Traditional Musical Instruments of Malaysia: Forms, Materials, Function

According to figures noted by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the population includes the Bumiputera people, Chinese, Indian and ‘Others’1. The Bumiputra group includes the Malay Aborigines, Dayaks, Kadazan/Dusun and others. Anak Negeri (natives of the specific States). Within these communities, some musical instruments found in Malaysia exhibit details of form, construction and function similar to those in maritime Southeast Asia of which Malaysia is a part. Other instruments in Malaysia retain
physical characteristics, use and function comparable to some instruments in the mainland of Southeast Asia, in mainland China and in India.

The content of this book is organized using an established classification system for musical instruments throughout the world. This taxonomy is the Sachs-von Hornbostel System (1914, 1961) which is introduced in Chapter I and further defined and summarized in the Appendix of this book. Although the Sachs-von Hornbostel classification categories form the underlying basis for organizing the discussion of musical instruments, the chapters are labelled by materials that are made to vibrate to produce musical sound of the various instruments.

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