Oboe of Sumatra, Malaysia and Vietnam; a double-reed instrument with pirouette, related to the Arab zūrnā. It exists in various forms, for all of which circular breathing is used.
In Minangkabau, West Sumatra, the sarunai consists of a double reed of palm-leaf lamellae below which is a wooden or metal ring, two conically bored pipes fitting vertically into each other, with four fingerholes in the lower pipe, and a buffalo-horn or wooden flare. Alternatively a piece of rice-stalk about 8 cm long is fitted into an open thin piece of bamboo about 23 cm long; a U-shaped slit is cut in the top of the stalk to serve as a reed and four fingerholes are cut into the bamboo tube.
In the Batak Toba area the sarune occurs in two sizes. The larger (80 cm long) is used only in the ceremonial gondang orchestra and the smaller (sarune getep, 30 cm long) in ceremonial ensembles. The former has a tiny double reed of palm-leaf lamellae, which fits through a coconut shell or metal disc into the body – a wooden pipe with four fingerholes, a piece of buffalo horn and another piece of wooden pipe, ending with a wooden circle or goat-horn flare. The smaller instrument has a body of three cylindrically or conically bored pieces of wood.
In the Pakpak (Dairi) area the sarune is made entirely of wood, with a tubular body, about 40 cm long, ending in a barrel-shaped bell. It has six fingerholes and a tiny double reed of palm leaf. It is played in the genderang ensemble at large festivals, and in ceremonies involving magic it is played solo.
In the Batak Simalungun area the sarunei is used in the gonrang sidua-dua and gonrang sipitu-pitu ceremonial ensembles. Its double reed (anak ni sarunei: ‘child of the sarunei’) is made of a folded grass blade and its flared body of wood or bamboo. It has six fingerholes and a thumb-hole.
In the Mandailing area the sarune (about 25 to 30 cm long) comprises a palm-leaf double reed, a vertical disc of metal or shell, a cylindrical body of bulo surik (a kind of bamboo) in which four finger-holes are cut or burnt out, and a flare of goat horn at the bottom. The mouthpiece is usually attached by a small piece of string to the pipe into which it is inserted. The sarune plays an ornamented melodic line in the three main Mandailing ceremonial orchestras.
In the Batak Karo area the saruné plays the leading melodic role in the gendang ensemble. Its conical body, about 25 cm long, is made of silantam wood and ends with a carved flare. Its double reed, called anak saruné, is made of green coconut leaf; the disc below it is of metal. It has eight fingerholes.
In the Gayo (Takengon) area of Central Aceh the serune has a pipe of jackfruit wood about 24 cm long. It has a slightly conical bore and ends in a conical flare made of wound strips of pandan palm leaf about 13 cm long and 3 cm in diameter at its lower end. The pipe has usually six fingerholes in the front and one at the back. To the double reed, made of rumbia palm leaf, is attached a piece of coconut shell which fits the blown-out cheeks of the player. Another form of the instrument in Aceh is known as a seurune kaleë.
In the Serdang, Langkat and other Malay coastal areas of North Sumatra the small palm-leaf reeds of the serunai fit into a bamboo tube, with one or two coconut-shell or metal rings near the mouthpiece, to which a long wooden or bamboo tube with a slightly conical bore is attached, ending in a flare. It is used in the gendang-gung and makyong ensembles in Serdang.
In West Malaysia, the serunai has a double reed, usually of palm leaf, attached with a metal staple to the upper end of a slightly conical wooden tube, which ends in a wide, circular bell with little flare. There is a pirouette of copper or other metal, and the reed is taken into the mouth completely. There are usually seven fingerholes and a single thumb-hole. The instrument is found in two sizes, the smaller (about 40 cm long) being more popular than the larger which may be up to 50 cm long. The instrument may be decorated and inlaid with mother-of-pearl. It is used to accompany theatre genres and folkdances. The serunai of the Semelai Orang Asli (aborigines) is an end-blown bamboo tube about 23 cm long, with a piece of grass wedged in one end to form a reed.
The saranai (‘xaranai’) is an oboe used by the Chŕm people living in south-central Vietnam. The lowland Vietnamese counterpart is called kčn bau, kčn bóp, or kčn moc. The saranai, about 35 cm long, consists of three parts: a double reed, connecting tube and main body. There are seven fingerholes and one thumb-hole under the body. Its active, conjunct melodic style uses equidistant pentatonic and heptatonic scales. The Chŕm instrument is accompanied by the baranu’ng, a single-headed drum played with the hands.
MARGARET J. KARTOMI, LYN MOORE, NGUYEN THUYET PHONG (with JACK PERCIVAL BAKER DOBBS)