The bonang is an

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

used in the Javanese

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 ...

. It is a collection of small gongs (sometimes called "kettles" or "pots") placed horizontally onto strings in a wooden frame (''rancak''), either one or two rows wide. All of the kettles have a central boss, but around it the lower-pitched ones have a flattened head, while the higher ones have an arched one. Each is tuned to a specific pitch in the appropriate scale; thus there are different bonang for

pelog Pelog ( su, ᮕᮦᮜᮧᮌ᮪, translit=Pélog /pelog/, jv, ꦥꦺꦭꦺꦴꦒ꧀, ban, ᬧᬾᬮᭀᬕ᭄, translit=Pélog /pelok/) is one of the essential tuning systems used in gamelan instruments that has heptatonic scale. The other, ...

and

slendro Slendro ( jv, ꦱ꧀ꦭꦺꦤ꧀ꦢꦿꦺꦴ, ban, slendro, translit=Sléndro) ( su, salendro, translit=Saléndro) is one of the essential tuning systems used in gamelan instruments that have pentatonic scale. Based on Javanese mythology, ...

. They are typically hit with padded sticks (''tabuh''). This is similar to the other cradled gongs in the gamelan, the

kethuk The kempyang and ketuk are two instruments in the gamelan ensemble of Indonesia, generally played by the same player, and sometimes played by the same player as the kenong. They are important beat-keepers in the colotomic structure of the gam ...

kempyang The kempyang and ketuk are two instruments in the gamelan ensemble of Indonesia, generally played by the same player, and sometimes played by the same player as the kenong. They are important beat-keepers in the colotomic structure of the game ...

, and

kenong The Kenong is a musical instrument of Indonesia used in the gamelan. It is a kind of gong and is placed on its side. It has the same length and width. Thus, it is similar to the bonang, kempyang, and ketuk, which are also cradled gongs. Kenon ...

. Bonang may be made of forged

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

, welded and cold-hammered

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

, or a combination of metals. In addition to the gong-shaped form of kettles, economical bonang made of hammered iron or brass plates with raised bosses are often found in village gamelan, in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

-style gamelan, and in some

American gamelan American gamelan could refer to both instruments and music; the term has been used to refer to gamelan-style instruments built by Americans, as well as to music written by American composers to be played on gamelan instruments. American gamelan m ...

. In central Javanese gamelan there are three types of bonang used: Bonang barung and panerus

*Bonang panerus is the highest of them, and uses the smallest kettles. It generally covers two octaves (sometimes more in

on Solonese-style instruments), covering approximately the same range as the

saron SARON stands for Swiss Average Rate Overnight and represents the overnight interest rate of the secured funding market for the Swiss Franc (CHF). (Swiss Average Rate Overnight) is an overnight interest rates average referencing the Swiss Fra ...

and

peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

combined. It plays the fastest rhythms of the bonang, either interlocking with or playing at twice the speed of the bonang barung. *Bonang barung is pitched one octave below the bonang panerus, and also generally covers two octaves, approximately the same range as the

demung The saron is a musical instrument of Indonesia, which is used in the gamelan. It normally has seven bronze bars placed on top of a resonating frame (''rancak''). It is usually about 20 cm (8 in) high, and is played on the floor by a s ...

and saron combined. This is one of the most important instruments in the ensemble, as it gives many of the cues to other players in the gamelan. *Bonang panembung is pitched the lowest. It is more common in Yogyanese style gamelan, covering approximately the same range as the

slenthem The slenthem (also slentem or gender panembung) is an Indonesian metallophone which makes up part of a Javanese gamelan orchestra. The slenthem is part of the gendér family. It consists of a set of bronze keys comprising a single octave: there ...

and

combined. When present in Solonese-style gamelan, may have only has one row of six (slendro) or seven kettles sounding in the same register as the

. It is reserved for the most austere repertoire, typically playing a paraphrase of the

balungan The ''balungan'' ( jv, skeleton, frame) is sometimes called the "core melody" or, "skeletal melodic outline," of a Javanese gamelan composition. This corresponds to the view that gamelan music is heterophonic: the ''balungan'' is then the melody ...

. The parts played by the

bonang barung The bonang is an Indonesian musical instrument used in the Javanese gamelan. It is a collection of small gongs (sometimes called "kettles" or "pots") placed horizontally onto strings in a wooden frame (''rancak''), either one or two rows wid ...

and

bonang panerus The bonang is an Indonesian musical instrument used in the Javanese gamelan. It is a collection of small gongs (sometimes called "kettles" or "pots") placed horizontally onto strings in a wooden frame (''rancak''), either one or two rows wid ...

are more complex than many instruments in the gamelan; thus, it is generally considered an

elaborating instrument The panerusan instruments or elaborating instruments are one of the divisions of instruments used in Indonesian gamelan. Instead of the rhythmic structure provided by the colotomic instruments, and the core melody of the balungan instruments, t ...

. Sometimes it plays melodies based on the

, though generally modified in a simple way. However, it can also play more complex patterns, obtained by combining barung and panerus patterns, such as the alternation of interlocking parts (

imbal ''Imbal'' () or ''imbalan'' (''imbal-imbalan'', ''demung imbal'') is a technique used in Indonesian Javanese gamelan. It refers to a rapid alternation of a melodic line between instruments, in a way similar to hocket in medieval music or ''koteka ...

) and the interpolation of florid melodic patterns (

sekaran The panerusan instruments or elaborating instruments are one of the divisions of instruments used in Indonesian gamelan. Instead of the rhythmic structure provided by the colotomic instruments, and the core melody of the balungan instruments, th ...

). The ''kolenang'', a bonang whose single row of kettles is laid out in a V or U shape, is a leading melodic instrument in the

Sundanese Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...

Gamelan degung ''Gamelan degung'' is a form of Sundanese musical ensemble that uses a subset of modified gamelan instruments with a particular mode of ''degung'' scale. The instruments are manufactured under local conditions in towns in West Java such as Bogo ...

.''Gamelan Degung''
in "Sekar Enggal: Music of West Java" The bonang is similar to the Balinese

reong The reyong (also spelled reong) is a musical instrument used in Balinese gamelan. It consists of a long row of metal gongs suspended on a frame. In gamelan gong kebyar, it is played by four players at once, each with two mallets. Often the indi ...

and the single row

kulintang Kulintang ( id, kolintang, ms, kulintangan) is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums. As part of ...

of the southern Philippines and Borneo.

References

External links

Bonang page, including audio
*https://web.archive.org/web/20131112035309/http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~jjordan/gamelan/bonang.html {{Authority control Balungan instruments Gongs Articles containing video clips

See also

References

External links