Alip Ba Ta The world of Indonesian music should not be underestimated. A number of artists have gone international and are known in a number of countries. Call it Anggun or Agnes Mo. Even among world music festivals, Indonesia has made history by winning a number of international awards. But this one is phenomenal.
Alip Ba Ta ‘The Master Harmonics’
Not an artist or music celebrity who can bewitch the whole world, he’s just a forklift operator. He is a man whose full name is Alif Gustakiyat, better known as Alip Ba Ta. He also remained modest and continued to work as a forklift operator in a company.
Who doesn’t know Alip Ba Ta?
For those who like to play YouTube, you know exactly who the person is. Simplicity is also displayed by Alip by uploading the video not from a sophisticated music studio with capable audio. But only through an ordinary camera, against the background of the bedroom wall with a calendar.
However, thanks to his skill in playing fingerstyle guitar, which is so riveting, Alip Ba Ta has caught the attention of the world’s audience, especially music fans. Even though he has only been actively posting his videos for about 4 years. From his skill in picking the guitar, he seems to be able to earn billions per year. But until now Alip still appears in simplicity. Appear in the video wearing only a T-shirt, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
One other characteristic of him is wearing a hat that says:
“Already Bathed, If You Don’t Believe Just Kiss It”.
The appearance of the musical instrument Alip, who some people call a guitar god, continues to enchant the world and reaps a flood of praise. Ranging from domestic musicians to world-class musicians. The man from Ponorogo Regency was born on August 31, 1988 (age 34 years) until now. Has 5.63 million subscribers on his YouTube account. An amazing achievement, with followers from all over the world.
Almost every Alip upload now, apart from being reported by his followers, is also reacted to by reactors (people giving feedback/assessments) from all over the world. Most of them agreed Alip’s skill and the beauty of the music he played in his own style, earned him the nickname ‘Master of Harmonics’.
The Beauty of Music: Master of Harmonics
The observers or the reactors were enchanted the first time they saw Alip’s video broadcast. Qualified fingerstyle techniques, stunning finger speed, and the ability to create beautiful music with just a guitar. Appearing sitting cross-legged on the floor, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, that’s how Alip appears in almost all of his videos.
Shown in the background is a cup of coffee he has been drinking, as well as a lit cigarette.
Later, the audience was even more amazed, because the burning cigarette was a sign that Alip was taking pictures of his video in one shot (one take). Alip was able to enchant the audience with a beautiful, complete, clear mix of music that came out only from an acoustic guitar.
In one song he plays not only riffs, but also vocal parts, melodies, basses, and even beats (as if drum sounds) through his fingers simultaneously or at other times taking turns. And that’s not an easy thing to achieve. It took decades and expert guidance to achieve this. An American music professor who responded to Alip’s video said it was unfair to compare Alip to Jimmy Hendrix or Eric Clapton. The zones are different.
Like comparing oranges to apples.
However, he said, with his ability to create harmony and the beauty of music, Alip, with his talents and abilities, is one of the best in his zone. Alip has abilities that are almost difficult for others to have. Deserve to be called the ‘Master of Harmonics’ or roughly the master of combining musical harmony with the beauty of harmonic techniques.
In terms of theory, harmonic techniques are played naturally at harmonic points already available at certain frets. The most frequently used (and the loudest sound) are the natural harmonics on the V, VII, and XII frets. How to play it is to touch the string just above the fret with your left finger, then pluck it with your right finger. The touch should be as gentle as possible, do not press the strings so that the sound is clear and loud.
One of the videos that caught the most attention was the OST Titanic:
My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion), which was watched more than 16 million times. In this video, Alip surprisingly plays the intro with his left hand at the beginning using the ‘pull off’ and ‘hammer on’ techniques. Then unexpectedly the right hand simultaneously played the flute.
Cash’s only appearance praised all-out. Some say it’s impossible, some say it’s divine level, and most agree that magnificent and beautiful music, which only came out of an acoustic guitar and an Alip Ba Ta. Another song that was watched a lot and received a lot of praise was Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen). The video has been watched by more than 13 million people.
Those who watched the video said they were bewitched and did not believe what Alip was showing. Such a song that is difficult to play seems easy for Alip to present. He was able to recreate the splendor of Queen’s legendary song almost completely in his version, not completely copied. Starting from the intro, melodies, vocal lines, piano, bass, and drum beats, the acoustic guitar comes out harmoniously.
Again, many commented that it was impossible, a god-level ability. Alip is an alien.
Apart from fingerstyle covers (playing songs belonging to other bands or singers), Alip is also capable of creating his own songs that are no less flashy. There are “Sepur Tua”, “Gedabrul”, “Ironic”, “CT 43”, and the most popular “July 97”, as well as others. In the video “July 97”, Alip surprisingly showed for the first time his ability to play the electric guitar, which was ‘remixes’ to appear along with playing the acoustic guitar.
The song received a lot of praise from foreign musicians and reactors. At the same time, it also proves that Alip is not only good at playing fingerstyle covers. In playing his music, Alip also conducted experiments using a small device that functions as a vibrator when pressed on a guitar string (foreigners call it an e-bow). Among them is the OST song for the film The Last of The Mohicans, as well as Yurima’s song “Kiss in the Rain”.
With this tool, Alip’s acoustic guitar is able to emit a sound similar to a violin scraping.
Especially for the song “Kiss in the Rain”, Alip’s magic was able to make several female reactors shed tears without being able to hold back. They say that Alip is so good at conveying emotions through his acoustic guitar ‘singing’.
In addition, several songs belonging to Indonesian singers were able to attract the attention of Caucasians. Call it the song “Yank” by the band Wali, or “Ini Rindu” by Farid Harja. The last video shown by Alip is the OST for the cartoon Doraemon, which is popular in Indonesia, as well as in its home country, Japan.
This song that is familiar to children’s ears is able to be performed by Alip with thick emotions of joy in beautiful harmony, through the speed of his fingers. Even in one of the reactor videos, this song is said to have gone viral in Tokyo. Now, with more than 6 million subscribers, Alip’s appearance continues to be awaited.
No kidding, by viewers from all corners of the world. Alip’s simplicity, the beauty of his music, and his lack of arrogance in showing off his abilities have enchanted the world. Indonesia continues to be called by its video connoisseurs.