Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2226-6348

Interpretation, Imagination, and Transformation in the Creation of the “Timang XekorY”

Laura Pranti Tutom, Shanthi Nadarajan, Yoesbar Djaelani

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v11-i3/14693

Open access

This study is about the creation of the XekorY composition (by Laura Pranti Tutom), that aims to visualize the traditional Iban invocation ritual of Timang Tuah (Goodluck chant). This exploratory study recounts from the first person perspective, the process in bringing to life creativity from three different levels: interpretation, imagination and transformation, before a live audience at Sultan Idris Education University on 24th of May, 2019. This paper narrates through music and visual artistry, the journey and experience of the lemambang (bards) on a mission to deliver the Timang Tuah. For interpretation, the content is summarized from a chanting text and conceptualized through the composer’s inspirational framework, ideas and imagination. The imagination has been transformed into a musical performance created through a combination of 4D (luck based numbers) and XY coordinates, followed by a series of pitch. The data include field data collected from questionnaires, semi structured interviews and participant observation involving bards, community leaders, ritual specialists, and students from the Music program from UPSI and UNIMAS. The findings suggest that most students (88%) who participated as music players and audience of the Timang XekorY performance could understand and appreciate the creative effort and were willing to watch the “real” Timang Tuah performance, while members of the public who had limited musical knowledge benefited from the Program Book of the Timang XekorY distributed before the performance.

Abd Hamid, M. A. (2001). Pengenalan Pemikiran Kritis & Kreatif. Skudai, Johor, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Cetakan pertama.
Charlie, A. (2012). Ensumbar Iban. Retrieved from
Ibanpediawordpress.com.https://ibanpedia.wo rdpress.com/20 12/03/24/emsum ar-jejuluk/
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1994). Flow: The Psychology of Happiness. New York, NY: Random Century Group
Hermeren, G. (2001). The Full Voic’d quire: Types of Interpretation of Music. In M. Krausz (Ed.), The interpretation of Music. New York: Oxford University Press
Kamien, R. (2000). Music an Appreciation. Seventh Edition. McGraw – Hill Companies, Inc.
Machfauzia, A. N., Sayuti, S. A., & Djohan, D. (2018). Musical interpretation: case study in musical instrument practice learning vocational high school. Jurnal Pendidikan Vokasi, 8(2), 193-203.
Masing, J. J. (1981). The Coming of The Gods. A Study of An Invocatory Chant (Timang Gawai Amat) of the Iban of the Baleh River Region of Sarawak: PhD Dissertation of Australian National University.
Ricoeur, P. (1976). Interpretation theory: Discourse and the surplus of meaning. TCU press.
Sadie, S. (2001). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved from
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.460176/page/ n91
Salleh, S., & Sailin, R. (2014). Kajian Hubungan Imaginasi, Kreativiti dan Idea Dalam Komunikasi Penulisan Kreatif. E-proceedings of the Conference on Management and Muamalah (CoMM 2014), 26-27 May 2014. Synergizing Knowledge on Management and Muamalah (E-ISBN: 978-983-3048-92-2)
Sather, C. (2016). The Sugi sakit Ritual storytelling in a Saribas Iban rite of healing. Wacana, 17(2), 251-277.
Tawai, J. (2017). Timang Gawai Ngiga Tuah. Majlis Adat Istiadat Jabatan Ketua Menteri Sarawak, 2017.

In-Text Citation: (Tutom et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Tutom, L. P., Nadarajan, S., & Djaelani, Y. (2022). Interpretation, Imagination, and Transformation in the Creation of the “Timang XekorY.” International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 11(3), 199–219.