At the 1889 Paris Exposition (World's Fair), a concert of elegant and ancient Asian orchestra music was introduced to the West. Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie and other French composers were in attendance and were dealt indelible aural and emotional impressions. Debussy wrote, “Javanese music obeys laws of counterpoint that make Palestrina seem like child’s play... our own music is not much more than a barbarous kind of noise more fit for a traveling circus.” What was this music that caused such an impact on Debussy and other composers?
What Debussy and friends heard at the Paris Exposition was gamelan: an ensemble consisting of gongs, xylophones, metallophones, flutes, voices, and often bowed and plucked strings. This ensemble originated in ancient Indonesia and is still performed today for traditional ceremonies and events, making gamelan a long standing and integral part of Indonesian culture.
Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia, nestled between the Pacific and Indian oceans. It is the world's largest island nation, with more than seventeen thousand islands and over two hundred sixty-one million people. Indonesia is rooted in an ancient civilization, with villages, towns, and kingdoms flourishing by the first century CE. The unique sea-lane location fostered inter-island and international trade, allowing Indonesia to serve as a conduit for culture and technology from India, China, mainland Southeast Asia and Europe. Indonesia's ideal climate for spice production and sea-lane location was also a liability, and the principle reason they suffered centuries of colonization by the Dutch.
Submission of Prince Dipo Negoro to General De Kock | N. Pieneman (1809-60) | Indonesia was emancipated from Dutch rule in 1949. | Rijksmuseum
Gamelan predates the arrival of Hinduism to Java (c. 100-200 CE). Javanese mythology indicates gamelan was created by Sang Hyang Guru, a Javanese god king, in 230 AD. Guru used his gong to summon fellow gods. He needed additional instruments for more involved messages, so he built more gongs, forming the first set of gamelan instruments.
The earliest archaeological evidence of gamelan exists on an eighth century Buddhist monument in Borobudur, Java. Depicted musicians play lutes, drums, flutes, cymbals and bells, but lack the metallophones common to modern gamelan.
Modern Gamelan
Gamelan instruments evolved into their current state during Java’s Majapahit Empire, c. 1293 to 1500, contemporary with Europe’s late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Art was important to the Javanese and the Empire employed a government bureau to supervise performing arts, including gamelan. The bureau regulated instrument manufacture and gamelan performances at the royal court.
Compared to most acoustic instruments, gamelan is relatively loud and thus well suited to outdoor performances. Indeed, gamelan performances are traditionally held in open courtyards and pavilions.
Gong and Chime Music in Southeast Asia | Gong and chime ensembles, related to Gamelan, are found throughout Southeast Asia. | Wikimedia Commons
Related Ensembles
Although Java and Bali reign as the center of the gamelan universe, Indonesians are not its only practitioners. Indeed, gamelan influenced "gong and chime" ensembles have spread throughout Southeast Asia via migration, colonization and cultural interest, resulting in three major regional styles: Celempung (Malaysia), Piphat (Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia) and Kulintang (Philippines).
The influence of gamelan goes beyond Java's neighboring countries: varieties of gamelan exist in over twenty-five countries outside Indonesia. Moreover, many major Western universities offer gamelan ensemble as a college course, including the University of Hawaii at Manoa (MUS 311H). UHM even has a dedicated gamelan building that opens into a courtyard for performances!
Instruments
Although gamelan ensembles vary in size, style, tuning, scales, repertoire, function and instrumentation, all consist primarily of bronze percussive instruments such as gongs, chimes, cymbals and metallophones (metal xylophones). Many ensembles also contain drums, plucked and bowed string instruments, winds and singers.
Modern Javanese Gamelan | The bonang (small tuned gongs) is played on the left. | Photo, Gunawan Kartapranata | Wikimedia Commons
Metallophones
The most common gamelan instruments are metallophones, definite pitch idiophones instruments similar to xylophones. For example, the slenthem, a metallophone, is a prominent instrument within the gamelan ensemble.
Other common gamelan instruments include metallophones of varying sizes, flutes, rebab, and the human voice. Gamelan instruments are tuned slightly out of phase with one another, creating a shimmering sound.
The video below introduces popular gamelan instruments.
Sets of two-headed drums, called kendhang, control tempo, rhythm and musical transitions in the gamelan, similar to kakko's role in Japanese gagaku orchestras. Kendhang are positioned near the front of the ensemble (see video below). Major sections are marked by strokes of another indefinite pitch percussion instrument, the ketuk, a large gong placed at the rear of the ensemble.
Saron | A small metallophone | Fir0002/Flagstaffotos | Creative Commons
In gamelan ensembles, higher-pitched metallophones such as the saron (or saron panerus) play faster notes than lower-pitched instruments such as the slenthem. The lowest pitched instruments mark important beats in a musical cycle known as colotomic meter. This cyclical pattern marked by lowed pitched gongs is the underlying rhythmic structure of the work, roughly equivalent to Western meter but closer in concept to Hindustani tala. For example, in the 16-beat colotomic cycle known as ketawang, the biggest gong is struck only on a single beat. Thus, when this gong sounds it indicates the start of the piece and each subsequent cycle. The faster melodic and rhythmic parts are played over this colotomic cycle.
Gamelan Styles
There are currently three main Indonesian gamelan styles, classified according to region: Balinese (Bali), Javanese (Central Java), and Sundanese (Western Java). These styles share similar instruments, techniques and scales but differ in details of style and performance practice. For example, the two main scales used in gamelan music—the five-tone slendro and seven-tone pelog—are common elements of all three regional styles.
The Javanese regional style evolved as court music for Central Java nobles. This style is characterized by a slow and meditative quality. On the other hand, Balinese gamelan is the rock 'n roll of gamelan: virtuosic playing, fast tempos and rapid changes of tempo and dynamics. While Balinese gamelan is a minority style in Indonesia, it has a huge international following due to the booming tourist industry on Bali. We'll focus on Balinese gamelan for our listening assignment.
Manuk Anguci (The Chirping of Birds) is an example of Balinese gamelan music, specifically Gamelan Gong Kebyar. This piece, like most gamelan pieces, is organized in a cyclical structure and lacks the sense of beginning, middle and end common to Western music. Instead, gamelan musicians cycle through series of musical episodes, contrasting sections of intense melody, rhythm and texture with softer more meditative sections. The melodic structure is based on a pentatonic scale—a gapped five-note scale—known as slendro and is spun out in waves of intense repetition between groups of instruments.
The main melody is played on a metallophone in the center of the orchestra. To the rear, the larger metallophones and gongs slowly punctuate the front metallophone lines. The animated man in the center playing a metallophone, is called the ugal, a leader or conductor. His physical gestures cue the musicians around him. That's why you see him lift his mallet higher and move his head and shoulders. His instrument is also positioned higher than those to either side.
Manuk Anguci (Chirping of Birds) | Semara Ratih Balinese Gamelan performing in Ubud, Bali (8:45)
Indonesia
Instruments
Metallophones
Kendhang
Gamelan Styles
Know Your Gamelan Instruments
