For the later ‘Afflictions’ films we used technology a bit more to our advantage; creating sound libraries of ‘tuned’ and ‘un-tuned’ sampled

Indonesian instruments (the ‘tuned’ instruments still contain much of their unique character but are designed to marry more successfully with concert pitch instruments.) A good example of this would be ‘Family Victim’ (disc 2 #21) which successfully utilizes a large mixed western/Indonesian ensemble sound as a harmonious whole. In addition by using more sampled western instruments it became possible to fine tune say, a piano to work better with an authentic, non concert-pitch gamelan set.

Each film in the ‘Afflictions’ series has its own unique character and setting and so each score attempts to reflect that musically. Generally there is a solo ‘lead’ instrument associated with each protagonist; violin for Pak Kereta (from ‘Shadows & Illuminations’); suling (bamboo flute) for Gusti (‘The Bird Dancer’) and so on. Kereta and Ni Ketut Kasih (‘Ritual Burdens’) represent older, more traditional values and so their scores and instrumentation echo that (e.g . ‘End Credits – Shadows and Illuminations’ disc 2 #7 imitates the traditional sounds of the gamelan orchestra.) Estu (‘Family Victim’) and especially Bambang (‘Memory of my Face’) depict a younger, more westernized Indonesia, so those scores features more modern sounds – we had particular fun recreating the trashy pop sounds of ‘Dangdut’ music (‘Memory of My Face’ disc 2 #8, ‘Family Victim End Credits’ disc 2 #25.)

Of course, none of this work would have been possible without the help of my dear friend and collaborator, Pak Nyoman Wenten. As head of the Indonesian Music and Dance program at Cal Arts, he has been an indispensible source of knowledge and experience for these projects; plus importantly, he’s a master musician (you’ll hear his performances throughout this collection.) Recording together wasn’t without its challenges though; all our musical ideas were exchanged orally since we can’t read each other’s notation! Interestingly, the idea of recording to a ‘click’ track (normally so abhorrent to western classical players) is second nature to gamelan trained musicians, who frequently practice to a fixed-pulse muted kettle gong (or Reyong.) Freed from a traditional score, we worked directly to picture, more in the tradition of the Wayang (‘shadow plays’) where the musicians follow every nuance of the action on screen. It was quite a humbling realization that this performance tradition predates the idea of ‘live’ silent movie musicians by several centuries!

Malcolm Cross BSc Mus, November 2011

The films themselves deal with a complex series of issues centered around the relationships between personal experience and violence, trauma, mental illness, family, social support (or the lack thereof), memory and its place in the social order, survival and resilience- all taking place in the context of Indonesian history and society. Given this wide range of subjects and subsequent stories, the range of musical accompaniment was both wide and deep.

We would start the process of music placement by creating a “scratch” track of music drawn from an extremely wide variety of sources: ambient, electronic, minimalist, folk, world, even new age and spa music were considered. The purpose was to find music that both fit the emotion and movement of the theme, and connected with other pieces in the film.

Once the scratch soundtrack was finalized, Malcolm began the complex process of molding the piece to fit within the complex musical universe that exists in Indonesia. Further modifications, at times frustrating and at others illuminating, resulted in the final score. The end result is a musical bricolage that ranges widely over Western and Indonesian musical modalities, tempos, tonalities, melodies and emotions. Enjoy!

The film begins by telling these families’ stories pre-1965 via their personal reflections and memories of their childhood. The characters then describe their families’ experiences from 1965 and 1966, and discuss life during the New Order.

The film closes with the characters realization that the search for justice and a measure of peace must begin with themselves, their families and their local communities. The prospect for a national reconciliation process is far off, even in an increasingly open, democratic and free Indonesia.

The film tells a very poignant and moving story. It is our hope that more people in the world become aware of this tragic history. It is also our hope that Indonesians become more aware of this history, from the perspective of the victims. Understanding and telling this history is long overdue in modern Indonesia. It is also a vital process to ensure that this history is never repeated.