Tari Tanggai played on harmonika

Audio 7.6: Audio Example 6 in Chapter 7 of book: Margaret Kartomi, ‘Musical Journeys in Sumatra’, Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012. “Tari Tanggai” is a South Sumatran dance that is performed specifically to welcome guests. In this example, the music for the “Tari Tanggai” is played by the female village head, Ibu Ida Menalis, on a chromatic button melodeon (“harmonika”) which has been played in Tanjungsakti since the early part of the 20th century. At that time, German Protestant missionaries converted some of the town’s residents to Christianity and introduced the accordion-like instrument with which to accompany hymns and local folk songs and dances. Made by the German firm Höhner, the “harmonika” has 4 knobs and 10 buttons. The excerpt here was recorded in January 1989 and consists of two phrases repeated over and over in the pattern A-A-B-B. Duration: 1 min. 14 sec. Copyright 1989. Margaret J. Kartomi.