Presenter

R1814861T Mudavose Rovias

HISTORY OF THE GAMELAN
Gamelan dates back to before Hindu-Buddhist culture in
Indonesia and is a native art form.
In Javanese Mythology, it is believed that the Gamelan
was created by Sang Hyang Guru. He ruled from his
palace on the Maendra mountains.
He needed a way to summon the Gods, and so invented
the gong. For more complex messages, he invented two
more gongs and this formed the original gamelan set.
Gamelan is now played all over Indonesia but the most
popular types are Balinese and Javanese.
THE GAMELAN MUSIC OF INDONESIA
Bali is a small island in the Indonesia ocean. Part of
the huge nation of Indonesia made up of over 17000
islands from singapore in the west and australia in the
east.
Bali lies just east of java, indonesia’s most populated
island with the capital city of Dakata.
Indonesia is the world’s forth populated countries
(around 260 miliion).
They gained independence from the Dutch in 1945.
bali’s population is about 4.2 million.
Gamelan music
The word Gamelan is a generic term for various orchestras of tuned
percussion. There are more than 25 different kinds of Gamelan
differentiated by their size, number of instruments, tuning, repertoire
of pieces and function.
In Bali ensembles ranging in size from 4to 40 instrument.
The instruments may be made of bronze, which is most common or
bamboo or wood.
Some ensembles are very portable and small, while others are
extremely large and heavy so rarely moved.
Each gamelan has a unique tuning so there is no standard such as in
the Western music. Music compositions range from the so called
traditional and ageless to contemporary with known and much
respected composers.
Gamelan Music
Gamelan music is rarely played purely as concert music, more often
it accompanies dance and drama.
 Gamelan music is also functional and is usually performed during
ritual ceremonies to please the Gods who are believed to also enjoy
music as much as humans do.
Although the ensembles are often large, and performs extremely
complex music, there is never a conductor. Instead signals are found
in the music or in the form of gestures from on or two of the leading
musicians. Gamelan music is performed with the musicians sited on
the ground.
Traditionally, and still most commonly gamelan musicians are all
male. However, for the last 25 years or more many female musicians
had appeared though mixed gender groups are quite rare.
Techniques of playing the instruments
Most of the instruments are made of bronze so there is
need for dampening the notes after playing to avoid the
sound mixing together. What the players do is when …
The instruments are built in pairs but tuned deliberately
very slightly differently so as to create some kind of a very
brilliant and shimmering effect (waves) between the notes.
The compositions are built on melodies that are 4, 8, 16
(multiples of 4 ) beats in length. The cycle of these
melodies are articulated by the gong. The melodies are
elaborated with parts that interlock and fit together. One
melody will be on beat and the other off beat.
Facts about Gamelan
Before entering the area of the orchestra, shoes must
be removed.
Stepping over the instruments is forbidden
The instruments are said to have a connection with
the Gods therefore stepping over them breaks that
connection.
The instruments of the Gamelan orchestra
All instruments of the gamelan orchestra are all made
by highly-skilled craftsmen in village workshops, and are
sacred to the Balinese villages.
The instrument subgroups are idiophones which
include metallophones, gongs, and cymbals;
membranophones including wooden drums with heads
made from animal skin; aerophones which are
instruments made from a bamboo tube (blown similar
to Western woodwind instruments); and chordophones
which are types of string instruments (Bali Beyond,
2014)
The Bonang
The Bonang is very important for the melody in many
pieces of Gamelan music.
In lots of loud pieces, the Bonang plays a more
elaborate version of the basic melody.
The Bonang
Gender
Gender are played with two hands, each holding a
mallet with a padded disk-shaped head.
Because the instrument has a strong sustain, the
sound must be dampened with the wrists after striking
the next note.
Gender
The Saron Family
There are three instruments in the Saron family.
The demung is the largest and lowest of the family.
It is played with a hammer with a wooden head.
Saron barung is somewhat smaller than the demung.
Its bars sound an octave higher.
The peking is small and plays an octave higher than
the Saron Berung.
The musician uses a hammer made from an animal
horn.
The Saron
The Kenong
The musician sits in the middle of the kenong.
Kenong beaters are large sticks with a padded end.
Normally, the musician will play a kenong and let it
ring.
The Kenong
The Gong Suwuk
The gong suwuk are large gongs of definite pitch. The
gong ageng are very important to the Gamelan.
They mark the end of major divisions called gongan.
The big gong is also used when ending most pieces.
The Gong Suwuk
The Kempul
The Kempul are a set of pitched gongs.
These instruments often subdivide a line of Gamelan
music.
There are two racks of gongs because of the two
Gamelan scales called laras.
The Kempul
The ceng-ceng
Theceng-ceng consists of a set of four small cymbals
mounted inverted on a wooden frame, which are
struck with a pair of small cymbals held by the
musician to create crashing and shimmering effects.
Drums/Kendhang
There are several drums or kendhang of different sizes
in a Gamelan ensemble but not all of the drums are
necessarily played in one piece.
The laced drums have skin heads on both sides and
are played with the hand.
Drums/Kendhang
Gamelan Rhythm
Gamelan music interprets complex polyrhythms and
complex rhythmic patterns.
Although each separate rhythmic part itself is simple, the
interlocking rhythmic patterns create an excessive and
lively effect, making these combinations sound complex.
In saying this, all rhythms created compliment each other
very well.
The rhythmic characteristic of ostinatos are used
frequently in gamelan, and is usually played by the
Kempli or the Kajar.
Gamelan rhythm
Generally, most Balinese compositions are written in
simple meter where the strong beats fall on the second
and fourth beats of each bar, rather than on the first
and third beats of each bar like in most Western
music.
The gongs hold the role of marking structural points
within music, and therefore only play notes with
longer values such as minims or semibreves.
Gamelan rhythm
Traditionally, in a sixteen measured cycle; the small gong will
strike once every odd-numbered measure, the middle gong will
strike every fourth, eighth, twelfth, and sixteenth measure, and
the large gongs; Gong Wadon and Gong Lanang, will strike only
on the sixteenth measure to symbolise the end of the cycle (Bali
Beyond, 2014).
Gamelan music interprets complex polyrhythms and complex
rhythmic patterns.
Although each separate rhythmic part itself is simple, the
interlocking rhythmic patterns create an excessive and lively
effect, making these combinations sound complex. In saying
this, all rhythms created compliment each other very well
Gamelan melody
Kotekan is the unique sound of the Balinese gamelan
meaning ‘flowers’ and referring to the interlocking parts
played by two paired instruments such as the Gangsa,
Kantilan, or Reong.
The two parts; named polos and sangsih are highly
syncopated and interlock tightly.
This produces the effect of one seamless stream of melody.
Melodies are scalar and only sometimes jump by leaps.
The overall direction of melody is ascending and a
recognisable melodic structure is created through the use
of phrases mentioned earlier.
Gamelan texture
The texture of Balinese gamelan music is highly layered, and a
complex polyphonic texture is created.
The large usage of doubled instruments creates ombak (acoustic
beating), and resulting in thick textures is also developed.
A heterophonic texture, with different types of variation assigned
to different instruments, characterises the gamelan music of
Indonesia.
This complex heterophonic texture results from simultaneous
performances of melodic variants of the same tune.
Overall, the texture of Balinese gamelan music is very thick
however changes in this texture can change throughout solo
sections, as well as through slower variations within a piece.