Keroncong Throughout the Media

When I first got back to Yogyakarta and went to my usual church, I noticed the worship songs were played in keroncong style! I wasn’t paying attention to it at first, but as soon as I heard the “crong-crong-crong” (at least that’s how Wikipedia writes the onomatopoeia) with the typical keroncong-style ukulele strum, I immediately noticed it. “Keroncong!”

You might be wondering what Keroncong is. Whut? Never heard of those! I will try to explain it in a simple way, let me see…

Keroncong is one of Indonesian musical style. What does it sound like? It’s basically like an orchestra or an ensemble that consists of many, many instruments! Well, that sounds really vague. One of my go-to ways to notice if it is Keroncong or not: The sound, “crong-crong-crong!”

I think at the end of this writing, you’d have figured out how it sounds like! I left links for you so you can enjoy some of the songs. Well, hopefully.

Back to the church song. They were singing a song titled “Bawalah Persembahan” from Madah Bakti hymnbook. Turns out there are some other keroncong styled hymns from the hymnbook other than this one that we were singing at Church. That day at church was the first time I heard this song being played so professionally-Keroncong! It made my day.

I have an unrelated, but also played-in-Keroncong hymn. This version of “Arbab”. It is very catchy! I originally heard the Batak version of the song when I was little, and when I heard this version… I fell in love! You’ll start noticing the pattern, I promise!

I also found a famous keroncong composer, “Mus Mulyadi”. He also sang some hymns in keroncong style. My friend loves his hymns very much! You can find his playlist all over YouTube!

So then after searching for hymns, I started to search for other famous keroncong songs. I just knew there had to be more!

Luckily, I found one pop song that I was familiar with, Tetty Kadi’s “Sepanjang Jalan Kenangan”. Apparently, this song was in Keroncong, but I didn’t hear any ukulele in the official MV. I struggle to notice the Keroncong in this one! Oh, my expertise…

I learned that there were many phases in the development of Keroncong. I suppose back in the day Keroncong’s well-known sound wasn’t the same as it is today. The music began in 16th century; It is fascinating to see how the music can still exist and still develop until this very time!

Suddenly, I remembered the first time I heard this song; it was when I was watching OVJ aka Opera van Java! OVJ was a famous Indonesian comedy show. In this one episode, Andre and Nunung (the comedians) were singing this song, and the off-screen musicians went along with a Keroncong style instrumental! (with the crong-crong-crong sound)

I think that was the very bait that got me in love. It wasn’t really the fact that they were singing very beautifully. Heh heh.

[embed]Opera van Java — Duo Kribo

When I was in high school, the teacher told us about a song called “Bengawan Solo” from an artist named Gesang. He is very famous, especially for this song. He made this song when he was 23 years old; And ever since then, the song has gained popularity all over the world!

It is an old song, but interestingly I can hear the “crong-crong-crong” very well. Perhaps it is because the official song/ video/ arrangement was created way later after it was written, as you can see in the MV, in which he was older. This song has very rich notes, played in major keys, and it has a calming energy. I have liked it since I first learned it at school.

At this point, I think you can already tell the distinctive tone of Keroncong!

Now, we can jump at some lagu daerah aka folk music! Where does a culture begin and grow if not from the folk, eh?!

This one is a folk song from Jakarta. It is called “Keroncong Kemayoran”! The song is well known; maybe not as much as “Kicir-Kicir” though, because that song is played in every KRL station in Jakarta! Many of Jakarta’s folk song can be played in Keroncong though.

[embed]Keroncong Kemayoran

And then we continue this document with an intense craving for nasi goreng… met een gebakken ei… wat sambal en wat krupuk…en een goed glas bier erbij…. Yes, this song was also on the list of famous keroncong songs.

Even the Dutch loved it!

The ukulele is there, but it’s not in the usual keroncong strumming like in the other songs that I’ve mentioned here. All the strings are being strummed together with ups and downs movement and it doesn’t have the usual plucking pattern. The song is very catchy though!

Overall, this is only a short writing about my findings of Keroncong. I made this as an appreciation of the music, because of how easy I fell in love with it! I hope you enjoy the songs I put here. Much appreciation for the singers and musicians that composed and arranged the songs!

Now that I think about it, Ik wil gebakken ei… ik heb honger!