HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF DANGDUT MUSIC IN INDONESIA

Dangdut is one of the popular traditional music genres from Indonesia rooted in Malay, Hindustani and Arabic music. The Arabic element in this genre of music emerged from traders from Gujarat along with the spread of Islam by them. Apart from Gujarat traders, the other major influences are Indian music used in Bollywood films, before finally the history of dangdut music began in 1968. This genre of music is very very popular because of its vocal and melodic instruments, especially tabla .

Dangdut Music Trip in Indonesia
In 635, there were very many Arab merchants who appeared in Indonesia. Although their initial goal was to trade, they also inserted some knowledge about Islam which also became the beginning of the spread of Islam in Indonesia. Along with the development of Islam, the Arab merchants also introduced Qasidah. Qasidah which was originally introduced by Arab merchants was again reinforced by the emergence of merchants from Gujarat in 900 until 1200 and followed by merchants from Persia in 1300 to 1600.

In 1870, dangdut music continued to be imbued with the inclusion of the trend of musical instruments called Gambus originating from Arabia. The instrument has the shape of a guitar, but the sound is low. This instrument came along with the migration of Arabs with the Hadramaut clan and the Egyptians after the opening of the Suez Canal and the construction of the Tanjung Priok port in 1877 and when Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (Royal Shipping Company) (KPM) in 1888. At that time, musicians Arabs use stringed instruments as accompaniments when singing their music.

In the early 20th century, songs with accompaniment of gambus became very popular among the Arab-Indonesian community. Seeing the development of this gambus music, Syech Albar who is the father of musician Ahmad Albar decided to make a stringed orchestra based in Surabaya. The success of Syech Albar's string orchestra led him to record with LPs and Columbia media which sold very quickly in Singapore and Malaysia in 1930. One year later, Deli Malay music appeared in North Sumatra in 1940 and was initiated by Muhammad Mashabi along with Husein Bawafie. This music then developed into Jakarta along with the formation of the Malay Orchestra.

The new music stream re-entered Indonesia in 1950. The music brought by Edmundo Ros, Xavier Cugat, Perez Prado, and Los Panchos was Latin American music which later became attached to the ears of Indonesians. At this time, the history of dangdut music has changed again because the music has differed greatly from Malay music, which has become its reference even though it still feels Malay in it.

Actually dangdut fertilizers have emerged since the birth of Deli Malay music in 1940. This is because some people like to experiment with musical genres that have existed in Indonesia such as Indian music. This development also grew rapidly because it was driven by anti-Western politics which were always sparked by Soekarno. This period records big names like Said Effendi with his Seroja song, P. Ramlee from Malaya and Husein Bawafie who is one of the famous songwriters.

In 1968 finally dangdut music was finished boiling and began to surface. One of the key figures in the birth of this dangdut music was Rhoma Irama with his leader Sonnet Group. Two years later names began to emerge which are still well-known such as Mansyur S., A. Rafiq, and Muchsin Alatas. In 1970 dangdut became much more modern because Indonesian politics at that time began to be friendly towards cultures brought from the West such as electric guitars, percussion, saxophone and electrical organs. The new musical instruments are increasingly opening up opportunities for this dangdut music variation.

In the 1970s there was also the influence of rock music on how to play guitar for dangdut, so that the period also became a battlefield between rock and dangdut. Because this war was also held a "duel" concert God Bless against Sonnet Group. These things change dangdut and separate it from Malay music as a whole. Around the end of the 1970s there were also new variations of dangdut, namely dangdut humor and driven by a Malay orchestra called Pancaran Sinar Petromaks (PSP). PSP itself starts with the Malay style of deli to foster dangdut music so that students can enjoy it more. This dangdut variation continued by Introduction to Drinking Toxins (PMR) in the last half of the 1980s and Pemuda Harapan Bangsa (PHB) in the 2000s.

In 2000, a new variation emerged which colored the history of dangdut music, namely dangdut koplo. It was only after 2002 that this variation began to shake up the world of warfare with its success initiated by unusually cheap pirated vcd. The cheap pirated vcd dangdut koplo has become an alternative entertainment for people with middle to lower economic levels when compared to the high price of original vcd / dvd owned by national artists. Another thing that makes this famous dangdut koplo is the Inul Daratista phenomenon with its "rocking drum" especially after it began to appear on Indonesian glass screens. With every new thing, of course there is a pro-contra where this time contra emerged from Rhoma Irama who opposed Inul and rocked her because she argued that moral decadence could occur. Regardless of the whole controversy, dangdut koplo as a variation can still live to this day.