Madeeh Ensemble comes from the upper Padawan region which is situated about 65km from Sarawak’s state capital, Kuching. The surrounding region consists of many villages and longhouses, mainly lived by the Bidayuh ethnic group.

Madeeh, is a name which means cousins, relatives, brotherhood or sisterhood. The band’s name came about as all of the band members are related and from the same longhouse, Annah Ra’ih, one of the longhouses that still retains the traditional music, dance and folksong.


The lead instrument is the Pratuokng, a Bamboo zither made entirely from the body of a bamboo tube. Patukng, is a species of bamboo that grows mainly in the highland or mountain area.

As there is no written history about the instrument, the older generation orally explain that it has always been around for a very long time, since bamboo grows in abundance around the longhouse. It was created and played as a pastime and entertainment, though at first, the making was quite crude. Gradually, it was refined and became an instrument to play traditional music to accompany traditional dances and folksongs. As it is considered a lead instrument, it can be played solo and when playing in an ensemble, few players would be playing the Pratuokng, accompanied by other players with other instruments, such as Gaduok (percussion) and Sritakng (xylophone).