s that, n theprocessofcompressinghe breath nd tighteninghelips foroverblowing,ne mayslightly iltthe pipe, with the resultthat the breath-streamwhichshouldbe directedupon thesharp edge across the end of the pipe) impinges nsteadobliquelyand a little nside the tube, thus lengtheninghediameter nd creating falsefifth--orather purefifthuton a lowerfundamental.This can be provedby droppingalternately,n thesamebreath,rom he flat iftho thefunda-mental nd backagain. It willbe found hat his fundamentalhas also becomeflattened.The purefifthan be heardas aconstituent armonicn sounding hefundamental,ikea tinyfar-offell, even beforeblowing he so-calledflatfifth.



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72 CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesia ndAfricaIt cannotbe too stronglytressed hatHornbostelhimself

calledthistheory ishypothesisnd intheoffprinte sentmeof his little reatiseon "Musical Systems" Tonsysteme)nwhich the theorys first escribed, foundthis statement:" To myknowledgehistheoryfblown-fifthsas notyetbeenworked utexperimentallyr theoretically." The lawsandformulaeoncernedwith the influence f diameter re notyet generallyknown and Hornbostelhas not examinedorappliedtheseformulaenworkingutthebasisof histheories.This is a pity n view ofhis invaluablework.My thirdpoint oncerns he endeavour o getto theoriginoftheJavanese nd other xotic calesfrom hemarimbasorvariousxylo- nd metallophones).Whynotgo to thefluteswhichhavea uniquetaleto tell?In the fluteswe have the only nstrumentshatpreserve nimperishablendimpersonalecord fthe calesthey mbody.These maybe recovered rom ccuratemeasurementsf theflute nd from he position fthefinger-holes. his recordis absolutelyndependentf theidiosyncrasiesfthe player.I possess twoJavanese lutes f skilledworkmanshipndmost ccuratemeasurements,nd itmaybe a surprise o learnthat these side-blownflutesembody, n both theoryandpractice,the modal Dorian scale of Ancient Greece! Ifound he same scale uponfive ut ofsixBalineseflutes,entto me fromBatavia by Mr. Soekawati o aid me in myresearches; he statesthatthey re suchas are in actualusein thenative amelansorchestras)n the slandofBali. Thesixth lutes boredfor hePhrygianmode. ThisDorianmodalscale3's thesameas thatfound n theElginpipeat theBritishMuseum. As a commentaryn cultural elationshipersusspontaneous enesisor rebirth,n examinationf the com-parativeTables ofJavanese nd Siamese scales published n1922 by Ellis, Land, Stumpfand Hornbostel,givingthevibration-frequenciesf notesor the intervalsn cents, gainindicatesthe flutemodes and more especiallythe ancientGreek Hypophrygians originof both sldndro nd pdlog.30This passagehas notthatmeaning.Von Hornbostel ound utby experimenthat hesetwelfths ereflat nd thereforentended y

thisnote oconvey nly hat,s far s he knew,hisphenomenonadnot a scientificxplanation,t had not even been observed. TheGesetzmaissigkeitad notyetbeen studied, utthe fact tselfwas forhimbeyonddispute.31 The Dorianmodal cale s alsofound n oneofHornbostel's ubu-flutesNo. 3295,SBd. f. vergleichendes. Wiss.i, 1922),pp. 362 and364; also on a peasantflute rom icily, n Inca flute rom eru,aCarpathian lute nd on one fromN.W. India and others.



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CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesiandAfrica 73It is indeeda strikingoincidence n thisconnection o findthat out of eightflutesused by the NiloticAcholitribeofSouthern oudan,which owe to the kindness f Dr. Tucker,six oftheseflutes, ith nlyfour inger-holes,ivethe keleton(i.e., simplestform)of the Hypophrygianmode. It is notonlyreminiscentftheJavanese ldndro,ut lmost dentical;it certainlyuggests kindred rigin. I do not knowwhetherthe resultsof theseauthoritiesre stillaccepted. This factdoes not,however, mplyculturalrelationship; the modesare rebornon thereed-blown ipes and flutes, he same alltheworldoverand in all ages. I could giveDr. Kunstpar-ticulars fthese cales,as I am writing book on thesubject.Dr. KUNST: I hopeyouwill send it to me whenyouhavefinishedt.

Miss. SCHLESINGER : I did notprepare hese remarksor hepurposeofopposingHornbostel's heory: thelastchapter fmybookbearson thissubject nd a little n someofthefactsyou have givenus.Those records nd tablesofvibration-frequencyhichyouhaveputbefore s definitelyointto thesequencesofmodalintervals oundon flutes. Some of the comparative iguresyou give differ rom ach otherby as muchas fouror fivevibrationsn thefour- nd two-foot ctaves,which s quitesufficientoindicate he alternativemodalsystem f the flutes.These are theonlytrustworthynstrumentshatpreserve nindelible ecord fintervalsnd scales,but themeasurementsmustbe exact and complete.Hornbostelhas not givenall the necessarymeasurementsfor the Kubu flutes. He has omitted he diameter f thefinger-holesndhe did notspecifywhetherhe ength fromthetop" meantfrom he actual end of theflute, r from helabial orbettertillfrom hecentre fthesquarecavityboveit) throughwhichthe breathpasses. It is from his centrethatthelengths measuredwhichdetermineshepitchofthenotes.Dr. KUNST He speaksofthediameter f thepipesand hesays somethingboutaveragediameter.Miss SCHLESINGER:Yes, he givesthediameterf theflute,but not of thefinger-holes.Dr. KUNST: We arediscussing he theory f blownfifths.Therefore,urely, uestioninghemeasurementflongflutesis notquiteto thepoint. Hornbostel asedhistheory nly nthemeasurementf panpipes,whichneverhave finger-holesand whose pitchis much more constant han that of longfluteswith holes.



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74 CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesiandAfricaMiss SCHLESINGER: I am speaking ftheKubu-flutes ith

fouror fivefinger-holes.Dr. KUNST I do notthink espeaksof thetheoryf blownfifthsn connectionwith Kubu-flutes.Not all the flutes fthe whole world are connectedwith the circle of blownfifths. n thisquestion, s I alreadymentioned,we have todeal withpanpipes only; and lateron withmetallophonesalso.Miss SCHLESINGER: No. You are quite right, he Kubuinvestigationserepublished n 1922, someyearsbefore heappearance fthetheoryfblown fifths.But, n anycase, itwould be impossible or primitive,r anyotherflutemakerto embody hescale derived rom lown fifthsn theflute.CanonGALPIN: It has beena greatpleasureto me tohavemetDr. Kunst,forhe has so kindlyssistedme intimespast.At thepresentmoment live in a regionfurther ack thansuch scientific alculations s we have been hearing. Theverticalflute,with threeequidistant inger-holes, considerwas theorigin ftheAsiatic even-notecale,and theChinesetook theirnational cale from t. Their Prince,Tsai-yu, nthe sixteenth entury, ound n an antiquary's ollectionvery ncient hree-hole lute n bronze,whichhe said he wasquite sure dated from he secondmilleniumbeforeChrist.He givesus thesize oftheboreand measurementsf everydetail; also howitwas blownand thefingeringfthescale.It was played n the octaveofthefundamentalones nd alsoin the second series of harmonicswithperfect ifths.So aseven-note iatonic cale witha tritone ourthwas obtained,theprincipal entralAsiatic cale, believe, ver longperiodof time.I cannot but thinkthat all these intensemathematicalcalculations ame in at a much laterdate. They weretheproductof scientistss in later Greekmusic; I should iketo feelthat thevery arlyGreek musicwas perfectlyimpleand plain,forwe knowthatthe chromaticnd enharmonicforms ppeared t a timemuchnearer ur ownera.The CHAIRMAN:About what date would that simpleAsiatic scale be ?

CanonGALPIN: Betweenfour nd five housandyears goat least. Is the sldndro-scaleurelypentatonicDr. KUNST: Yes.Canon GALPIN: Are there everalforms f it?Dr. KUNST: Severalmodes.



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CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesiandAfrica 75Canon GALPIN: And thepilog-scale s heptatonic. Land,

in his analysisof Javanesemusic gives the slindro-scale sD, E, G, A, B, (D), and thepdlog-scales D, Eb, F, G, Ao,BI, C, (D). Surely hispdlog-scalesonly heorthodox hinesescale,fromEb withthe tritone ourthA?), wedged ntotheearlier ldndro-scale,hich s themore ancientone in JavaThe Chinese scale givestheupperD and, in orderto makeit fit heirpentatonic to D scale,they dded the lowerD.Dr. KUNST: We cannot peakofa realJavaneseheptatonicscale. Except in some rare cases it is a conglomerationfatleast threepentatonic cales together. In this one they inkthreeregisters,or ow voice,middlevoice and highvoice.Canon GALPIN: It is generally nownnow, I think, hatthe originalChinese scale was heptatonic,not pentatonic.The latterwas the scale theyfound when theycame fromWesternAsia to theeastern oasts. Tsai-yusaid thatthosewho asserted thatthe originalChinese scale was pentatonicwerequitewrong nd, ifthey tudiedmore,theywouldnothave made such a mistake. This seven-note cale was in usein Mesopotamia nd on the longflutes f Egypt.Miss SCHLESINGER It is theHypolydiancale. I havetriedit and it gives the properGreekscale withthe tritone; byhalf-stoppinghe tritone otea perfect ourth s obtained.Canon GALPIN: As forthe blownfifth12th)on a closedtube,the clarinet s on the same principle. I am a clarinetplayer nd I am horrifiedothink hat have all my ifebeenplayingwithflatfifths hen I used the upperregister!

Dr. KUNST: I thinkthe heptatonicconglomerate) calein Java s olderthanthepentatonic.Canon GALPIN: Land puts it just the otherway. Heassertsthatthe ancientone was thepentatonic.Mr. LLOYD POWELL: Is the Javanesemusic entirelytraditional Is it handeddownfromgenerationo genera-tionDr. KUNST Mostly.Mr. LLOYD POWELL: Is there ny mprovisationbout it?Dr. KUNST: Partly. There are strict aws, but yetsomeinstrumentsto wit,the paraphrasingnstruments)nd alsorebab, uling nd voice,enjoya certain reedom.Mr. LLOYDPOWELL Arethese nstrumentslayed ntirelyfrommemory



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76 CulturalRelationshipetweenndonesiandAfricaDr. KUNST: Usually theyare played by heart,but fifty

years go theJogjanesemade a beautiful ollection n nativevertical taff otation.32Mr. MICHAEL HOLLAND: The music we have heard onrecords o-day nd CentralAfricanmusic,withwhich amvery amiliar,oundto meverymuch like. That is a reason,a somewhat ough nd readyone perhaps,n support fyourtheory f culturalrelationship.The CHAIRMAN: have here an instrumentwhich Mr.Holland has kindly ent me foryour inspection,which iscalled a kinanda n Swahili, and whichCanonGalpintellsme is also called a slusa. It comesfromCentralAfrica.When at the beginning f your lecture,Dr. Kunst,youmentionedMr. Ellis, I feel you shouldalso have includedthenameofMr. A. J.Hipkins. He was one ofthepioneersin thisbranchofresearch. It is interestingo realise hat nthe case of the marimba nd kindred nstruments e aresimply ealingwiththeearliest orefathersfthepresent-daypianoforte.That was Mr. Hipkin's nterestn them.

Dr. Kunst, n behalf fall present thankyoumostwarmlyforthis ecture, nd, ladies and gentlemen, hope youwillshowyourappreciation y a hearty oteof thanks.The voteof thankswas carriedbyacclamation.

3 Examplesof thisJavanesenotationmaybe found in Kunst,De ToonkunstanJava,Vol. II, p. 389ff.

Documents

"A Musicological Argument for Cultural Relationship Between Indonesia- Probably the Isle of Java, And Central Africa"