Gondang

Gondang is the ceremonial ensemble music of the Toba and Karo Batak peoples of North Sumatra, Indonesia, in two scorings: gondang sabangunan, the large outdoor ensemble of tuned taganing drums, gongs and the wailing sarune oboe, and gondang hasapi, the smaller indoor ensemble of lutes, flute and xylophone. Its long, interlocking pieces accompany adat ceremonies, funerals, weddings and the rites of the traditional Malim religion, with named tunes assigned to specific occasions and spirits. Its performers are village ensembles whose names go unrecorded; its documents are ethnographic field recordings, above all in the #Smithsonian Folkways# Music of Indonesia series.