Why the Ancient Musical Essence is Still Retained in Dusun Tindal’s Instrumental Music within its Modern Community?

Objective – This paper examines Dusun Tindal's instrumental music practice within the context of modernity of the society in Tenghilan, a town that is located on northwest Sabah. Methodology/Technique – The study looks into the deriving modish musical styles and forms in the root of the ancient traditions especially in the aspects of musical natures, music compositions, musical functions and philosophies. Dusun Tindal belongs to the largest ethnic group of Kadazandusun in Sabah and is widely exposed to rapid technological modernization and subsequent interactions within a multi-cultural society and new contexts of performance in the cosmopolitan cities. Since 1990s, the Dusun Tindals in Tenghilan have begun to lose most of their old musical culture. Contemporary musical groups are developed such as the Bamboo Orchestra, which becomes trendy and popular among their youngsters. Findings – The contemporary musical ensemble is a newly developed tradition combining a mixture of traditional and western musical instruments and styles. Due to the new mind-sets and tastes of their young people, as well as to open up opportunities to venture into the exotic blooms of globalized musical festivals and tourism, their music is manifold and endeavouring in captive of the hearts of the global audience. However, the people still keep hold of some of their old traditions realizing the integral role they play in their life and society. The people are also aware of the power of these primeval cultural constituents that have attracted a colossal number of audiences and guaranteed the consumable sales of their performance tickets and CDs. Novelty – This study attempts to disclose the grounds and rationales behind the persistence of the Dusun Tindals in upholding their ancient musical essence until today. Type of Paper: Empirical