Gerongers (Kelompok Gerong atau Penyinden) Laras Kanita

''Gerong'' ( jv, ꦒꦼꦫꦺꦴꦁ, translit=gerong) is the Javanese verb meaning "to

sing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

in a

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

." ''Penggerong'' is the proper name of a member of the chorus, but often the word gerong is used to refer to the unison male chorus that sings with the

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 ...

. The chorus or the

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

may also be called the gerongan. The gerong generally sings in distinct sections of a gamelan composition. Certain standard texts in Javanese

poetic meter In poetry, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set o ...

s of various structures are used in many compositions; some are based in Javanese poetic forms known as

macapat Javanese poetry (poetry in the Javanese or especially the Kawi language; Low Javanese: ''tembang''; High Javanese: ''sekar'') is traditionally recited in song form. The standard forms are divided into three types, sekar ageng, sekar madya, and sek ...

. Some pieces have specific texts written for them, but this is often a special treatment. Female singers are referred to as ''pesindhen'', and may sing in a separate group, a combined group with the men, or as a solo female voice, with or without a male chorus. A gerong part is different from that of a single female singer sindhen, in that the chorus must sing together, and is generally more connected to the steady pulse of the underlying gamelan parts. While vocal parts for both male and female singers can be notated in the cipher or number notation called

kepatihan notation Notation plays a relatively minor role in the oral traditions of Indonesian gamelan but, in Java and Bali, several systems of gamelan notation were devised beginning at the end of the 19th century, initially for archival purposes. Kepatihan Kep ...

, the actual realization of these parts will always be open to stylistic and other variations. The noted Javanese musician K. P. H. Notoprojo (known to his students as Pak Cokro) wrote out vocal notation for many pieces. These are now on line in the library of the American Gamelan Institute.http://www.gamelan.org/library The Vocal Music of K.R.T. Wasitodipuro

References

Gamelan instruments Singing {{Indonesia-stub

See also

References