Gamelan (AoS 2 – Shared Music) The orchestra of Gongs, Metallophones and drums from Indonesia Gamelan – comes from Java and Bali (2 islands in Indonesia) - For religious events and celebrations - Has entertainments along with it like Shadow Puppet Shows. - Each village has a gamelan orchestra and a special place (like a band stand) for performance. - While there is anything from 5 to 40 performers, each with a separate instrument, the whole lot is seen as ONE instrument called a Gamelan. - All players and parts are equally important. It’s NOT like tune and accompaniment where the tune is most important. - Each separate instrument is unique to its gamelan. You cannot take one instrument and put it in another gamelan. It would not sound right. - The gamelan is part of the soul of the village, so should never be moved from the village. - This is why they are quite rare in the Western world. - Each Gamelan has a connection to heaven. You should NEVER step over an instrument or you may break this connection. - There is no written music. It is a great honour to be chosen to play. You cannot just decide to have a go. - Each player should learn every part and be able to play any part of the gamelan. How the music is made – - There are 2 different scales SLENDRO (5 equally spread notes) and PELOG(7 notes – though often only 5 are used) Excerpt to explain Slendro and Pelog - Real Slendro Music - More Slendro – the string instrument is a Rebab. For both listen to the different layers, occasional gongs and different speed of each parts. - Simple tune to show Pelog - Actual Pelog piece – listen for the layers! - - These scales have numbers instead of notes. Never written down. Main tune – - Though each part on any instrument is equally important, there is a main tune or core of the music. This is called BALUNGAN (Java) or POKOK (Bali) - The tune is played over and over in a cyclic loop on the SARON – a kind of matallophone like a Glockenspiel. This cyclic loop is called Gongan. - Higher pitched instruments play double speed – repeating each note - Lower instruments play bit of the tune. - Further instruments decorate the tune which makes the whole thing more impressive. Other Instruments – - Gender – bronze keys with bamboo pipes under to make the sound bigger and richer (decorates the Saron tune) Gender explanation - Bonang – 2 rows of small gongs sitting on wooden frame (Looks like upturned pots and pans) Bonang example - Any string instrument is Celempung Celempung example - Any flute like instrument is Suling Suling are the flutes! - Gongs mark the rhythm. Tie biggest (Gong Ageng) marks the end of the rhythm cycle. The gongs are hung from a large wooden frame. Gongs - Pictures of the instruments here Structure - There are many layers of rhythm going at different speeds. It is therefore Polyphonic or even Heterophonic. - There is a clear 4 beats in a bar. - Each bar is called a Keteg - The whole rhythmic cycle (often 8 bars or Keteg s) is called a Gongan - Drummers keep the speed/ Tempo A bit like a conductor in an orchestra. - The drums are played held sideways one skin for each hand. Drum is called Gendang. - More background information here you can navigate through this site to find out more information. Durham University Gamelan – with some people talking about it. More Gamelan to listen to .