From Text to Tone: Implementation of the Alphabet-Pitch Module in the Creation of Music Based on Makassar Oral Tradition

Abstract

Abstract:

The This article discusses the creation of a contemporary music composition entitled Pappasang, which transforms Makassar ancestral messages into musical structures through a system called the Alphabet-Pitch Module. Pappasang is a Makassar oral tradition containing moral teachings, social values, and life guidance transmitted across generations. However, changes in communication patterns and contemporary lifestyles have gradually distanced younger generations from oral traditions, causing pappasang to increasingly exist only as archived text rather than as a living cultural practice.

This study aims to design the Alphabet-Pitch Module as a systematic text-to-pitch transformation method and to realize the transformed material in the form of a contemporary music composition. The research employs a practice-based creation approach informed by ethnomusicological perspectives, drawing upon Sapardi Djoko Damono’s concept of alih wahana (medium transference), Alan P. Merriam’s tripartite framework of concept, behavior, and sound, as well as Gareth Loy’s mathematical principles in music composition. The module converts each letter of the transliterated pappasang text into numerical values based on alphabetical order, which are then reduced through a cyclic system and mapped onto pitch structures within the Bayati and Ajam maqam systems.

The resulting composition was structured as an instructional score and performed by an ensemble consisting of Makassar kecapi, cello, oud/gambus, and electronic keyboard pads. The work applies a limited indeterminacy approach, allowing performers interpretative freedom in rhythm, duration, dynamics, and texture while remaining bound to predetermined pitch structures, maqam modality, phrase duration, and cue systems. The composition consists of seven phrases with a total duration of fourteen minutes, moving dramaturgically from a reflective atmosphere toward a more affirmative sonic space.

The findings demonstrate that pappasang text structures can be consistently transformed into traceable musical pitch sequences through the Alphabet-Pitch Module. This work contributes a new methodological approach to contemporary music creation based on traditional texts and opens possibilities for applied ethnomusicology, cultural revitalization, and sound-based archiving practices within Indonesian oral traditions.

Keywords: pappasang; alphabet-pitch module; contemporary music composition; maqam; alih wahana

 

work applies a limited indeterminacy approach, allowing performers interpretative freedom in rhythm, duration, dynamics, and texture while remaining bound to predetermined pitch structures, maqam modality, phrase duration, and cue systems. The composition consists of seven phrases with a total duration of fourteen minutes, moving dramaturgically from a reflective atmosphere toward a more affirmative sonic space.

The findings demonstrate that pappasang text structures can be consistently transformed into traceable musical pitch sequences through the Alphabet-Pitch Module. This work contributes a new methodological approach to contemporary music creation based on traditional texts and opens possibilities for applied ethnomusicology, cultural revitalization, and sound-based archiving practices within Indonesian oral traditions.