This style of zither-ensemble was developed in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. Centered on the city of Bandung, this renewed vitality led to the nation-wide (and world-wide) popularity, together with other genres like jaipongan. Kacapi Suling is usually played at interludes between songs in a performance of the classical song-form Tembang Sunda. The term refers to the two plucked string instruments and the flute. There is a higher-pitched kacapi rincik, a lower-pitched kacapi indung and the suling ornamenting the melody. During a dinner-to-dawn house concert of Tembang Sunda, instrumental pieces like these would offer light interludes between the weightiness of the songs. The pieces of songs are available in three scales. Laras pelog, conveying a lighter mood. Laras sorog, a more somber mood. And laras Salendro, conveying a happier mood. ^[1]

The Sundanese zither (kacapi) often serves to represent Sundanese culture. It plays as either a solo or an ensemble instrument, associated with both villagers and aristocrats. The instrument may take the form of a boat in tembang Sunda, or the form of a board zither in kacapian. It is sometimes drastically modified to include more strings, electric and electronic devices, and various styles of playing. In performance, one or more singers are accompanied by an 18-string zither (kacapi), a smaller, 15-string zither (rincik), and a 6-hole end-blown bamboo flute (suling). In a typical performance, the kacapi player outlines a cyclic structure of a song and the suling player improvises a melody based on the original song from the tembang Sunda repertoire. Kacapian refers to a flashy style of playing a board zither, and it is known as one of the sources of Sundanese popular music. It can be accompanied by a wide variety of instruments, and can be played instrumentally or as the accompaniment to either a male or female vocalist. ^[2]

Text references:

[1] Indonesian Classical Music from Sunda

[2] Sundanese Music

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