Kalason Oto: Singing Bus Horns of West Sumatra | Pak Budahar - "Bukittinggi"

Pak Budahar was one of the last of the tukang kalason, musicians who sat by bus drivers and played on their kalason, an elaborate system of tuned bus horns controlled by a typewriter-like keyboard on the dash. As buses traveled across Sumatra taking the local Minangkabau to far off ports in search of a better life (a tradition called marantau), tukang kalason would transmute the longing and growing homesickness of their passengers through his songs - requests taken! The music fused local instrumental melodies from saluang flute and rabab fiddle with subtly comping chords, all played one-handed.

When I Met Budahar, he was already one of the last of his breed - he dropped out of school at the age of 11 to play kalason, driving across Sumatra with his bus-driving brother for decades. By the 1980's, kalason had died out with the arrival of modern diesel-powered buses and the older generation of players started to pass as well. Only in the 2010's did a hot rod enthusiast find Pak Budahar and install his kalason in the car to be played once more for the first time in years.

I went to meet Pak Budahar years ago and shoot this video - a dream come true after reading about the tradition years before. He was a sweet, funny man whose eyes filled with longing when he talked of his musical journeys across Sumatra. "When I think of those days," he said, "I want to go back."

Pak Budahar passed away in 2023. This post is dedicated to him - a real Minang musical legend who literally spread music across Sumatra, providing sweet solace to his passengers for decades. Next time you honk your horn, I hope you think of him ❤️

Hear and learn more at Aural Archipelago's first proper blog post in months (including recordings, photos, and much more on the history of kalason and Pak Budahar) at the link below:

https://www.auralarchipelago.com/aura...