Tifa (drum)

The tifa, tiwa or tiva is a single-headed goblet drum used throughout the Maluku Islands of Eastern Indonesia, where it is traditionally the "dominant instrument" in Maluku province music.[1] The term tifa has been used outside of the Maluku Islands, including on the island of Java and on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's Papua province.[2]

Tifa
Tifa Tiwa or Tiva; Kai Islands, before 1915.
Percussion instrument
Other namesTiwa, Tiva
Classification Membranophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification211.221

211.231

211.251
(211.221 Instruments in which the body is barrel-shaped (barrel drums) and which have only one usable membrane 211.231 Instruments in which the body is hourglass-shaped and which have only one usable membrane

211.251 Instruments in which the body is goblet-shaped (goblet drums) and which have only one usable membrane)
DevelopedDeveloped in prehistory in Indonesian Maluku Islands and in New Guinea

Where the Maluku-tradition tifas tend to be unadorned or plain, the Papua-province tifas tend to be decorated with patterns and symbols, which may be ethnic or spiritual in nature.[3]

Forms

With two overall traditions, Papuan and Maluku, there are two basic forms for the tifa drums. Papua hourglass drums tend to be more slender and often have a handle. They are played with the empty hand. Some of them are made from lenggua wood ("thick and strong".) The drumhead is made from deerhide or lizard skin.[4]

The Maluku tifa is more of a tubular drum without a handle. It varies in size, and may use a woven rattan rope with badeng pegs to tension the drumhead, which is made of goat skin. It may be played with empty hands or from a drumstick made from sago palm fronds, coconut fronds, rattan or gaba-gaba (sections of long sago palms 60–100 cm long).[4]

Maluku tradition, drums with heads attached with rattan harness

Papua tradition: hourglass drums with heads glued on
See Kundu (drum)

Hourglass drums with glued on drumheads. Where the tifas with heads attached by rattan are associated with the Maluku Islands, these drums are associated with New Guinea and nearby islands. Related to the Papua New Guinean kundu. To the extent which the New Guinea instruments are close to the kundu, they also fall within Melanesian musical tradition.

One Papua tifa that uses rattan on the drumhead is the hourglass drum made by the Asmat people. The Asmat glue down the drumhead, then slip a tight fitting ring of rattan over the edges to keep the glued edge of the skin head in place.[5] Traditionally, the lizard skin was held in place with a layer of human blood (as glue).[5]

  • "Tifa" drum from Manokwari (then called Dorei or Doreh), 1885.
    "Tifa" drum from Manokwari (then called Dorei or Doreh), 1885.
  • Tifa, Geelvink Bay cultures, Cenderawasih Bay, before 1883.
    Tifa, Geelvink Bay cultures, Cenderawasih Bay, before 1883.
  • Tifa drum, Cenderawasih Bay, Geelvink culture
    Tifa drum, Cenderawasih Bay, Geelvink culture
  • Dancer with tifa, Biak.
    Dancer with tifa, Biak.
  • Tifa drum, Yabim people, Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. Although labeled Tifa in the museum, this drum comes from Eastern Papua New Guinea, where there is a carved kundu-drum tradition.
    Tifa drum, Yabim people, Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. Although labeled Tifa in the museum, this drum comes from Eastern Papua New Guinea, where there is a carved kundu-drum tradition.
  • Kandara, "tifa" drum from Marind-Anim.
    Kandara, "tifa" drum from Marind-Anim.

Customs

The tifa has traditionally been played by men, and this custom has resisted modern attitudes of equality between men and women. Adherence to gender roles is seen as a way to honor ancestors. In rural communities, older values dictate the role of the male musician is to be a leader. His role is to "play ritual music," the rituals of which are seen as a "cultural and hereditary heritage from their ancestors." When played for ritual use, the community procedures dictate getting permission to play.[4]

In Papua, one occasion to play the tifas is a Sing-sing, a gathering of a few tribes or villages in Papua New Guinea. People arrive to show their distinct culture, dance and music. The aim of these gatherings is to peacefully share traditions as each Islands have their own dance. Villagers paint and decorate themselves for sing-sings which they only have once a year. The male-exclusive role of drummers has been relaxed in some places, such as Raja Ampat Islands, where photos show women playing the Maluku-style tifas in suling tamborf (flute drum) ensembles. (See gallery, Malaku traditions.)

The Maluku tifa is used to accompany "traditional ceremonies, traditional dances and war dances," including the Cakalele dance. The Cakalele dance recalls the "atmosphere of war in ancient Maluku society."[6] The Maluku tifa is also combined with totobuang gong chimes to form a tifa totobuang ensemble to accompany Maluku Island's Sawat Lenso dance.[7][8] The Sawat Lenso joins a form or instrumental ensemble used by Christians with Sawat music and dance brought by Muslims.[7]

Names

In Papua the tifa is called eme by the Asmat people, kalin kla in Teminabuan, wachu in Sentani, sirep or sandio in Biak, kandara among the Marind people,[4] and tummour among the Mbaham-Matta people of Fakfak.[9]

Closer to Maluku, the tifa drums are called tifa; in central Maluku there is the tihal or tahito and on the island of Aru it is called the titir.[4]

See also
  • Kundu (drum), the drum from Papua New Guinea
  • Tifa, article on Indonesian Wikipedia

References
  1. "Tifa". Collectie Stichting Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (translation: Collection National Museum of World Cultures Foundation).
  2. HolmesMuseumAnthro. "Asmat Drum New Guinea (Part 1 of 2)". In the summer of 2007 two members of the Holmes Museum of Anthropology at Wichita State University traveled to the Asmat region of New Guinea. They recorded the making of a tifa drum by an Asmat man named Robbie.
  3. "7 Alat Musik Tradisional Maluku, Gambar, dan Penjelasannya [translation: 7 Maluku Traditional Musical Instruments, Pictures, and Their Explanations]". 30 August 2016. [translation: The tifa is a traditional Maluku musical instrument which is also known in Papua by the same name...a long drum...a percussion instrument that is played at parties as an accompaniment to dances...What distinguishes the Maluku tifa and the Papua tifa lies in the shape of the carvings. Maluku tifa is usually plain without carvings, while the Papuan tifa is full of ethnic decorations.]
  4. "Alat Musik Tifa : Pengertian, Sejarah, Fungsi dan Jenisnya [translation:Tifa Musical Instruments: Definition, History, Function and Types]". ilmuseni.com. 12 July 2017.
  5. HolmesMuseumAnthro. "Asmat Drum New Guinea (Part 2 of 2)". In the summer of 2007 two members of the Holmes Museum of Anthropology at Wichita State University traveled to the Asmat region of New Guinea. They recorded the making of a drum by an Asmat man named Robbie.
  6. "Tifa (Alat Musik) [translation: Tifa (Musical instrument)]". Tribune News Wiki. 11 June 2019.
  7. "Sawat Lenso, a Maluku dance which is a symbol of friendship between Muslims and Christians". British Broadcasting Corp., Indonesia. 19 January 2019.
  8. Djarujm Foundation, IndonesiaKaya. "Tifa Totobuang". [Video. From print on bottom of video:] The totobuang is a melodic musical instrument that has tones and is shaped like a Javanese gamelan instrument...The two are usually played together on the same day, which is why the collaboration is called tifa totobuang.
  9. "TUMMOUR - DJKI". kikomunal-indonesia.dgip.go.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-04-11.
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