I Wayan Balawan (born September 9, 1972 in
Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
), better known by the single name Balawan, is an Indonesian
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
and
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
. He is best known as a Batuan Ethnic Fusion guitarist and his ability to play
double neck guitar
A multi-neck guitar is a guitar that has multiple fingerboard necks. They exist in both electric and acoustic versions. Although multi-neck guitars are quite common today, they are not a modern invention. Examples of multi-neck guitars and lutes ...
. Balawan has developed the 8 Fingers Touch Style technique, which also known as the Touch-Tapping Style. He is often regarded as one of the fastest guitarists in Indonesia. He is also called The Magic Finger guitarist among the world's music community.
Personal life
Balawan listened to
Balinese gamelan
Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...
, a
traditional music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
style from Bali, since birth. At the age of eight he taught himself to play guitar. He joined his first band when he was 14 years old. Although he grew up in a traditional Balinese culture, Balawan played more
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
songs than gamelan. Some of his favorite bands were The
Scorpions
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
,
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
and
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
.
Eventually he became bored with rock music and decided to study jazz at the
Australian Institute of Music
The Australian Institute of Music (AIM) is an Australian private tertiary education provider, with campuses in Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria.
Founded in 1968, AIM delivers education for careers in the Australian music, entert ...
in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
.
During his studies towards a
Diploma
A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...
of Music, he was awarded a three-year
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholarsh ...
. He studied in Sydney for about five years, during which time he also gained popularity for his exceptional talent of playing guitar and jazz music. After he obtained his Diploma of Music in 1997, he went back to Bali and formed a band called Batuan Ethnic Fusion, which combined the traditional Balinese gamelan music with jazz / fusion style.
Career
His first professional band, Batuan Ethnic Fusion, is still active. Besides being a
band member, Balawan is also working on his solo career and has released three albums. His first solo album was "Balawan", which released in 1997 by the
Acoustic Music Label, a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
company. Later, he worked with an Indonesian
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
, and with his band, he released his first band album, "GloBALIsm", under Chico&Ira production in 1999. Recently Balawan launched his second solo album, "Magic Fingers", under the
Sony-BMG Music Indonesia label. Magic Fingers really showcases Balawan's abilities in arranging and composing and his ability to blend modern music with traditional Balinese gamelan.
:''"It's always exciting to find new things in art and Batuan Ethnic Fusion is a perfect example of artist who explore into the great spectrum in art with passion, love, beauty and freedom..." -
Indra Lesmana
Indra Lesmana (born in Jakarta, Indonesia on 28 March 1966) is an Indonesian arranger, composer, songwriter and jazz musician of mixed Dutch, Javanese, Minangkabau and Madurese descent. He is the father of Indonesian actress and singer-songwr ...
''
at the same time using just one instrument.
Usually Balawan uses all four fingers of his right hand to create the melody progressions and his left hand to create the bass and
ic sounds. Another unique thing is that there is no pattern or repetition whatsoever between the left and right hand. Thus Balawan has a very exceptional skill of playing guitar.
Balawan also plays drums, both to fill the tracks on his albums and to develop the "Touch Tapping" style.
. Balawan's
on both upper neck and lower neck, which utilises MIDI pickups to translate the notes he plays into
notes played via off-board synths and samplers.