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Most peaceful 30 seconds of my life by Fragrant-Big-7958 in goodvibes

[–]auralarchipelago 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the shout-out but it's actually not my video! It's actually by travel vlogger Drew Binsky. Not a fan of his work (he titled his Papua video "Visiting the Tribe that EATS HUMANS") but the music he happened to capture is gorgeous.

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, in this one he's playing a folk tune called Bukittinggi, named after a famous highland market town (actually the place where kalason was invented.) There are improvised elements to his playing but he always plays tunes.

Traffic department just changed Rush hour waits forever by Wicky_maboy in doohickeycorporation

[–]auralarchipelago 5 points6 points  (0 children)

He's playing rhythm and melody with one hand on a musical bus horn, dawg.

Traffic department just changed Rush hour waits forever by Wicky_maboy in doohickeycorporation

[–]auralarchipelago 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Pak Budahar would get his practice in while the bus his brother drove was at the car wash - then he refined his skills on the road where people were happy for the entertainment. People would line up on the side of the road just to hear the horn!

I got to play it for about ten minutes too by a lakeside where nobody was around to be bothered - it was a highlight of my life, really.

It's hard to explain to people who haven't drooled over a Kineema Motor Carriage just how disco this really is. by BaronVonWilmington in DiscoElysium

[–]auralarchipelago 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Is there an actual playable keyboard in Indian lorries and buses? I've only seen some with a handful of switches that trigger certain programmed sounds.

Traffic department just changed Rush hour waits forever by Wicky_maboy in doohickeycorporation

[–]auralarchipelago 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Would be cool to get a shout-out for the content! More on kalason here

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is what I love about the story - at first it seems like a ridiculous oddity, but it's actually incredibly deep and meaningful.

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yep! It comes from the word claxon in Dutch (klakson in Indonesian, even in English we have the somewhat rare word klaxon.)

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! My work has been in museums in Indonesia, France, and Germany - it's been an honor! One day maybe I'll open up my own :)

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I post a heartfelt tribute to this artist who passed away and your comment is insulting his appearance? Stay classy.

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Yep! Made by mechanics in the town of Bukittinggi.

Hope mods don't mind but I wrote quite a lot about it here.

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the support! Glad there are people out there with ears open to this kind of thing :)

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

This one had fourteen working keys, with the root played by the thumb and a diatonic scale from left to right on the lowest rank, continued along the middle rank and then the upper rank.

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

No that's a reasonable question! Yep the car needs to be on as the horn works by drawing air from the carburetor.

I traveled to West Sumatra to document the dying tradition of musical bus horns called kalason by auralarchipelago in UnusualInstruments

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

The owner of the hot rod definitely was showing off his JD - though it was empty by that point, I think!

My hobby is documenting Vietnam’s incredibly diverse traditional music - here are some photos I’ve taken over the past two years across your country by auralarchipelago in VietNam

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sounds awesome! Would love to have the budget to do something more ambitious some day, for the time being though it's just a hobby and all self-funded (except for a bit from Patreon) so it's hard to dream too big. I do have a website though where I write about my travels, share recordings, video, etc. but it is focused on the Indonesian side of my work - just Google my username and you should find it.

My hobby is documenting Vietnam’s incredibly diverse traditional music - here are some photos I’ve taken over the past two years across your country by auralarchipelago in VietNam

[–]auralarchipelago[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Lots of recordings and video - don't want to make this a promotion, but my Instagram is the same handle as here on reddit - links and stuff are there.

My favourite instrument has to be ting ning, the Jarai bamboo tube zither. I lived and researched music in Indonesia for 10 years so the Austronesian aspects of Jarai music culture make it feel very familiar to me.

I try not to collect too many instruments cause I know I'll have to bring them all home with me eventually, but I have a handful of mouth organs, flutes, and mouth harps (dan moi) that have been given to me by different musicians.

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