‘Toleat’, Gentle Tunes in the Land of Sunda

Kompas/Dwi Bayu Radius

Participants in the Cinyurup 2017 Toleat Festival play the toleat in Juhut village, Karangtanjung district, Pandeglang regency, Banten, Sunday (1/10). The traditional wind instrument is commonly played by farmers and shepherds.

The toleat, an ancient Sundanese wind instrument, produces not only melodic sounds. Far more than that, it also reinforces kinship among people. The musical instrument, often called a bamboo saxophone, symbolizes the unique modesty of the Realm of Parahyangan.

As big cities are overwhelmed by the din of factories and motor vehicles, the hamlet of Cinyurup in Juhut village, Karangtanjung district, Pandeglang regency, Banten, was soothed by the melodic sounds of a toleat on Sunday (1/10/2017). That day, more than a dozen residents participated in a competition at the 2017 Cinyurup Toleat Festival.

Satoni, 60, punched the air, and his face was all smiles as he was announced the festival’s champion.

“My motivation for participating in this competition was to preserve the [tradition of the] toleat. When I was younger, I used to play the toleat while riding buffaloes. It was nice,” he said, laughing. He said he had learned to play the toleat on his own since he was 15 years old.

Around 500 people attending the festival were having no less fun than Satoni. They witnessed some great performances by toleat masters.

Not far from the crowd, Mas’un, 37, was seen shaving a bamboo stem with a blade. The Cinyurup resident was making a new toleat. Mas’un’s father and grandfather had also built and played the instrument. Mas’un shared his story of toleatmusic, which has been close to his family for generations.

“The toleat is known to have existed since at least the 18^th century. This is what my forebears told me,” Mas’un said. The toleat is believed to have existed since the time of the Kingdom of Sunda. This is indicated by the proliferation of the musical instrument in various regions of West Java.

The toleat is a traditional single-reed aerophone with its tips enclosed with wood. Its main material is the Schizostachym blumei bamboo. Compared to the high-pitched suling (flute), the toleat sounds softer and creates an aura of serenity for everyone around. Its sounds are also very harmonious.

Apart from Cinyurup, the toleat is found in the West Java regency of Subang, which some believe is where it originated.

A key difference, however, is that the Subang toleat has eight holes, while its Cinyurup counterpart has only five. In villages, the musical instrument is popular among farmers and cattle herders. The toleat is also commonly used at religious events.

“There were only a few musical instruments. The toleat and bedug [drum] were often played to accompany shalawat [religious devotional songs],” Mas’un said.

Social adhesive

Toleat artists in Cinyurup hold the musical instrument in equally high regard as the five pillars of Islam. The religiosity that unites the people is a representation of toleat’s power as a social adhesive.

The toleat is commonly played by locals in their mid-day break when working on their farms. Its sound reverberates far and away.

Often, others who hear a toleat being played will respond with their own toleat. The toleat will then be played to one another between farms, huts and villages. “The toleat tunes respond to one another. This makes you feel that you have many brothers. The toleat reinforces social bonds, it always has done,” Mas’un said.

Apart from bringing people closer together, the toleat is also called the unifier of souls. In Cinyurup, one’s toleat skills can be used to attract people from the opposite sex. Mas’un said that a Cinyurup local named Sarwan was highly skilled in playing the toleat despite having a cleft lip. Sarwan eventually married the most beautiful girl of Cinyurup.

Nowadays, locals pledge to preserve the harmonic sound of toleat. The high interest among local youths in learning to play the toleat has encouraged locals to hold the annual Cinyurup Toleat Festival.

“I used to be worried that only grandparents will be able to play the toleat. I was afraid that there would be no future generations. However, as it turns out, children and teenagers have a high interest in learning the instrument,” Mas’un said.

The toleat has now transcended the boundaries of small villages. In Bogor, toleat tunescan be heard at malls and in public spaces.

Bogor Kreatif art gallery owner Nurdin, 40, said the melodious sound of the toleat was welcomed by visitors of a mall in Bogor in mid-August. Nurdin had brought in a toleat musician from Cinyurup to perform at the mall.

“The crowd stretched all the way to the parking lot. Everyone wanted to watch the toleat performance. They asked me how the small toleat could produce such a loud sound,” he said.

In Nurdin’s eyes, apart from serving as a simple source of entertainment for farmers and fieldworkers, the toleat is a medium to preserve togetherness. Such values must be promoted amid the phenomenon of people segregating themselves in recent times.

Inherited

Galuh Pakuan Palace Customary Law Institution founder Wawan Renggo said interest in the Subang toleat among the youth had been increasing in recent years. Efforts to popularize the musical instrument include a performance of 1,250 toleat players on the local town square in 2015.

Previously, a toleat promotional event was held at the Appreciation Night for Toleat Maestro Mang Parman in 2014. Mang Parman is the affectionate name for Maman Suparman.

“One could say that Mang Parman is the one who popularized the Subang toleat,” said Renggo, who served as Subang Art Council head from 2004 to 2008.

Various sources say that the toleat derived from children’s toys while people were herding cattle. The toys are named in line with the sounds it makes, including “empet-empetan” and “ole-olean.”

During the harvest season, children usually make “empet-empetan” from rice stalks left over from the harvest. Once the rice season is over, there are no rice stalks available, and the children make another musical instrument, namely the ole-olean from papaya midrib.

Thanks to continuous promotion by local artists, the toleat is now played together with other traditional instruments, including the gembyung, celempung and kecapi suling. The toleat is also combined with more modern instruments at musical events. “The toleat has a unique sound, almost like a saxophone,” Renggo said.

Despite its popularity among the youth, Renggo said many young people were still having difficulties playing the instrument. “You need tremendous lung power to play the toleat properly,” he said.

From its humble beginnings as a children’s plaything, the toleat has transcended time. It is a piece of cultural heritage worthy to be preserved, both as an artefact and a symbol of cultural values.