The Case of the Bambus

The Case of the Bambus

The Story of the Gambus and its Evolution
Yap Yuan Li Ben
U0921231H
AAI481 - Studies in Malay Music
Nanyang Technological University

The Story of the Gambus and its Evolution

Introduction
The gambus is an omnipresent and most commonly found lute instrument in the various styles of Malay folk music. It is usually made from wood and is formed almost like a guitar but with 9 to 12 wire strings compared to the guitar’s 6 to 12 strings. There are two types of gambus, namely Gambus Melayu which is the Malay gambus and Gambus Hadhramaut which is the Arabian gambus. Both of them originate from similar backgrounds with the Gambus Melayu a modification of the Gambus Hadhramaut.
Today, the gambus is recognised as a national musical instrument of Malaysia and a symbol of Malay traditional music identity (Hilarian, 2006). We will explore further in this essay the origins and evolution of gambus and its role in the Malay musical genre of zapin, hamdolok and ghazal.
Gambus Melayu
The slimmer and smaller pear-shaped gambus Melayu is comparable to the Yemeni qanbus. Its uniqueness is in its ornamented sickle-shaped carved pegbox that has emblems engraved into it (Hilarian, 2003). Its body is made from jackfruit tree wood and it has a goat skin belly. The strings in gambus Melayu is attached and tuned precisely similar to gambus Hadramaut (Nik Mustapha, 1998). The gambus Melayu is frequently used in Zapin and Hamdolok performances in Johor (Matusky, 1985 as cited by Ang, 2005). The sounds of the gambus Melayu can also be heard in Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak, Indonesia and Brunei (Hilarian 2006).
Gambus Hadhramaut
The arched-back, pear-shaped Gambus Hadhramaut is quite similar to the classical Arabian ‘ud (Hilarian, 2003). It is made from a combination of light wood like red meranti, a type of construction timber and durian belanda. The gambus Hadramaut does not have frets and the strings are plucked and attached in double course except the

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