Gamelan-the Facts

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Gamelan-the Facts

• Gamelan is a type of Indonesian music that
  originated on the island of Java.

• Javanese Gamelan was taken to Bali in the 15th
  century.

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Map
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Gamelan-the Facts

• There are two main types of Gamelan, Javanese and
  Balinese.
• Both are of great importance to the Asian musical
  culture and are used for religious, political and
  entertainment purposes.
• Balinese Gamelan can be identified from Javanese
  because of its quicker pace and brighter
  tonality.

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Gamelan Instruments

• The Gamelan ensemble mainly consists of tuned
  percussion instruments

• The Xylophones these are called Gangsa
  Ugal, Calung, Jegogan which are made of
  bronze or bamboo. These instruments sometimes
  provide the melody and improvised flourishes.

Gangsa
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Gamelan Instruments

• A drum called the Kendang and a set of small
  cymbals called Cengceng contribute
  to the rhythmic background of
  the music.

Kendang

• There is also a two string fiddle called the
  Rebab and a bamboo flute called a Suling
  which is mainly used in theatrical performances.

Cengceng
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Gamelan instruments

• The Gongs there are
• several types. The Kemong,
• Kempur and Gong are
• suspended from a frame.
• They are used to mark time
• in the music and to mark
• the beginning and end of
• sections.

Kemong, Kempur, Gong
Ketuk

• The Trompong and Reyong are set in a long
  wooden stand. The Trompong contains 10 kettles
  and is a solo instrument The Reyong has 12
  kettles and has 4 players. Like the xylophones
  these provide improvised flourishes.

Reyong
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Listening
In this example the gongs that define the
sections can be heard clearly
In this example it is possible to hear the
decoration
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Structure

• Gamelan music is like a tree
• TrunkBass line
• Branchesmelody
• Leavesornamentation

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Trunk

• Melody is played by the lower instruments
• Is slower as a bass line

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Branches

• Melody is known as a nuclear melody
• Learnt aurally by Gamelan musicians.
• Used by the rest of the group in the different
  layers.

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Gongs

• Each section of music is marked by different
  types of gongs.
• There are four gongs.
• The smallest marks the shortest passing of time.
• The two middle gongs mark every four beats.
• The largest gong marks the end of a musical
  phrase or section.

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Structure Summary

• When thinking about structure in Gamelan music,
  there are two important ideas
• The nuclear melody is used in the structuring
  of the different layers.
• The gongs are used to provide structure of the
  musical phrases.

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Composition Task
Compose a piece of gamelan music using the trunk
- branch - leaves structure
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What you should know
Students should examine Indonesian gamelan music.
They should understand that the gamelan
is regarded as one large instrument with many
players performing on a variety of
gongs, metallophones and drums. They should
explore and experiment with the musical
characteristics such as the heterophonic layering
of sounds and the two scales, slendro (5 note)
and pelog (7 note). They should be aware that
gamelans have spiritual significance for
Indonesians and that performances form an
important part of community life. Gamelan forms
the basis of shadow puppet plays, poetry, dance,
drama, traditional rituals and ceremonies.
Students should be aware that the oral tradition
was traditionally used to train musicians and
that, although there is a numerical system of
notation it is only used as a memory aid and not
in performance (Taken from the edexel
sylabus) Informative web site about Gamelan