Quest to revive a soulful tune of Borneo

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Saufi... saving a cultural beauty.

Saufi… saving a cultural beauty.

ALBERT Einstein confessed if he were not a physicist, he would probably be a musician because he often thought in music, lived his daydreams in music, and saw his life in terms of music.

Plato, the famous Greek philosopher, said music gave life to everything, flight to the imagination, wings to the mind, and above all, soul to the universe.

Indeed, there is a melodious sound from the Land of Hornbills that gives soul to the world of music. It is said the graceful, soft and gentle vibration from the twangs of the sape’ can tame an angry lion!

Well, it has certainly tamed and lured a young man of mixed Malay, Melanau and Chinese ancestry — a true Sarawakian race — to pick up the traditional string instrument and learn to play it from the depth of his heart.

He is 26-year-old Saufi Aiman Yahya, a sape’ instructor and managing director of a Gallery called Sape’star Enterprise.

He also considers himself a sape’activist.

He got into this line of work because he is a passionate musician, having obtained a diploma in music at University Institute Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam.

“In music, I found myself seduced by the classical guitar — that was what drew me into music. I’m quite a fast learner when it comes to music. When I pick up a musical instrument, I can be good at it pretty fast. So I feel the sape’ is the right sound for me.”

During his internship at UiTM, Saufi was attached to the Sarawak Cultural Village which turned out to a Godsend as he got to try out various traditional musical instruments from Sarawak.

Not contented with just playing music, he felt deep down he should do something more for music. Since he has a major in music, why not make the best of that qualification?

Yes why not? It did make a lot of sense, certainly enough to inspire him to embark on a musical career. What he thought he ought to do was incorporating traditional music into the academic field.

He didn’t want the traditional musical sounds to be mere noises but rather, produced and presented with finesse and class to make educated audiences stand up and take notice.

Expert tutelage

Saufi said it was at the Cultural Village that he got intimate with the sape’ which originated from the Kenyah and Kayan indigenous communities.

In 2010, he learned to play the instrument from Dungau Tegung, a chief of the Orang Ulu house inside Sarawak Cultural Village and an expert sape’ player.

Besides being personally coached by Dungau, Saufi also recorded and used the former’s tunes to practise on my own.

Later, after completing his internship, Saufi borrowed a sape’ from a friend and continued horning his skills.

He said whenever he played the sape’ in a foreign land, it always reminded him he is a Sarawakian in mind and soul, adding that he felt like he was promoting part of his own and his home town cultures.

According to Saufi, playing the sape’ is similar to playing the guitar but the guitar originated from western culture. So isn’t more meaningful for him to play the sape’ instead?

If he plays the sape’, he can still delve into the classical and traditional aspects of the music while at the same time, promote the culture of his own country.

Cultural beauty

In 2011, he plunged deeper into playing and promoting sape’ music. He felt as if he was one of the few individuals destined to save a ‘cultural beauty’ that looked headed towards extinction.

During those days, very few young people, even from the sape’-playing communities, seemed keen to learn how to play the traditional musical instrument as a hobby.

Saufi opined this could partly be due the younger generation being drawn away by all the ‘modern attractions’.

“So, when I went back for my final semester at UiTM, I was thinking how I could help popularise this instrument.

And, oh yes, not surprisingly, I quickly saw it as a golden opportunity to do my research on the sape’ for my final-year project — sort of killing two birds with one stone.”

He said his love for the sape’ gave him the impetus to proceed with the project. It was around 2011 and after just a month, he could already play many songs with the sape’.

In Shah Alam or Kuala Lumpur, one seldom hears any sape’ music although there are many Sarawakians over there.

There are also quite a number of events like the Borneo Hornbill Festivals or even Kumang Contests in Kuala Lumpur. But the only place where the sape’ may be seen is Istana Budaya in KL. Even then, there are only two sape players there.

Saufi said one of them is from Sarawak while the other, a non-Sarawakian, plays the sape’ like a guitar — which does not sound authentic.

“So I thought to myself no, this shouldn’t be it. When I saw he played like that, I felt an urge to teach society how to play the sape’ properly. Generally, I felt the need to enligthen people on how sape’ music should sound like.

“For my final U-project, I also did research on datun julut, the hornbill long-dance of the Kenyah. But I didn’t gather much information on it or its music — and nothing much about the sape’ either.

“Mostly, what you find on the Internet is repeated information. Some of the information about the sape’ is not even accurate. I found that out after interviewing some of the people who were supposed know, including sape’ masters.”

He said he shared whatever information he could get through research on his blog —melodyofborneo.blog.com. And in the process, he came to know that many people seemed to appreciate his works.

They expressed their liking for what he was sharing — which, in turn, made them interested in the culture of the sape.

He said even his mentor, Narawi Rashidi, a music arranger and composer at the Sarawak Cultural Village, commended his research in this area.

“I was only 21 at that time but I already knew a lot about the sape’,” he said, adding that it could be a reason people were impressed by his knowledge on the subject.

In the final recital concert for his diploma in Shah Alam, he  took to the stage to play the sape’ — and everyone was like ‘Wow’ because many had not seen such an instrument before, let alone heard a tune played with it.

Niche market

Saufi envisaged there might be a niche in the market for the sape’ from the many inquiries on his blog, asking where to buy a sape’ and learn to play it.

Five years ago, he could hardly have been able to give definite answers to their questions because at that time, he himself did not know of any reliable source to obtain the instrument from nor of anyone running sape classes.

Back then, his sape’-playing skills were quite ‘ordinary’ but even so, he already had a lot of invitations to perform in KL “as if I was already an expert.”

“But, of course, I still tried my best since I was representing the arts and cultures of my country,” he said.

In 2012, Saufi and his parents returned to Kuching after living in KL since 2005. As he had just finished his studies, he felt he should not waste any more time, so he went straight into  the music line and became a freelance musician.

Later, he managed to have an interview at Sarawak RTM ‘to expose sape’ music’. He talked to some musicians in Kuching on the possibility of incorporating elements of the traditional sape’ into modern music.

He thought only by doing this would he get the chance to revive the interests among young people in picking up the sape’.

He noted that most of the youths seemed to have the pre-conceived notion that the sape’ was only for old folks to play in the villages. And he wanted to change that mindset.

“I liked the idea of blending sape’ music with modern music — you know, playing this traditional musical instrument together with modern musical instruments. I discovered that a wonderful sound could be produced by adding bass to the sape’ sound.”

As if circumstances conspired to give him a lucky break, Saufi came up with a musical group, consisting a sape’ player (himself), a percussionist and a bassist. Then out of a suggestion which ‘sounds just right’, they named the group Sape’star — from a play of words signifying that the sape’ is the star of the show.

Sape’star often practised at the Seven Tribes Studio and when the owner, Shaun Russell, learned the group’s performance would be aired over the radio, he allowed them to rehearse at the Studio free of charge.

Noting that the locals were very supportive of the group’s  bid to popularise traditional music, Saufi decided to ride on that momentum on social media. So he started a Facebook page in 2012, showcasing his brand — Sape’star.

The Facebook page began to galvanise sape’ enthusiasts and researchers, enabling Saufi to connect with several sape’ makers and start a small business. He worked with sape’ craftsmen and sold the products through his Facebook.

“I got orders from both local and overseas buyers. To ensure top quality, I tested the products myself.”

Sape’ class

In 2012, he had already built up enough confidence to start a sape’ class.

“Naturally, my class also served to promote the sape’. This, in turn, gave my business an extra boost. As word got around, my sape’ class became known to many.”

There was always room for improvement. So by the end of that year, Saufi decided to enrol at Unimas for a degree in arts management. While at varsity, he formed a music club.

When Saufi was in his third year, a Unimas music lecturer, Connie Lim, talked to him about working with her on a book featuring the sape’. Narawi Rashidi from the Sarawak Cultural Village was also invited to be part of the project.

Connie knew Saufi was already a recognised sape’ player and an expert in the traditional music industry, recognised by the Department of Skills Development.

With his sape’ knowledge, their joint research and help from other sources, she believed they could come up with the book. The project took two years and the book was launched in March this year.

“I must say this book is the perfect read on the origin of the sape’ — how it is made and has evolved over time, coupled with its role in the community, and how it has continued making its mark internationally,” Saufi said.

The book lists out the sape’ makers and players who have made a name for themselves globally.

Sape’star Gallery

Saufi’s success so far is the result of a lot of help, encouragement and advice from his supporters.

He cited the example of his Sape’star Gallery on the ground floor of the Riverside Shopping Mall, made possible with the help of Sara Urusharta Sdn Bhd. Some of the sape’ there are for exhibition only.

Setting up the Gallery has earned Saufi and his brand the trust of more and more people. The Gallery also serves as a venue for people to either learn more about the sape’, purchase the instrument or even arrange for sape’ lessons.

Saufi conducts free sape’ lessons every Sunday at the Gallery. He hopes to see more youths attending.

He said although people liked comparing the sape’ to the guitar, both are actually quite different as the sape’ is a much simpler instrument with only one string that carries the melody while the accompanying strings play the rhythmic drones.

However, he pointed out that sape’ music is quite complex with much ornamentation and thematic variations, noting that the instrument itself had gone through a bit of transformation as well.

In the early days, it was an instrument with only two strings and three frets. Today, there are several models with some having three, four or even six strings and a range of three octaves.

To play the traditional sape’, all strings are plucked using the thumb and only one of the strings is used to play the melody. The rest function as drone strings.

The strings are fixed across the body, supported by a bridge which is movable, for tuning purposes. A typical sape’ has an elongated body which is hollowed out and functions as the resonator.

Saufi described sape’ music as having the ability to arouse emotions in both the players and the listeners. Each composition is supposed to have a meaning and a story behind it. Some renditions may have originated from dreams or just inspirations.

On how the sape’ had come about, he said there were many versions but they were hazy.

He discovered that different villages told different stories but the most common one is that the sape’ first came into existence as a spiritual object, used mainly for ceremonial rites as well as in rituals to cure a sickness.

One popular narrative originated from the Kenyah. It’s about a man whose wife had become so ill that she could not even get up. In desperation, the man went into the woods, looking for herbs to cure his sick wife.

After a long search, he became very tired and rested under an adau tree. He fell asleep and had a dream in which an ancestor appeared to him, asking why he was there and what made him so sad.

After the man explained his distress to the ancestor, the latter took out a wooden instrument and began to play — with some chantings.

The tune was so mellow and soothing that the man was moved to ask the anscestor what was that all about.

The ancestor told him it was a ‘medicine’ he could use to cure his wife. The instrument he was playing was called sape’ made from an adau tree. And if the man wanted his wife to recover, he should make a sape’ and play to his wife.

In the dream, the ancestor even taught the man how to make and play the instrument.

When he woke, the man wasted no time chopping down the adau tree he had slept under and made a sape’ out of the wood just as the old man had shown him in the dream.

The man then rushed home to his dying wife and the woman was eventually brought back to health after the man played the sape’ to her.

Saufi said that was why traditionally, the sape’ had to be made only from the adau tree. Its original shape was that of a very big chest with a long neck narrowing towards the end and with only two strings made of fine split rotan or plant root.

“Although the shape and the music of the sape’ have gone through some evolution through the years, the playing techniques remain the same.”

He added that his vision was to see the sape’ made available all over the world — just like the guitar.

“I hope my Sape’Star brand can be the pioneer of sape’ distribution and retail wordwide,” he enthused.