A Musicological Argument for Cultural Relationship between Indonesia: Probably the Isle of Java, and Central Africa Author(s):

Jaap Kunst Source: Proceedings of the Musical Association, 62nd Sess. (1935 - 1936), pp. 57-76 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/765551 . Accessed: 01/05/2013 08:30
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18
CAPTAIN

FEBRUARY, 1936.

EVELYN BROADWOOD, M.C.,

IN THECHAIR.

A MUSICOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR CULTURAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDONESIA-PROBABLY THE ISLE OF JAVA-AND CENTRAL AFRICA. KUNST (Bilthoven, Holland). BY JAAP YouRAssociation is so kindas to giveme theopportunity to discusssome results obtained in the realmof musicology recent and I willgladly use it to show years, during youbya how muchthatbranch of science is able to example single to ourknowledge contribute of thehistory ofcivilisation. The following the fruit of my own paperis onlypartly workand studies: the man,to whommusicology and the of civilisation owe the theory of blown fifths, on history whichall the following are based,is the late speculations German-Austrian ErichvonHornbostel. musicologist A musical that is thedistance between twonotes, interval, is generally whosenumerator has by a fraction, represented thevibration-number ofthehigher noteand as denominator thatof thelowernote. In certain cases thefraction can be So one mayrepresent theoctave simplified. bythefraction fifth fourth by 3/2; the natural 2/I; the natural by 4/3. the two vibration-numbers do not have a When,however, common numerator and denominator remain rather divisor, numbers.In such a case it is often difficult unmanageable which of the intervalscomparedis the larger one. For instance, one cannot see at a glancethatthe intervals 296 296 and 799are equal. 634 235 a moresimple and plainmethod of representaTherefore, in mindthestructure tionhas beenlooked for. Keeping of the Europeanchromatic one must prefer scale, certainly to all othersystems the method of the Englishphysicist, Alex.J.Ellis,which datesfrom thesemi1884. Ellisdivides scaleintoIoo equalintervals, toneofourtempered chromatic hetherefore callscents.Anoctave which includes consequently fifth fifth 1,200 C., the natural 702, thetempered 700,and so on.

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Indonesia and Africa Cultural between Relationship

note (say C), froma given fundamental When, starting a seriesof fifths, it will appearthatthetwelfth one constructs in octaves, leads back to a fifth, apart fromthe difference starting point: the circleis nearlyclosed. This construction is usuallycalledthe Pythagorean circleof fifths.A reduction to centsclearlyshows,thatthe circleis not reallyclosed. In fact it would be bettercalled a spiral:I2X

C. 7 x I,2oo=8,4oo00

702=8,424

C.

Difference: 24 C. is called the comma This difference of Pythagoras. scale the commahas been eliminated In our tempered by over the twelve fifths of the circle. (That being distributed to tune a piano accurately; is the reasonwhyit is so difficult must be diminished each fifth by 2 C.) had Some centuries beforePythagoras, Chinesephilosophers the circleof twelvefifths, alreadydiscovered basingit upon almost the same principles. The modern Chinese musical is derivedfrom this circle. However,by interpreting system von the old legend of Ling Lun in a new way, Professor Hornbostelhas arrived at the conclusion that before the was in use, based on phenomena another Pythagorean, system observedwhen blowingbamboo pipes. froma fundamental note C, No. I, the following Starting is obtained:series of harmonics C c g c' e' g' 1 2 3 4 5 6 They can be produced on a wind-instrument by overblowing. When the pipe is closed at one end, onlythe odd numbered partials can be produced; therefore, the first to be heardis the thirdnote of the serieswhichis harmonic above the fundamental. a twelfth Now the old Chinese theoristsdetermined the pitch of theirfundamental by means of a bamboo tube, closed at one side by a knot and one foot or 230+3 mm. in length. At the same timethis tube was the basis of theirsystem of measurement. It was called huangtchong (i.e., yellow bell) and sounded,as can easily be ascertained, a fundamental of above and, beingclosed at one end, thetwelfth 366 vibrations as the first the fundamental harmonic. A second bamboo pipe was, by exact measuring, giventhe adequate lengthfor soundinga note one octave lower than

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and Africa Indonesia CulturalRelationship between

59

the harmonicof the huangtchong; that is to say, one fifth higherthan the fundamental. of a thirdbamboo pipe was tuned Again the fundamental to the lower octave of the firstsounding harmonicof the second pipe, and so on, untila note was reached which,for the the unaided ear, seemed identicalwiththe huangtchong, startingpoint. This, however,does not happen,as it does in the case of the Westerncircle of fifths (obtained by stringtwelvesteps,but onlyafterlinking up twentydivision),after is thatthe threesuch intervals. The reasonforthis deviation a stoppedpipe is not quite true, fifth obtainedby overblowing but by a small amount(averaging 24 C.) too flat.' The true fifth consequently being equivalentto 702 C., the blown fifth will be equal to 678 C. A simplecalculationshows thatthe is much smallerthanthe gap in the circle of blown fifths in the Pythagorean circle:surplus 23X 678= 15,594 C. C. 13x 1,200oo=5,600 6 C. Difference: This difference of only 6 C., a quarter of the Pythagorean comma, may in most cases be neglectedwithoutappreciable error. Now, Professoi von Hornbostelhas made the surprising of peoples discoverythat the musical scales of civilisations, widely separated from each other, are derived from the ancientChinese circle of blown fifths. All these scales are composedof a series of notes,usually fiveor seven,which in the circleof blown fifths followone eitherin directsuccession,or by constantly anotherregularly the same number of fifths.Realisingthisremarkable omitting fact, undoubtedlyone will be inclined to ask whetherthe in a logical applicacircle of blown fifths havingoriginated the same construction tion of the phenomenon of harmonics, may not possibly have been hit upon, independentlyfrom ancientChina, in otherpartsof the worldas well? And may not these scales therefore, their identical notwithstanding ? Undoubtedlysuch an have a multipleorigin structure, assumptionwould not be impossiblein itself. In all cases,
1 See Hornbostel, Musikalische Tonsysteme(in the Handbuch der Physik,ed. Geiger and Scheel, Vol. VIII, p. 425 et seq.). On p. 430 is not exactly the same for all sizes he says: "Actually, the difference and diameters of pipes: the longer the pipe, the diameter remaining constant, the smaller the blown fifthobtained. But for the usual average dimensions we may reckon,withoutgreat error,with a constant differenceof 24 C."

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60

CulturalRelationship between Indonesia and Africa

the scales are not onlysimilarin structure and can however, a circleof blownfifths, be derivedfrom but even the circle's verystarting pointappearsto be one and the same. In other relation of the notes of the words, not only the structural scales comparedis always the same, but also theirabsolute of a series of pitch. This fact disposes of the hypothesis accidentalcoincidences. It provesthattherecertainly exists an historical betweenthese musicalsystems. relation At present we know that the influenceof the ancient Chinese scale system spreadnot onlyto the South(Indochina and Indonesia),but also to the East (whereit has been found on panpipesthroughout Melanesia,Polynesia, pre-Columbian Peru, and amongsome Braziliantribes),and to theWest, as I proposeto showmorein detaillater thelength on. Moreover, of the huang tube (230+3 mm.),whichwas at the root tchong of the musical system, and at the same timethe sacred norm of the systemof measurement of the Chinese,has provedto be connected withthe unitsof measurement of ancientPeru, Mesopotamiaand Egypt.2 That absolute pitches should remain unchangedthrough several thousands of years, is astonishingindeed. But therewas strong motiveforkeepingthemconstant, certainly sounds and of melodies viz., the magicpowerof normalised based on them. a magicaction. musicis nothing but incantation, Originally, A song is a magic formula and therefore must be performed exactlyin the righttraditional way, or it will produce an effectquite contraryto the one aimed at.3 The magic characterof music is very persistent; even in advanced it can stillbe traced. It will suffice to pointout civilisations of the Latin wordcarmen the double meaning (magicformula and song),and to comparethemeanings of the Frenchwords and chant(song). I cannot enchanter (to charm,to fascinate) enlarge on this subject, and for the present paper it is that throughout unnecessary. It need only be remembered Chinese historyit has been one of the firstdeeds of every new dynasty to redetermine the exact lengthof the huang in orderthathencethe sacred unitof measurement, tchong,
aus Nordwest-Brasilien 2Hornbostel, " Ueber einige Panpfeifen id. (Th. Koch Gruinberg, Zwei Jahre unter den Indianern, I9xo);
schrift flir Ethnologie, 1911, p. 6ox et seq.); id. A summary of the in Anthropos, Vol. XIV-XV, p. 569-570, 19I9-20) ; theoryof blown fifths Wilhelm Schmidt-Festschrift, p. 303 et seq., 1928). 3Jules Combarieu, Histoirede la Musique, Vol. I, p. 8.

"

" (ZeitKriterium "Ueber ein akustisches fir Kulturzusammenhdnge " (Pater als kulturgeschichtliches id. "Die Maassnorm Forschungsmittel

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andAfrica 61 Cultural Indonesia between Relationship ofthedynasty forth musicmight totheprosperity contribute had causedtheruinof and notcauseits ruin, as it evidently the preceding one.' ofBougainisland oftheMelanesian the Every year natives newflutes tunetheir in an elaborate ville, carefully ceremony, are keptandjealously which to thesacredpanpipes guarded suchan which chief.5EveninJava, enjoys bytheparamount the pitchof certain is old and refined civilisation, gamelans noton thanthatof other esteemed morehighly orchestras, thatis, reallyon magical but onlyon traditional, musical, are thatof of highly reverenced pitches grounds. Instances of thevery ownedby theRegent old gamelan sldndro Lajem, andthat ofoneofthetritonic munggang Tasikmalaja gamelans in theSolonese kraton.7 and Balinese musical scale can be reduced Every Javanese to one of two different called pdlogand sldndro. systems, and generally has nearly is alwayspentatonic Sldndro equal butin seemsto be heptatonic, intervals; sight pilogat first a conglomeration it is only ofnon-equigrade pentatonic reality a sixth, scalesin which or evena seventh degree occasionally note. is used as a less important accessory of thesescales,we To givea clearidea of the evolution thecircleof blownfifths. mustreturn to our starting-point, havedivided its degrees The Chinese intotwogroups: yang and yin; themaleseriesand thefemale series. The huang in its twofold function as basisof measurement itself, tchong is and original sourceof bothmale and female principles, one has avoidedrealising beyondthat division; therefore is thissacredtoneon musical instruments. The yang-series formed by the odd, and theyin-series by the even fifths. has proposed fora seriesof thistypethe name Hombostel Umschichtreihe seriesof tones). (i.e., alternating have issued from such an Now, many pdlog-scales Umschichtreihe. Pure alternating have not scales however in Java, of been preserved becausetheyfellshort probably the requirements of morehighly melodies. In developed the first of of a seriesof intervals place, beingcomposed
sur la musiqus classiquedes 4 Maurice Courant, Essai historiquc Chinois de la Musique, (Encyclopddie Lavignac,Vol. I, p. 8o). Ueber einakustisches s Hornbostel, Kriteriumfiir Kulturzusamnmenhdnge, p. 614. 6 Kunst,De toonkunst van Bali, Vol. I, p. i5o, note. indenMangkoe Nagaran (Djawa, Vol. IV, Mangkoe 7 Id. De muziek Nagarannumber, p. 28, 1924).

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62

between Indonesia and Africa Cultural Relationship

fifth-intervals. Again, 156 C.,8 theylackedthe indispensable will show that,when blowingon a pana simplecalculation scale,one has no fifths (702 pipe tuned to an "alternating" C.) at one's disposal: 4x 156=624, and 5X156=780 C. the development of to factsrecently discovered, Referring as follows : At a certain this Umnschicht-pdlog maybe sketched would have been felt. We may moment the need of fifths that theywere obtainedby playingon a originally suppose at the same time.9 Soon the male and femaleinstrument native musicians would have discovered that this rather difficult and awkward by transtechniquecould be simplified to the male instrument from the notes female, three ferring and viceversa. Thus scales of a mixedor, as it were,hermawere obtainedwhich, expressedin cents, phroditecharacter series of figures:resultin the following
156 156
210

156

156

156

210

This scale indeed fitsthe purpose soughtfor; it supplies practical fifths. Thus: 3 x 156+ 21o=678, equals exactly is equivaofmixedcharacter theblownfifth.Sucha pdlog-scale arc of the circleof blownfifths. lentto an uninterrupted older, formof pilog-scaleProf.Von Another, presumably discoveredto be a successionof Hornbostelquite recently also derivedfromthe circle seven intervals of a half-fourth, result of blown fifths which,whenplaced in scale-succession, :in this series of intervals 102 156 264 156 oz02 156 264 orchestras. This scale is also to be foundon manyJavanese as the scales of mixedcharacter, It has the same advantages derivedfroma male and female " alternating"series. For C.=the blown fifth. 156+102+156+264=678 fromthe Sldndrothe other scale system also originated howeverhas passed circle of blown fifths. Its development rather severalphases and is, therefore, complicated. through no less than four According to the latest investigations,10 consecutivescale formsmust be distinguished. It would
8 2 IX 1,2OO =,200

678= 1,356 C.
C.

Difference: 156 C. 9 Of such a custom the fact that Burmese and West Javanese panpipes always are played in couples, is possibly a last remainingvestige. In the Javanese instrumentsthe sex-differencealso appears in their names: mother (indung)and son (anak). 10 vanJava(1934),p. 22 et seq. De Toonkunst Kunst,

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CulturalRelationship between Indonesia and Africa

63

here. Sufficeit take too long to examine them thoroughly to say that the final result-a pentatonicscale with equal intervals-is preceded by three different types with slightly which have been christened:unequal intervals, i. Pentatonicsemi-fourths scale; 2. Pre-sldndro; 3. Real sldndro. One of the manifoldinstruments of Java and Bali which can be tuned to a series of-notesderivedfromthe circle of is the blown fifths (belongingeitherto pilog, or to sldndro), gender. You have probablyseen picturesof this instrument. It consistsof a series of slabs hung above resonance-tubes by means of strings. The slabs are usuallymade of bronze, with thoughsometimesof iron; in Bali occur also gend&rs made of bamboo slabs. The resonating tubes are generally at a bamboo also. In each tube a knotis leftas a partition certaindistancefromthe upper end so that the air-column vibratesin resonance with the slab above it. As the aircolumnmust diminishin proportion to the risingpitch,the row of knotsappears as a slopingline on the frontof the instrument. (Sometimes in modem instruments the tubes are made of glass or zinc and providedwithartificial knots.) In Bali hereand therewe also meetwithcoconutresonators," and thereare certainindications thateven the labu (a kind of were used as resonators.n gourds),occasionally has of old leftits impresOnly whereJavanesecivilisation sion-to wit, besides in Java itself,in Madura, Bali and of Bandjermasin Lombok,and in Borneoin theneighbourhood of the gender typeare to be -metallophones and xylophones found, besides other more primitiveand more commonly knownforms(e.g., with slabs lyingon a frame,or without thereis only one tubes). Outside the archipelago resonating of region,apart fromCentralAmerica,'"where instruments the genddr-type occur. This region-and now at last I am enteringin medias res-is Africa, from Mozambique in the South-East to Senegambia in the North-West. At firstsight the African xylophones(usually called marimba, but also in some partsof the continent balafoor mbila),differ 11 P. A. J.Moojen, Kunst op Bali (1926), plateXXIII; Dr. V. E.
Korn, De dorpsrepubliek Tnganan Pagringsingan (1932), P. x8. Kunst-Goris, Hindoe-Javaansche muziek1915), P. 34, fig. 20; instrumenten (1927), p. 102-3.

12Curt Sachs, Die Musikinstrumente Indiens und Indonesiens (ist ed;

" They only came to CentralAmericalaterby way of the slavetrade.

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from the Indonesian instruments in having more or less oblong gourds in place of the Javanesebamboo resonancetubes. However,that is not an essentialdifference.As I of othermaterials are said, in Java and Bali also resonators knownand, moreover, bamboo resonators are to be foundin Africa also.14 in shape raisedthe questionas to Long ago theirsimilarity whether the Africanmarimba did not originate fromSouthEast Asiatic culturalinfluences. That suppositionbecame all the more probableas so many otherparallelsin diverse had alreadybeen discovered.15 directions In 1911 Hornbostel ventured the hypothesis of such a cultural mainly relationship on the strength of the measurement of the scales of two when marimbas.' Undoubtedlytwo such measurements, they prove to be almost identical,may encouragea certain and may view, be it onlyas a provisory working hypothesis, start investigations in a certain direction. Hornbostel's intuition as usual, but in themselves was right, thesemeasurementsare insufficient basis for establishing an incontestable proofof culturalrelationship. Yet, such a proofwould be of greatvalue withregardto the fact that hitherto all other cultural parallelswithAsia and Indonesiahave failedto bring the leadingAfricanists to a certainagreement as regardsthe relationbetweenAsiatic and African civilisations. If that thenat in an unimpeachable form, proofcould be furnished least on one pointreliablefoothold would have been gained. had been measured But, even if more Africanxylophones at that time, many necessaryparallels would have escaped because then the different attention, stages in preliminary the development of pelog and sldndro were not yet known. Even the essentialsof the veryJavanesescales were not yet as a few measurements ascertained, only were then to hand whichwere not quite in agreement evenwithone another.7
Examples: Cat. of the Congo-Museumat Tervueren,Nos. 34538 (from the Balinda tribe in N.W. Belgian Congo); 34939 (from the Yakoma in South Belgian Congo). Still other materials are used for resonators,e.g., buffalo-horns (examples: British Museum Cat. CC 1910 No. 224; 1932 6-8 I (Yates collection) ); and tins (see Percival (1934), plates 2oB and 2zA). 15 For a historical survey cf. Siegfried F. Nadel, Marimba-Musik 14

The MusicalInstruments R. Kirby, of theNative Racesof SouthAfrica der derWissenschaften Akademie in Wien, 212. Band 3 (Sitzungsberichte (I931), passim.

17See the survey in Vol. II of the Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch. Indie 2nd ed., p. 817.

Vol. 43), 1911. (7eitschrift fur Ethnologie, zusammenhange

16Von Hornbostel, Ueber ein akustisches Kriteriumfir Kultur-

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Cultural between Indonesia andAfrica 65 Relationship and interrelations structure of the scales Again,the origin, werestillobscure-the was to be born ofblown fifths theory therewas as yet no proof yearslater,-consequently eight thatin thiscase one had to do with from influences radiating ancient China. F. Nadel,in hisessayalready In 1931 Siegfried mentioned, relation anew the possibility of an intrinsic considered and Indochinese scales and those of betweenIndonesian and triedto add some measurements Africanmarimbas, in the VienneseEthnographical (made on seven marimbas to thefewalready But,becausehe lacked Museum) existing. an adequatetonometer and apparently had no access to the Netherlands scientific works to theIndonesian (andtherefore theproblem ofscalewas notfurthered material), comparative to anyextent by him. I have now tried to solve this problemdefinitely by as greata number of marimba-scales as couldbe measuring and by comparing with theoretical them thevarious obtained, the circleof blownfifths, and withmy scales derived from Indonesian measurements. previous number ofmarimbas Of thetotal measured (96),onebelongs in Paris; Museumof the Trocaddro to the Ethnographical to the CongoMuseumat Tervueren;fourteen seventy-one ofMusicin Brussels; eight tothe to theRoyalConservatoire Museum Museum British andAlbert ; andtwototheVictoria in London. The greater instruments partoftheinvestigated was in good, even in verygood condition; only a few werebadlypreserved. number, specimens By farthelargest came from the northern and southern namely eighty-two, Gambia,two from partof BelgianCongo; one camefrom theWest Coast (without Lower Guinea,two from further one fromthe FrenchCameroon, threefrom indications), Northern two from SierraLeone, whilst as to the Nigeria, of threespecimens no particulars could be obtained. origin theseninety-six marimbas there were twowith Among only oneslab; therefore were ofno moment forourpurpose. they Of the remaining instruments thereweretwo, ninety-four the scales ofwhich didnot seem tobeconstructed systematically. thescaleofone consisted ofnatural butfrom Further, fifths, the absolute thatthey pitchof theslabsone can conjecture wereoriginally connected with thecircle ofblown As fifths. for the other instruments-ninety-one that is specimens, can be no doubtthattheir nearly95 per cent-there tuning in the circleof blownfifths. originated

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between Cultural Indonesia andAfrica Relationship

The majority, showedan "alternating" viz., sixty-nine, seriesof tonesor a pdlog-scale derived from sucha series; besideswhich werefifteen three semi-fourths sldndro-scales, scales (primeval threecombinations of pdlogand sldndro), and one case whichmight be defined as a sldndro-scales, scale. "pre-alternating" thediscussion of all thesescalesin Space willnotpermit therefore to someof the most turn; I shallconfine myself But beforehand it willbe wellto recall: striking examples. a noteup an octave itsvibrationthatby transposing first, number is doubled; secondly, thata difference of two or three in a totalnumber vibrations of several hundreds may be practically The first of thefollowing neglected. examples " series, showsa regular onetoneonly to which "alternating of thethree is added,which wouldhavechanged (a partof) thescaleintomodern pdlog:MARIMBA of theBakuba; village Lusambo between (Belgian Congo,Southern regions, the Kasai and the Sangkuru)(Congo MuseumCat. No. 2251).
Pitch of the

the slabs

..

194

216 427

252 5o6

274 55o

292 -

305

Alternating

series of the 194'75 213 male type18.. 389'5 426

IX

XI

XIII
233 466

461 461'5

307

XV
510

255

XVII

X Added 288 pilog-tone 576

279'5 559

XIX

305'5

611

The nexttwoexamples verynearly approach pdlog-scales, derived from seriesof blown fifths :"alternating" MARIMBA from theWest Coast of Central Africa and Albert Cat. (Victoria Museum, No. Io8o-68).
Pitch of the the slabs .. 202 392-5 222 446 242-5 494 266 548 298 596 324 652
162

358 724

183

Seriesofblown II fifths O-VI

IV

VI 48o'5

I 541

III

400o5 439

200o25 219'5

240o25 270o5

592-5 648'5 732

296-25 324'25 366

V O x62z25 183

18 The calculatedfrom degrees of the circle of blown fifths, are numbered withRomanciphers. 0=366 vibr.upwards,

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Cultural between Indonesia andAfrica 67 Relationship oftheBakuba; village Lusambo MARJMBA Southern between regions, Congo, (Belgian the Kasai and the Sangkurti) (Congo MuseumCat. No. 2251 bis).
Pitch of the 235 the slabs fifths XI-XIX
-

Seriesofblown XIII XV XVII XIX XII

233 466 255

5o8

28
-

304
-

378
383 74o

279'5 305'5 315'5 345 6II 631 690 510o 559

XIV XVI XVIII XI

826

426

378 414 426 756 828 852

in thefollowing are African marimba-scales tables, Finally, withBalinese and Javanese and and sldndro, compared pilog withthe corresponding theoretical from the scales derived circle fifths. The instruments ofblown tothese tuned Balinese, and African scalescouldwithout Javanese anyinconvenience be interchanged in theensembles to which their they belong, scalesbeingpractically identical.
slundingfrom Kingetan, S.

Gamelan

P~log.
189 378 204 408 449
224-5

Bakwese, S.W. Belgian Congo (Congo MuseumNo. I5862)

Bali ofthe Marimba

(141)
282 564

(151'5)
303 606

189 368

205 411

227 456

252

510o

276 572

14o05

I52-5 302 634

171'5 338 692 172 332 688

Bakubu, S. Belgian Congo (Congo Musfifths XIV-XX

Marimba ofthe
x85 5 376 205"5 412 228 458 248 516

eumNo.15861) Seriesofblown XVI

189 378

x4x15 151 281 309 620o 568

XVIII XX
207 414 226 452

XV
255 510

XVII

x39'75 152'75 172"5 279'5 305'5 345 61I 559 690

XIX

XIV

Sldndro.
of Tjiandjur, West Java
N.W. Belgian Congo (Congo Museum No. 34512) Gamelan of the Regent 258-5 517 258 522 259 518

596
293 590

289

339

678

384'5

769

442

884
438 886

Marimba oftheNgbandi,

340 680

387 776 389-5 779

Series of tones derived XXII/I

fromthe circle of blown fifths (real slindro)

III
296"25 592"5

V/VII
339 678

IX

XI/XIII
446 892

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68

CulturalRelationship Indonesia and Africa between

(305'5) 6xx
I,222

Genddr wayang from Pliatan, South Bali

350 700 349

397 794 399

459 918 460

1,o44

522 525

(Congo Mus. No. 34566)

N.W. Belgian Congo

Marimba of the Togbo,

Series of tones derived thecircleof blown from

fifths (real slgndro)

6o8 604 XIX XXI/O

1,222

303

305'5 61x

350 700

400*5 8oi

806 II

I,o76 IV/VI VIII

920 459
918 1,054

527

is practically The number of possiblescale-types unlimited, therefore to ascribethe conformity it would not be reasonable the established above to mere chance. On the contrary, must without any doubt be origin of the marimba-scales soughtin EasternAsia; fromthenceJava and Bali, as well to which Africaowes her marimbas, as the civilisation must have receivedtheirmusical scales. Moreover,Java,besides of the Africa,19 being the only region where instruments occur, one feels compelledto concludethatit is genddr-type influence thatCentralAfrica--either to old Javanesecultural its marimbas of this highly directly, or indirectly--owes specialisedtype. and pitch are by no It may be added thatscale structure commonto Indonesianand African means the only features withonly one gend&s. For example,the type of xylophone whichoccurs in bothregions20; slab and a spherical resonator withforked shownin the also the practiceof beating mallets, one case on the Panataranreliefsa and some Madjapahit and being still used in the modern terra cotta statuettes,= Balinese gambang-ensembles,2 and in the other case in the North-Eastpart of Belgian Congo among the Azand04 and Transvaal."2 Finallythereis amongthe Vendas in Northern on some Balinese"e the remarkable waythe slabs are arranged and some Congolese" xylophones, viz., in a series fromlow notewhichcomes at thebeginning to high,exceptthe highest beforethe lowest.
19 Disregarding Central America; see note 13. 20 Kunst, De Toonkunst van Bali, Vol. I, p. 127, 235 (reprod. 39) and van Java, Vol. I, p. 129-130. 236 (reprod. 40), and id. De Toonkunst 21Id. De Toonkunst van Java, Vol. I, p. 74-5 ; II, p. 341 (reprod. 47). 22 Id. ibid. Vol. II, p. 342 (reprod. 48). 23 Id. De Toonkunst van Bali, Vol. I, p. 237 (reprod. 42). 2 Junker,Reisen in Africa (1899), Vol. III, p. 15. 25 Kirby, The Musical Instruments of the Native Races of South Table i6B. Africa (1934), 26 Kunst, De Toonkunst van Bali, Vol. I, p. 75 and 136. 27 E.g., Congo Museum No. 24897 (Azandi).

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To conclude, let me refer to the latest historyof the marimba. Having crossed the Atlanticwith the slave-trade, of CentralAmerica, it became the most popular instrument more particularly of Guatemala."* Here it was discovered been done, by theYankees,and tuned,if thishad notalready in Europeanfashion; the calabashes were replaced by brass the woodenslabs by aluminium resonators, plates. A dampera device propedal and, by means of a small electro-motor, effects were added. Thus modernised and ducingvox humana styled "Vibra-Harp, the improvedMarimba," the ancient tookthe musichalls oftheWesterncontinent bystorm. gender Such a vibra-harp, scale, has of again tuned to a Javanese late been orderedin Chicago by the Solonese prince H.H. in his oldestand most MangkuNagara VII, and incorporated the Kjahi Kanjut M~sem (which beautiful in English gamelan, means Sir Seducer to smiles.) Thus the genddr, aftermany has completed,in some thousandsof years,its vicissitudes, journeyroundthe world. DISCUSSION THE CI~IRMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, beforeI ask you to vote of thanksto Dr. Kunst,I wantto ask you pass a hearty to join in a discussion on the interesting and entertaining paper we have just heard. Mr. Fox STRANGWAYS:I should like to hear the gramophone records several times; I thoughtthey were very beautiful. The second one in particular was a lovelything. said it was likeStravinsky.I thought it was a good Somebody deal better. What was von Hornbostel's authorityfor saying that ? I ask because Mr. D. J. stoppedpipes produceda flatfifth as to thebehaviour withwhomI consulted ofstopped Blaikley, pipes whenthe thirdpartialis blown on them,said thatwas not the case. As the whole theoryturnson the fact that thesefifths it seems vitalto establishit first. If these are flat, fifths scale wouldresult, provedto be in tunethe Pythagorean as Dr. Kunst explained. But theyare flat,and the fourths therefore are sharp. Two series of these sharp fourths are takenand dovetailed witheach other,and eventually produce these Javanesescales, which consist of quite non-European intervals.
28 These Guatemala instruments are also playedby meansof forked mallets: see Sachs, Geist und Werdender Musikinstrumente (1929), p. 128-9.
7 Vol. 62

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Surelythereare anyamountof sldndro scales; theyare not onlyof one kind ? And the pilog ? They are all in modes, are theynot? Dr. KUNST: Up to now I have found 142 pilog- and 11o but I thinktheyare not all in practicaluse. sldndro-scales, I can only say that ProfessorHornbosteltold me he had made theexperiment, and thathe foundthatthosefifths were not always by the same amount, but in that always too flat, regionof the tonal spectrum theyare on an averagetwentyfourcentstoo flat." Mr. Fox STRANGWAYS:Did Professor Hornbostel say that this only applied to pipes of nine inches long? Dr. KutNST: No; but 230+3 (about nine inches) rmm. is the length of the pipe on which the fundamental tone was produced. Mr. Fox STRANGWAYS:Hornbosteltold you he had taken an averagefrom the scales thathe had made out, but did not at thetwenty-four cents from difference say he arrived blowing pipes? That is the point. Dr. KUNST: So faras I know he did makethe experiment himself. Miss SCHLESINGER: There are three important points to be examined in connection with Professor Hornbostel's theory. First of all: since he goes back for a basis in his researchto the Ancient Chinese standardpipe (the lu) and findsin thisthe normor pointof departure of mostprimitive of the pitch of that pipe needs revision. scales, his estimate The lengthof the standardpipe, as given by the ancient is the Chinese footof 230 mm.,to which Chinese authorities has assigneda pitchof 366 v.p.s. That estimate Hornbostel is absolutely a questionof a few impossible. It is not merely thatis at stake,but a misconception vibrations of theformula and of an important principle. The length to 366 v.p.s.=232 mm.(not 230) corresponding is not the measurement of the pipe; it is the wave-length The wave-length productive of the vibration-frequency. consistsof the actuallength of a pipe withthe addition of the diameter of the bore. It is obviousthata pipe 230 mm. long, with a pitch of 366 v.p.s., which has a wave-length of 232 of 2 mm. which,of course, mm., could onlyhave a diameter is an impossibleproposition.
29 Cf. also: Hornbostel, Musikalische & Scheel, Tonsysteme (in Geiger Vol. VIII, p. 425,ff),?6. Handbuch der Physik,

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between Indonesia and Africa 7I Cultural Relationship

intoaccount. Thus Hornbostelhas not takenthe diameter betweenthe a pardonablefailureto recognisethe difference of the sound-wave and the the of prolength pipe length freductive of pitch, may in this pipe reduce the vibration in octave the two-foot which 6 least at or v.p.s.; 5 quencyby is a considerable largeenoughto leave the door open margin, also to invalidate and foran alternative anyconclusions system note of 366 v.p.s. based upon a fundamental The second pointin Hornbostel's theory, upon whichboth he and Dr. Kunst are awarethatI am in totaldisagreement, The crux here is is the theoryof the cycle of blown-fifths. the assumption that a stopped-pipe inevitablyoverblows flattenedharmonics. This is a fallacy. When the fifth the faultlies whichshould be overblown is flattened, perfect with the piper and the stopped-pipemust not be leftunder the unjust slur of blowing false fifths. For, in all pipes harmonicsare producedby an aliquot divisionof the wavewhich includes the lengthening lengthof the fundamental, due to the diameter of the pipe. Harmonicsare constituents of the fundamental; therefore,whatever the vibrationit bears withinitselfthe conof the fundamental, frequency all in perfect stituentharmonicsproper to its wave-length, tune. on this point, I summoneda Wishing for a confirmation and blew a skilledtunerfromone of the big piano factories from the of on one of note pipes my Agariche long-drawn Bolivia-a set of the alternative by Hornpanpipesmentioned Incasic modal scale. bostel-which is tuned to a traditional Mr. A. said: " That fifth is dead As I overblewthe fifth, flat and he at true! " Then I purposelyoverblewslightly once denounced the harmonicas false. This test was first made a year ago and repeatedrecently with the same confirmation of the harmonic. of the purity What happens when the fifth is blown flatis that,in the the breathand tightening the lips for process of compressing one may slightly tilt the pipe, with the result overblowing, that the breath-stream (which should be directedupon the sharp edge across the end of the pipe) impinges instead the obliquely and a littleinside the tube, thus lengthening a falsefifth--or and creating rathera pure fifth diameter but on a lowerfundamental. This can be proved by dropping from theflat on thesamebreath, fifth tothefundaalternately, mentaland back again. It will be foundthatthisfundamental can be heard as a has also become flattened.The pure fifth in sounding the fundamental, like a tiny constituent harmonic far-off bell, even beforeblowingthe so-called flatfifth.

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It cannotbe too strongly stressedthatHornbostelhimself called thistheory his hypothesis and in theoffprint he sentme of his littletreatiseon "Musical Systems" (Tonsysteme) in which the theory is first described,I foundthis statement: " To myknowledge ofblown-fifths thistheory has notyetbeen worked out experimentally or theoretically." o The laws and formulae of diameterare not concernedwith the influence known and Hornbostelhas not examined or yet generally in working out thebasis of his theories. appliedtheseformulae work. This is a pityin view of his invaluable to get to the origin My thirdpointconcernsthe endeavour of theJavanese and otherexoticscales from the marimbas (or variousxylo-and metallophones). whichhave a unique tale to tell? Why notgo to the flutes In the fluteswe have the only instruments that preservean record and impersonal ofthescales theyembody. imperishable of the fromaccuratemeasurements These may be recovered This record fluteand fromthe positionof the finger-holes. of the player. is absolutely of the idiosyncrasies independent and I possess two Javaneseflutes of skilledworkmanship to learn and it maybe a surprise mostaccurate measurements, that these side-blown flutesembody,in both theoryand practice, the modal Dorian scale of Ancient Greece! I sent foundthe same scale upon fiveout of six Balinese flutes, to me from Batavia by Mr. Soekawatito aid me in my researches; he statesthattheyare such as are in actual use in the native in the islandof Bali. The (orchestras) gamelans mode. This Dorian modal sixthflute is boredforthePhrygian on theElginpipe at theBritish scale3' is thesameas thatfound versus on culturalrelationship Museum. As a commentary of the coman examination spontaneous genesis or rebirth, parativeTables of Javaneseand Siamese scales publishedin 1922 by Ellis, Land, Stumpfand Hornbostel,giving the in cents, of notes or the intervals again vibration-frequencies indicatesthe flute modes and more especially the ancient and pdlog. as origin of both sldndro Greek Hypophrygian
30 This passage has not thatmeaning. Von Hornbostel foundout intended were flatand therefore thatthesetwelfths by by experiment had this phenomenon as faras he knew, thisnoteto convey onlythat, The it had not even been observed. not a scientific explanation, but the factitselfwas for had not yet been studied, Gesetzmaissigkeit him beyonddispute. Kubuon one ofHornbostel's 31 The Dorianmodalscaleis also found Ms. Wiss. i, 1922),pp. 362 and flutes (No. 3295,SBd. f. vergleichende Sicily,an Inca flutefromPeru, a 364; also on a peasantflutefrom N.W. India and others. and on one from flute Carpathian

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to find coincidencein this connection It is indeed a striking that out of eight flutesused by the Nilotic Acholi tribe of of Dr. Tucker, Southern Soudan,whichI owe to the kindness withonlyfourfinger-holes, six oftheseflutes, givetheskeleton mode. It is not (i.e., simplestform)of the Hypophrygian butalmostidentical; of the Javanese sldndro, only reminiscent a kindred it certainly origin. I do notknowwhether suggests are still accepted. This fact the resultsof these authorities does not, however,imply culturalrelationship; the modes the same all are rebornon the reed-blown pipes and flutes, the worldover and in all ages. I could give Dr. Kunst para book on the subject. ticularsof thesescales,as I am writing Dr. KUNST: I hope you will send it to me when you have it. finished for the Miss. SCHLESINGER : I did not preparethese remarks purposeof opposingHornbostel'stheory: the last chapterof on some ofthefacts mybook bearson this subjectand a little you have given us. whichyou Those recordsand tables ofvibration-frequency have put beforeus definitely pointto the sequencesof modal intervalsfoundon flutes. Some of the comparative figures fromeach otherby as much as fouror five you give differ vibrationsin the four-and two-foot octaves,which is quite of the flutes. modal system thealternative to indicate sufficient instruments thatpreservean These are the onlytrustworthy and scales, but the measurements indeliblerecordof intervals must be exact and complete. Hornbostelhas not given all the necessarymeasurements for the Kubu flutes. He has omittedthe diameterof the the length" from and he did not specify whether finger-holes the top " meantfromthe actual end of the flute, or from the of thesquare cavity labial (or better stillfrom thecentre above which the breathpasses. It is fromthis centre it) through whichdetermines the pitchof the thatthe length is measured notes. Dr. KUNST of the pipes and he : He speaks of the diameter about averagediameter. says something of the flute, Miss SCHLESINGER: Yes, he gives the diameter but notof the finger-holes. of blown fifths. Dr. KUNST: We arediscussingthe theory the measurement of long flutes Therefore, surely, questioning based histheory is not quite to the point. Hornbostel onlyon of panpipes,which neverhave finger-holes the measurement and whose pitch is much more constantthan that of long fluteswith holes.

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of the Kubu-flutes with Miss SCHLESINGER: I am speaking fouror fivefinger-holes. Dr. KUNST : I do notthink he speaksof thetheory of blown in connection fifths with Kubu-flutes. Not all the flutesof the whole world are connectedwith the circle of blown we have to fifths. In this question,as I alreadymentioned, deal with panpipes only; and later on with metallophones also. Miss SCHLESINGER: No. You are quite right,the Kubu were publishedin 1922, some years beforethe investigations of of blownfifths.But, in any case, it appearance the theory maker would be impossible fora primitive, or any otherflute on the flute. to embodythe scale derivedfromblownfifths Canon GALPIN: It has been a greatpleasureto me to have metDr. Kunst,forhe has so kindly assistedme in timespast. back than I live in a regionfurther At the presentmoment calculationsas we have been hearing. The such scientific I consider verticalflute,with threeequidistant finger-holes, of theAsiaticseven-note was the origin scale,and the Chinese took theirnationalscale fromit. Their Prince,Tsai-yu, in the sixteenth found in an antiquary'scollectiona century, flute in bronze,whichhe said he was veryancientthree-hole quite sure dated fromthe second milleniumbeforeChrist. of every He gives us the size of the bore and measurements of the scale. detail; also how it was blownand the fingering tonesand also It was playedin the octaveof the fundamental fifths. So a with perfect in the second series of harmonics was obtained, fourth diatonicscale witha tritone seven-note Asiaticscale,I believe,overa longperiod Central theprincipal of time. I cannot but think that all these intense mathematical calculationscame in at a much later date. They were the as in later Greek music; I should like productof scientists to feel thatthe veryearlyGreek music was perfectly simple and enharmonic and plain, for we know that the chromatic forms appearedat a timemuchnearerour own era. The CHAIRMAN:About what date would that simple Asiatic scale be ? Canon GALPIN: Betweenfourand fivethousandyearsago ? at least. Is the sldndro-scale purelypentatonic
Dr. KUNST: Yes.

Canon GALPIN: Are thereseveralformsof it ? Dr. KUNST: Several modes.

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Canon GALPIN: And the pilog-scaleis heptatonic. Land, in his analysis of Javanesemusic gives the slindro-scale as as D, Eb, F, G, Ao, D, E, G, A, B, (D), and the pdlog-scale is onlytheorthodox thispdlog-scale Chinese BI, C, (D). Surely fourth scale, fromEb withthe tritone (A?), wedged into the which is the more ancientone in Java? earliersldndro-scale, The Chinese scale gives the upper D and, in order to make D to D scale, theyadded the lower D. it fittheirpentatonic Dr. KUNST: We cannotspeak of a real Javaneseheptatonic scale. Except in some rare cases it is a conglomeration ofat least threepentatonic scales together. In this one theylink threeregisters, forlow voice, middlevoice and high voice. knownnow, I think,that Canon GALPIN: It is generally the original Chinese scale was heptatonic,not pentatonic. The latterwas the scale they foundwhen they came from WesternAsia to the easterncoasts. Tsai-yu said that those who assertedthat the originalChinese scale was pentatonic were quite wrongand, if theystudiedmore,theywould not have made such a mistake. This seven-note scale was in use in Mesopotamiaand on the long flutesof Egypt. scale. I have tried : It is theHypolydian Miss SCHLESINGER it and it gives the proper Greek scale with the tritone; by fourth is obtained. note a perfect the tritone half-stopping Canon GALPIN: As forthe blown fifth (12th) on a closed tube, the clarinetis on the same principle. I am a clarinet thatI have all mylifebeen to think playerand I am horrified when I used the upper register! playingwith flatfifths scale Dr. KUNST: I thinkthe heptatonic(conglomerate) in Java is older than the pentatonic. Canon GALPIN: Land puts it just the other way. He assertsthat the ancientone was the pentatonic. Mr. LLOYD POWELL: Is the Javanese music entirely to generatraditional ? Is it handed down fromgeneration tion? Dr. KUNST : Mostly. about it ? Mr. LLOYD POWELL: Is thereany improvisation Dr. KUNST: Partly. There are strictlaws, but yet some and also instruments instruments) (to wit, the paraphrasing rebab,sulingand voice, enjoy a certainfreedom. Mr. LLOYDPOWELL: Are theseinstruments playedentirely ? frommemory

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Dr. KUNST: Usually they are played by heart,but fifty collection in native yearsago the Jogjanesemade a beautiful verticalstaff notation.32 Mr. MICHAEL HOLLAND: The music we have heard on recordsto-dayand CentralAfricanmusic,withwhich I am sound to me verymuchalike. That is a reason, veryfamiliar, a somewhat roughand readyone perhaps,in supportof your of culturalrelationship. theory The CHAIRMAN: I have here an instrument which Mr. Holland has kindlylent me for your inspection, which is called a kinandain Swahili, and whichCanon Galpin tells me is also called a slusa. It comes fromCentralAfrica. When at the beginningof your lecture,Dr. Kunst, you mentioned Mr. Ellis, I feel you should also have included the name of Mr. A. J. Hipkins. He was one of the pioneers in this branchof research. It is interesting to realisethatin the case of the marimbaand kindredinstruments we are of the present-day simply dealingwiththe earliestforefathers in them. pianoforte.That was Mr. Hipkin's interest Dr. Kunst,on behalfof all present I thank youmostwarmly for this lecture,and, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will show yourappreciation vote of thanks. by a hearty The vote of thankswas carriedby acclamation.

3 Examplesof this Javanesenotationmay be found in Kunst, De Toonkunst vanJava,Vol. II, p. 389 ff.

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