THUNDERING rhythms hammered out in keen precision from Chinese drums. Complex movements and seemingly bombastic manoeuvres choreographed to elicit a dancer’s grace to accompany the powerful beats.
A melding of cultures old and new, as well as East and West with a continuous awareness to never forget its local Malaysian-flavoured roots — this is what Hands Percussion has come to be known by those who have witnessed its many entertaining music theatre performances.
Carrying the tradition of featuring the versatility of the Chinese Lion Dance shigu drums, the percussion ensemble, headed by its artistic director Bernard Goh, has come a long way since it first began its tuneful quest over two decades ago.
EMBRACING CHANGE
The theatrical percussion artiste says that nothing remains the same as the group traverses various challenges in an ongoing path towards maturity and progression, as well as a need to push boundaries.
In its long string of varied performances, which include numerous international shows to showcase the group’s unique musical flavour, Hands Percussion has incorporated many different percussive instruments from the djembe to the marimba, timpani and even a full drum kit.
It has also collaborated with local arts practitioners including Geng Wak Long and the Temple of Fine Arts, not to mention many other international musicians.
But the group has also gone from beating mainly on skins to slowly graduating to include battering melodies out from metallophones in the form of the traditional Malay Gamelan.
METAL MUSIC
When met in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, recently, Goh, 47, says that it was natural for Hands Percussion to incorporate more elements and aesthetics drawn from Malaysia’s diverse cultures and ethnicities.
“In our journey we needed to explore more organic avenues and the gamelan was a natural step forward as it gave us a beautiful sound palette to create enchanting melodies,” he says.
The group’s foray into gamelan has been a slow and steady learning process with a few major shows that showcased its creativity. Ri Yue Chu Yin in 2011 celebrated the unity of armour and skin while 2014’s production of Tchaikovsky On Gamelan portrayed the romanticism of the famous Russian classical music composer’s repertoire such as Swan Lake and Nutcracker on the bronze instruments.
Hands Percussion aims to delve into the spirit of gamelan in its latest show, Taksu, which runs from today to Sunday at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPaC).
The title derives meaning from the Balinese concept of life within the arts that captures the eyes, minds and hearts of the audience, both human and divine.
“We continue to learn and utilise what we know to create more meaningful and unique performances as we delve into the spirit of gamelan,” says Goh.
The gamelan theatre performance is described as an effort to honour and reinvent Malaysian traditional music and art.
Here, the production focuses on the concept of the shigu being in conversation with the Malay and Balinese gamelan with both feeding off each other’s responses and having the ability to understand one another.
BUILDING BRIDGES
Goh adds that Taksu is also a tribute to the late Datuk Krishen Jit, the celebrated Malaysian academician, historian, theatre activist and writer.
His production of Monkey Business back in 2005 under the 5 Arts Centre introduced Goh to gamelan theatre and inspired him to take a risk with Chaos In Unison in 2007, where for the first time the Hands performers told stories and revealed their emotions in the performance.
The Hands Gamelan Group was formed in 2007 when a custom-made gamelan set was acquired from a gamelan manufacturing specialist based in the city of Solo on the Indonesian island of Java.
Consisting of gongs, bonang Baron, bonang Penerus, Saron baron, Saron Demung and the Gambang, the gamelan set made its debut at Hands’ 10th anniversary concert, 10: Entwined Calling.
“We had rented or borrowed gamelan sets from The Actors Studio to Rhythm & Bronze, basically wherever we could before we had our own,” says Goh of his group’s dedication to learn and practise on the traditional instrument.
“For Taksu we are working with Balinese musician I Wayan Sudirana who is the show’s co-composer and music director. I met him at the Bali Spirit Festival about four years ago and the chemistry was just right. We were able to communicate well with each other and he has been very gracious to teach us and share his knowledge on gamelan,” he says.
The Ubud-born Sudi, as he is known, is one of Bali’s most well-known composers, teaching and performing across Bali and internationally.
He is also one of the most successful professors at the Indonesia Institute of the Arts in Denpasar, who studied at the University of British Columbia (UBC) where he received his MA and PHD in Ethnomusicology.
Commissioned by the Canadian government to compose a piece combining Balinese gamelan, Taiko Japan and Bagpipes to be performed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, Sudi has also collaborated with worldwide companies, such as Jack Morton Production New York for the Hundred Percent Club (HPC) of IBM in May 2017 and May 2018, Five Current Company for the opening ceremony of the Asian Games held in Jakarta in August last year.
Other collaborations with many famous composers over the years including Michael Tenzer (2003- 2013), Andrew Clay McGraw (2006-2010), Peter Michael Steele and Joshep Sandino (2007).
He has just published a book about the future of Balinese sacred ensemble (2019), and also produced two CDs of his own on new works for gamelan with Gamelan Yuganada (2019).
Goh adds that the synergy between the Malay and Balinese gamelan is about finding the right balance and approaching it with the right intentions.
MILESTONE PRODUCTION
“This is not a jamming session where we just turn up and improvise or a fusion work. We had to figure out the core essence and learn how to translate it to our performances. We had to learn the story behind things and embrace them with respect.
“Sudi and I have been travelling back and forth between Malaysia and Indonesia for the past three years or so just to learn and share our ideas. This led to us composing material together which made it a natural process,” says Goh.
Channelling their ongoing passion with the ephemeral concept of Taksu, Goh adds that the production will evoke elegance and drama through Sudi’s artistically woven metallic sounds of the Malay and Balinese gamelan with the shigu’s wide varying range timbre sounds.
“Gamelan Yuganada from Bali, Indonesia, will be joining us onstage and this will be an interesting experience the Malay and Balinese gamelan are set to different pitches. It was a big challenge to streamline the music,” he says.
Hands music director Ng Siu Yee was given the task of creating a score for the two disparate gamelan traditions.
Aside from Ng, Hands senior percussionists Jimmy Ch’ng and Jack Wan also contributed songs for the 80-minute show.
Taksu, directed by local actor, director and writer Ghafir Akbar, will also feature the talents of traditional Malay arts practitioner Zamzuriah Zahari, Malay gendang specialist Mat Din Hussin, erhu player Lim Wei Siong and the La Voce Choir.
Goh says the production will have close to 50 performers involved and the production will focus “more on the ears rather than the eyes” so that audiences will experience and understand the subtle and powerful melodies and rhythms, as well as the feelings and emotions within the music itself.
“We’re finding a balance since our audiences have come to see us for our movements and stunts. But I also want to put emphasis on the music. We want to showcase our progression and growth.”
He adds: “At the end of the day, I think our musical passion stems from love and its something that can bring us together. Art can mould the nation with beauty and kindness. It’s something that we need more so today.”
HANDS PERCUSSION: TAKSU 2019
WHEN Tonight (8.30pm), tomorrow (3pm and 8.30pm) and Sunday (3pm)
WHERE Pentas 1, KLPaC, Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, Sentul, KL
ADMISSION RM88-RM238
Visit www.klpac.org or www.facebook.com/handspercussion for details.