Mereka cukup mengulang bagian refrein beberapa kali sampai vokalis merasa puas.

In Mereka cukup mengulang bagian refrein beberapa kali…, cukup means “just / simply / only to the extent of”, with a nuance of “that was enough to achieve the goal.”

• cukup

  • Core meaning: enough, sufficiently.
  • In this context it can be felt as:
    
    • They just had to repeat…
    • It was enough for them to repeat…
  • Implies that no more effort was needed than what they did.

• hanya / saja

  • Both often mean “only / just” but without the nuance of sufficiency.
  • hanya is placed before the verb/noun:
    
    • Mereka hanya mengulang bagian refrein… = They only repeated the refrain part (and didn’t do other things).
  • saja usually comes after the verb/phrase:
    
    • Mereka mengulang bagian refrein saja… = They repeated the refrain part only.

So:

• cukup mengulang = repeating was sufficient to achieve the result (vocalist satisfied).
• hanya/saja mengulang = they only repeated (and nothing else), but doesn’t automatically suggest “that was enough”.

Both come from ulang and can be related to “repeat”, but there is a nuance:

• mengulang

  • Often used intransitively (no clear direct object), or when the object is more general.
  • Common in speech: mengulang lagu, mengulang pelajaran, mengulang bagian refrein.
  • Sounds very natural here.

• mengulangi

  • Feels a bit more explicitly transitive and somewhat more formal or specific about the object.
  • You can say mengulangi bagian refrein, and it’s still correct, just a bit more formal/bookish.

In everyday usage, mengulang bagian refrein is perfectly natural and common. Mengulangi wouldn’t be wrong; it just slightly shifts the style.

• bagian = part / section
• refrein = refrain / chorus (loanword, often spelled refrain or refrein in Indonesian).

bagian refrein literally means “the refrain section (of the song)”. Using bagian:

• Emphasizes that they are repeating only that specific part of the song.
• Sounds very natural when talking about sections of music:
  
  • bagian intro (intro part)
  • bagian verse
  • bagian refrein

Saying just refrein is also possible:

• Mereka cukup mengulang refrein beberapa kali…
  This is still correct; it just sounds a bit more compact. Bagian refrein is a bit more explicit that we’re talking about that section.

• beberapa = several, some
• kali = times (occurrences)

So beberapa kali = “several times / a few times” (a limited number, but more than once).

berkali-kali = many times / over and over, with a sense of repetition to a high degree.

In this sentence:

• beberapa kali suggests they repeated it maybe 3–5 times, not excessively.
• If you said berkali-kali, it would sound like they repeated it a lot, possibly annoyingly or for a long time.

In …beberapa kali sampai vokalis merasa puas, sampai means “until” and introduces the end condition/result of the repeated action.

• Rough English equivalent:
  
  • They repeated it several times until the vocalist felt satisfied.

Grammar-wise:

• sampai can introduce:
  • A time endpoint:
    
    • Saya belajar sampai jam tiga. = I study until three o’clock.
  • A resulting state, like here:
    
    • Dia berlari sampai capek. = He ran until he was tired.
    • …sampai vokalis merasa puas. = …until the vocalist feels/felt satisfied.

You could almost paraphrase it as “to the point that” the vocalist felt satisfied.

Yes, you can say either:

• …sampai vokalis puas.
• …sampai vokalis merasa puas.

Differences:

• puas alone

  • Adjective: satisfied.
  • vokalis puas = the vocalist is satisfied.
  • More direct and a bit shorter.

• merasa puas

  • merasa = to feel.
  • Literally: “the vocalist feels satisfied.”
  • Slightly more explicit about the subjective feeling of satisfaction.

In practice, both are natural. merasa puas can sound a bit more descriptive or careful, but everyday speech often just uses puas:

• …sampai vokalis puas.

Indonesian usually does not mark tense on the verb. Context tells you whether the action is past, present, or future.

The sentence by itself:

• Mereka cukup mengulang bagian refrein beberapa kali sampai vokalis merasa puas.

could be interpreted as:

• Past: They repeated the refrain part several times until the vocalist was satisfied.
• Present/habitual: They (usually) just repeat the refrain part several times until the vocalist is satisfied.
• Future (with added time phrase):
  
  • Nanti mereka cukup mengulang… = Later they will just repeat…

If you want to mark time more clearly, you add time words:

• tadi (earlier), kemarin (yesterday), sudah / telah (already) for past.
• akan (will), nanti (later), besok (tomorrow) for future.

• vokalis is a loanword from English “vocalist”, meaning the singer, usually the main singer in a band.

Indonesian nouns usually don’t change form for singular/plural. vokalis can mean:

• a vocalist / the vocalist, or
• vocalists (in the right context).

In this sentence:

• Mereka = they (plural).
• vokalis is most naturally understood as one specific vocalist (for example, the band’s singer).

If you wanted to be explicit:

• para vokalis = (multiple) vocalists.
• seorang vokalis = one vocalist.

The usual and natural position for cukup when it modifies a verb or adjective is before it:

• cukup mengulang
• cukup cepat (fast enough)
• cukup jelas (clear enough)

Putting it after the verb (mengulang cukup) is not natural in Indonesian in this meaning. mengulang cukup would sound incomplete, like you’re about to say “cukup apa?” (“enough what?”).

So the pattern is:

• cukup + verb/adjective = sufficiently X / X enough
  
  • cukup makan = eat enough
  • cukup panjang = long enough
  • cukup mengulang = repeating is sufficient

You can say:

• Cukup mengulang bagian refrein beberapa kali sampai vokalis merasa puas.

This would be understood as something like:

• (You/they) just need to repeat the refrain part several times until the vocalist is satisfied.

Differences:

• Mereka cukup mengulang…
  
  • More explicit: They (subject) just repeat…
• Cukup mengulang…
  
  • Slightly more instructional or impersonal, like saying “Just repeat the refrain part…”
  • The subject is implied (often you or they depending on context).

Both are grammatical, but the original sentence explicitly states the subject mereka.

refrein (or often spelled refrain) is common, but there are other options:

• refrein / refrain
  
  • Loanword; widely understood in music contexts.
• refrain lagu
  
  • More explicitly: the song’s refrain.
• bagian chorus
  
  • Also used, using English chorus.
• bagian puncak lagu
  
  • More descriptive: the climactic part of the song (not strictly a technical term).

In everyday conversation among musicians, you’ll hear:

• refrein, refrain, or chorus, often with bagian:
  
  • bagian refrein, bagian chorus.

The form in your sentence, bagian refrein, is very natural.