The bangsi (also called bansi, or bangsi Alas - "flute of the Alas people") is an end-blown duct flute (a form not unlike the western recorder) here played by Pak Rabatin of Kutacingkam, Southeast Aceh in the Alas valley of Sumatra.

One of only a few men left who play this rare instrument, Pak Rabatin spins out melodies based on lagam, a form of oral poetry that is a specialty in these parts of Sumatra. Each piece, though instrumental, is tied to a certain lagam and its story, almost all of them sad. In this one, "Jage Pekhik," Pak Rabatin's flute outlines the tale of a young boy, nearly starving, forced to stay day and night by the rice paddies to guard his crops from birds. If his crops don't make it to harvest, everyone will starve. To console himself, he sits in his paddy-side hut and plays the bangsi.

Like other flute traditions in Sumatra, the bangsi is rooted in stories of magic and death. According to tradition, a proper bangsi's fingerholes were only made upon the death of a villager, with one fingerhole burned in with a hot iron for each death. While such rituals are long gone, the spiritual potency that such rituals brought to the flute can still be felt in its sound and the intensely melancholy stories that it sings.

To learn more about bangsi Alas and its fascinating construction, history, and more, head on over to the new Aural Archipelago post at: https://www.auralarchipelago.com/aura...