''Imbal'' () or ''imbalan'' (''imbal-imbalan'', ''demung imbal'') is a technique used in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n
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 refers to a rapid alternation of a melodic line between instruments, in a way similar to
hocket
In music, hocket is the rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. In medieval practice of hocket, a single melody is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that alternately one voice sounds wh ...
in medieval music or ''
kotekan
''Kotekan'' is a style of playing fast interlocking parts in most varieties of Balinese Gamelan music, including Gamelan gong kebyar, Gamelan angklung, Gamelan jegog and others.
Kotekan are "sophisticated interlocking parts," "characteristic ...
'' in Balinese gamelan. "A style of playing in which two identical or similar instruments play interlocking parts forming a single repetitive melodic pattern."
In Javanese gamelan, it is used especially for the ''
sarons'' and the ''
bonang
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 ...
s''. On the ''bonangs'', an ''imbal'' pattern is divided between the ''bonang panerus'' and ''bonang barung'', in the octave or so of range that both instruments have. When played on ''sarons'', generally two of the same instrument are used. Both ''bonang'' and ''saron'' patterns generally are made of scalar passages that end on the ''
seleh
The ''sèlèh'' note or ''nada seleh'' is an Indonesian music concept used in Javanese gamelan music. In Javanese gamelan music, the ''sèlèh'' note or ''nada seleh'' is the final note of a '' gatra'', or four- beat melodic unit. As such it is t ...
'' at the end of the ''
gatra''. Each key is
dampened as soon as the other instrument plays, and it allows the melody to be played faster or more smoothly than is possible by a single performer. "Basically, there are two bonang-playing techniques: ''imbal-imbalan'' and ''
pipilan''. Imbal-imbalan (interlocking) refers to the playing technique in which bonang barung and bonang panerus play interlocking patterns."
[ Sumarsam (1995). ''Gamelan: Cultural Interaction and Musical Development in Central Java'', p.217. University of Chicago. .]
On the ''
bonang
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 ...
s'', an ''imbal'' passage is usually followed by a ''
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, t ...
''.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Panerusan
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 ...
*
kotekan
''Kotekan'' is a style of playing fast interlocking parts in most varieties of Balinese Gamelan music, including Gamelan gong kebyar, Gamelan angklung, Gamelan jegog and others.
Kotekan are "sophisticated interlocking parts," "characteristic ...
*
Gatra
*
Gendhing structures
''Colotomy'' is an Indonesian description of the rhythmic and metric patterns of gamelan music. It refers to the use of specific instruments to mark off nested time intervals, or the process of dividing rhythmic time into such nested cycles. I ...
*
Music of Indonesia
As it is a country with many different tribes and ethnic groups, the music of Indonesia ( id, Musik Indonesia) itself is also very diverse, coming in hundreds of different forms and styles. Every region have its own culture and art, and as a r ...
*
Music of Java
The Music of Java embraces a wide variety of styles, both traditional and contemporary, reflecting the diversity of the island and its lengthy history. Apart from traditional forms that maintain connections to musical styles many centuries old, ...
References
{{Gamelan
Gamelan theory
Musical techniques