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Where is this music from?
What instruments can
you hear?
Describe the texture?
THE GAMELAN
All the way from Indonesia…
From the islands of Java and Bali
The gamelan is a percussion orchestra,
Consisting of many instruments…
It is played by many people
within Indonesian communities
The Legend
The ancient God
SangHyang Guru
ruled over all of Java
from Mount Lawu
He used a mighty gong
To gather all the gods
and spirits Together…
as more gongs were added,
The Gamelan was created
The Gamelan in society
Because of the spiritual origins of the gamelan
Every instrument in the orchestra is highly
respected in society.
Each instrument is considered to
be linked to a God or spirit,
And must be looked after and
respected.
It is important never to step over a
gamelan instrument –
Showing the sole of your foot to the spirit
is highly disrespectful!
The Gamelan is played at many events
It can be played indoors
- The “Soft” style
It can be played outdoors
- the “Loud” style
It can also accompany
shadow puppet plays,
poetry readings,
and dancing too
Here are some of the LOUD instruments
The Saron
A type of xylophone with bronze bars
There are three types,
Each a bit bigger and lower sounding
The bonang
The bonang is a double row of bronze
kettles. Again, there are three types.
The kendang
Kendang are double-ended
Drums made from wood
And animal skin
Here are some of the SOFT instruments
The Slentem
Made of bronze bars suspended
over a bamboo frame
The Gender
Very similar to a slentem
but the playing technique is harder –
the player must dampen each note.
The gambang
The only instrument with
wooden bars instead of bronze
Phrase Instruments
The following instruments are in both ensembles,
and are used to keep the beat and mark phrases in the music.
The Gong Ageng
The spiritual heart of the Gamelan
The Kempul
Smaller, hanging gongs
Kenong and Ketuk
Bronze kettles used for small beats
The Kenong has a long sound
The Ketuk has a shorter sound
Other instruments
Some of the other instruments you may hear
playing with the gamelan
The Rebab
A small two-stringed instrument
The Suling
Rather like a wooden flute
And of course…
Singing and dancing!!
Scales and notes
The gamelan uses two different scales….
This 5 note scale is called Slendro….
Here is a piece of Slendro music
Scales and notes
The other scale is called Pelog – it uses 7 notes
It is considered more noble than slendro
And is sometimes used for meditation.
Here is a piece of Pelog music…
The Modern Gamelan
The modern gamelan combines enough instruments
To play both in the loud and soft styles,
And also pieces using both types of scales.
Some gamelan pieces even move from one style to another
Or from one scale to another.
Here is a piece of modern gamelan music…
The popularity of the gamelan
In recent years, gamelan music has been growing in popularity
in countries all over the world.
The community spirit and playability of the instruments means
that everyone can join in and make extraordinary music!!
The End