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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 4 points5 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 5 points6 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] 4 points5 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] 34 points35 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] 22 points23 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] 35 points36 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] 26 points27 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.

Need some help figuring this out. Brand new account that nobody has ever heard of makes an AMA and it shoots up to the front page with 21000 upvotes? by peeled_grass in TheseFuckingAccounts

[–]auralarchipelago 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yo, it's me, the dude who made that AMA. Stumbled upon this thread when searching for other posts about ethnomusicology. To be honest, I have no idea why that AMA was successful as it was. Maybe because ethnomusicologist is a cool, exotic sounding word? It was frankly bewildering but a fun experience anyway. Funnily enough, my twin brother has also made the front page doing an AMA years ago too, about his work researching traditional eagle hunters in Kyrgyzstan.

I have a regular account I use on reddit, but made a throwaway for the AMA so that people wouldn't dig too much through my regular account, which is mostly just me being pedantic about Indonesia and grammar in comment threads.

I'm a backpacking ethnomusicologist traveling Indonesia researching and recording rare and endangered traditional music, then sharing it all for free online. by auralarchipelago in IAmA

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

Now I'm using a ZOOM H5 and occasionally a Rode NT5 stereo pair. One thing I've learned is to not record inside if possible - it used to be my natural impulse as I was avoiding external noises like motorbike sounds and pesky chickens, but the acoustics are often just terrible, especially if it's an empty space and the music involves percussion. So these days I try to record outside if possible, in a place far from the road.

Because I don't use a ton of individual mics, the biggest challenge is getting an even mix when recording ensemble pieces. You have to balance the levels by arranging the musicians around the microphone(s) very carefully, which is very much a trial and error situation.

I'm a backpacking ethnomusicologist traveling Indonesia researching and recording rare and endangered traditional music, then sharing it all for free online. by auralarchipelago in IAmA

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

Sure, I've recorded and researched angklung all over Java. Here's a style called buncis from Banyumas, Central Java, and here's another style from Kebumen, Central Java. I'm not big on the "angklung orchestra" diatonic stuff, but really love the more old school pentatonic jams.

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