Gamelan Music

(Gamelan: http://www.weltrekordreise.ch/bilder%20id/040-P1090109.jpg)

What do you know about Gamelan music? Probably not too much. Don’t fret, I’m going to give you an overview. A Gamelan is a type of traditional music ensemble that holds large importance in Indonesian culture; generally from the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali (Javenese and Balinese Gamelan, both of which are slightly different). A gamelan ensemble generally consists of a variety of instruments, mostly percussion, such as gongs, kendangs, metallophones, and xylophones, but also includes some non-percussion instruments such as bamboo flutes, and bowed and plucked strings. The term gamelan originates from the Javanese word gamel, a type of hammer hence the use of percussion. Javanese gamelans mainly use two tuning systems (laras); sléndro and pélog, such as in Udan Mas. The sléndro system has five evenly spaced notes per diapason (octave), similar to a pentatonic scale, and the pélog system has seven notes at uneven intervals per diapason.  Three sets of five pitch positions are used in the pélog system, although it uses seven notes per octave. Other laras in Gamelan Music include the likes of degung and madenda. Traditionally, Gamelan music is taught and passed down through generations orally. However, types of notation have come into use in more modern times, mainly for the use of those studying Gamelan music and foreigners.  The modern notations and their approximate Western-pitch equivalents are charted below ( Samarsam 2002):