Nobat ensemble

For male participants. The nobat, an instrumental ensemble of the erstwhile Malay courts in Sumatra, dates back in the Malay world to around the fifteenth century and was reserved exclusively for important ceremonial occasions in the presence of the Sultan. The instruments of the ensemble usually comprised a selection of nekara (royal kettledrums), gendang (double-headed drums), serunai and/or nafiri (wind instruments) and gongs. In this image, the instruments that are on display are from a royal Malay nobat ensemble from the Lingga Palace at Daik, in the former Kanjil Museum in Tanjung Pinang. (For more information, see Margaret J Kartomi, "The Royal Nobat Ensemble of Indragiri in Riau, Sumatra, in Colonial and Post-Colonial Times," Galpin Society Journal (March), pp. 3-15.)

Copyright 1980. Notes prepared by Bronia Kornhauser with Margaret Kartomi, School of Music-Conservatorium, Monash University. Photography by Hidris Kartomi.