The Role And Function Of Mantau Arts In The Community Of Merangin District, Jambi Province

Abstract

Mantau is a traditional music from Bangko District, Merangin Regency, Jambi Province. Mantau historically comes from a rhyme song carried by the Anman tribe who arrives at the port of Central Sumatra Island. The performance of mantau is sung by one person and the poems are arranged spontaneously into a rhyme form. Mantau underwent several changes on it’s performance, such as the formation of players, and the addition of musical instruments. In the past, mantau was only sung by one person, both male and female, but now mantau can be sung by two or more peoples, both male and female, from children, teenagers, to adults. The musical instruments are also varied. Nowaday mantau uses other musical instruments such as violin, drum, gong, and wooden kelintang for the vocal accompaniment which previously did not exist in mantau. Uniquely mantau music still survives and popular for it's community. This study seeks to see how mantau can survive and analyzed it through the musical aspect as well as the social aspect. The theory used to answer the problem proposed in this study is the "use" and "function" theory which is formulated by Alan. P. Merriam. The research method that used in this research is the ethnographic method. This study found that in its musical aspect, mantau has its own characteristics that make it different from other music in the archipelago, especially Jambi Province. The uniqueness lies in "sentak" which exist in the melody of the Mantau song. Meanwhile, in the social aspect, mantau is used by its supporting community as a medium for expression both for the older generation and young generation