Musical Shamanism in the Orang Asli Culture of the Malay Peninsula

People in many traditional cultures around the world live intimately close to nature and regard natural objects and processes as having thoughts and wills just like those of humans. Therefore, the sounds of nature are widely interpreted as the voices of spirits and gods.

These spirits and gods are the real forces in the world, not humans, who depend on the goodwill of the spirits and gods to provide humans with a livable environment. Different cultures use different means to summon and propitiate the forces of nature, but one virtually universal component in that communication is sound, often in its heightened form of music.

In many traditional cultures, sonic communication with the spirits and gods is effected through a musical intermediary known as a shaman, a priestlike figure who uses magic to benefit the community.

One such culture is found among the Orang Asli, who inhabit the rain forests of the Malay Peninsula.

They traditionally practice an animistic religion based on their belief in the potential for animated soul (personhood) in animals, plants, and inanimate objects. Music plays an important role in calling the spirits of these entities from their natural habitat.

The foundation of the Orang Asli musical universe is "living tonalities," the musical "souls" of all natural phenomena. In this belief system, the soul of every animal, plant, rock, or other inanimate object contains "a sound characterized by distinct timbres, tonal rows, melodic contours, vocal ornamentations, rhythms, and other formal musical parameters" (Roseman, 565)

To summon "living tonalities," some groups of Orang Asli use vocal music, often accompanied by simple tube-shaped stampers, while other groups use native musical instruments, such as mouth organs, nose flutes, transverse flutes, and tube zithers. Performers improvise within predetermined parameters to communicate with the spiritual essence of a rock, a tree, or other entity through its imagined sonic character.

One common goal in such contacts is to invoke and activate the spirit of a root, a leaf, or a piece of bark used for medicinal purposes. Among the many other reasons for communicating with the spirit world is to seek protection from the natural dangers in the jungle.

A key element in the Orang Asli belief system is the shaman, who has special knowledge of the ritual musical techniques that foster a relationship between humans and other entities.

During ceremonies, hypnotic music and dancing lead the shaman into a trance, experienced as the soul's journey to the spirit world, as the spirit's visit to the human realm, or as a combination of the two events. While communicating with the spirit world, the shaman gains supernatural knowledge, exorcises evil spirits, requests compassion, or asks for assistance for the community.