 Tifa Tiwa or Tiva; Kai Islands, before 1915 | |
| Percussion instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Tiwa, Tiva |
| Classification | Membranophone |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 211.221 211.231 211.251 |
| Developed | Developed in prehistory in Indonesian Maluku Islands and in New Guinea |
Thetifa,tiwa ortiva is a single-headed goblet drum used throughout theMaluku Islands of EasternIndonesia, where it is traditionally the "dominant instrument" inMaluku province music.[1] The term tifa has been used outside of the Maluku Islands, including on the island ofJava and on the island ofNew Guinea, in Indonesia'sPapuan provinces.[2]
Where the Maluku-tradition tifas tend to be unadorned or plain, the Papua-tradition tifas tend to be decorated with patterns and symbols, which may be ethnic or spiritual in nature.[3]
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 can be made from variety of skins, such as deerhide, lizard skin,[4] goat hide, stingray skin, ormagewang skin.[5]
The Maluku tifa is more of a tubular drum without a handle. It varies in size, and may use a woven rattan rope withbadeng pegs to tension the drumhead, which is made of goat skin. It may be played with empty hands or from a drumstick made fromsago palm fronds, coconut fronds, rattan orgaba-gaba (sections of long sago palms 60–100 cm long).[4]
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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 Guineankundu. To the extent which the New Guinea instruments are close to the kundu, they also fall withinMelanesian 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.[6] Traditionally, the lizard skin was held in place with a layer of human blood (as glue).[6]
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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]
The Maluku tifa is used to accompany "traditional ceremonies, traditional dances and war dances," including theCakalele dance. TheCakalele dance recalls the "atmosphere of war in ancient Maluku society."[7] The Maluku tifa is also combined withtotobuang gong chimes to form atifa totobuang ensemble to accompany Maluku Island's Sawat Lenso dance.[8][9] The Sawat Lenso joins a form or instrumental ensemble calledLenso used by Christians with Sawat music and dance brought by Muslims.[8]
In Papua, one occasion to play the tifas is aSing-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 asRaja Ampat Islands, where photos show women playing the Maluku-style tifas insuling tambur (flute drum) ensembles. (See gallery, Maluku traditions.) Furthermore similar to the Moluccas, regions inWest Papua such as the Kokoda people ofSouth Sorong also have Sawat musical tradition in the form oftifa syawat which was a type oftetabuhan, introduced from Kokas inFakfak, consisting of tifa,gong,adrat,suling, to accompanyKasuari dance, weddings,Mauludan and other events.[10]
InPapua the tifa is calledeme by theAsmat people,kalin kla inTeminabuan,wachu inSentani,sirep,sandio ortambur[5] (for the larger drum) inBiak,kandara among theMarind people,[4] andtummour ortitir (for the larger drum) among the Mbaham-Matta people ofFakfak.[11][12]
Closer to Maluku, the tifa drums are calledtifa; in central Maluku there is thetihal ortahito and on the island ofAru it is called thetitir.[4]
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.
[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.]
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.
[Video. From print on bottom of video:] Thetotobuang is a melodic musical instrument that has tones and is shaped like a Javanesegamelan instrument...The two are usually played together on the same day, which is why the collaboration is called tifa totobuang.