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“Tunggak Semi” is the third album from Indonesian musician and producer Bambang Pranoto. Originally released in 2000, it’s an exemplary slice of what has become his signature style - a dream-like meditation on aspects of nature, combining accordion, acoustic guitar, bamboo flute and percussion.
Bambang had an atypical entry into music, and studied electronics and telecommunications, before he took advantage of computer software like Cubase and Pro Tools in the 1990s. It enabled him to set about recording his own compositions, piecing them together like jigsaw puzzles. It's a similar process used by two of Bambang's inspirations, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Peter Gabriel, both known for their love of world folk music, and fusion of musical traditions.
“Tunggak Semi” refers to the giant trees that appear all over Bali, and their process of regeneration. “If you cut the tree, and leave the roots, they will grow again. Everytime we cut, they grow again. It’s limitless.” This attitude has grown out of Bambang’s studies into meditation, including Indian and Chinese scriptures, also Balinese and Indonesian religions. Music, like meditation, is a daily practice, and acceptance of the music and its ‘unfinishedness’ forms a central part of the process.
The fusion of tradition and technology is what gives “Tunggak Semi” its special atmosphere. While the acoustic sound palette is rooted in live recordings, Bambang is not afraid to put the computer to good use. “We have to use the computer as a tool in the best way we can,” Bambang says. “What can we compose from this equipment? It’s technology music!”
-Bambang Pranoto interviewed by Max Cole, 2024
