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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. The most common instruments used are metallophones played by mallets and a set of hand-played drums called '' kendhang/Kendang'', which register the beat. The kemanak (a banana-shaped idiophone) and gangsa (another metallophone) are commonly used gamelan instruments in Bali. Other instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, a bowed instrument called a ''rebab'', a zither-like instrument ''siter'' (in Javanese ensemble) and vocalists named '' sindhen'' (female) or ''gerong'' (male).Sumarsam (1998)''Introduction to Javanese Gamelan'' Middletown. Although the popularity of gamelan has declined since the introduction of pop music, gamelan is still commonly played in many traditional ceremonies and other modern activities in Indonesia, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, older, scale commonly used is called '' slendro''. ''Pelog'' has seven notes, but many gamelan ensembles only have keys for five of the pitches. Even in ensembles that have all seven notes, many pieces only use a subset of five notes, sometimes the additional 4th tone is also used in a piece like western accidentals. Etymology Pelog is a Javanese term for one of the scales in gamelan. In Javanese, the term is said to be a variant of the word ''pelag'' meaning "fine" or "beautiful". Tuning Since the tuning varies so widely from island to island, village to village, and even among ''gamelan'', it is difficult to characterize in terms of intervals. One rough approximation expresses the seven pitches of Central Javanese ''pelog'' as a subs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamelan 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 Kepatihan is a type of cipher musical notation that was devised for notation of the Indonesian gamelan. History The system was devised around 1900 at the ''Kepatihan'' (the Grand Vizier's compound) in Surakarta, and was based upon the Galin-Paris-Chevé system, imported in the nineteenth century by Christian missionaries to allow the notation of hymns. It superseded several other notation systems of Javanese origin devised around the same time. Notation The pitches of the seven-tone pélog tuning system are designated by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7; while the five-tone slendro pitches are notated as 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. The octaves are noted by dots above and below the numbers, as in Chinese jianpu, although of course the pitc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, the Slendro Gamelan tuning system is older than the '' pélog'' tuning system. Etymology Slendro is a Javanese term for one of the scales in gamelan. It is derived either from "Sailendra", the name of the ruling family in the eighth and ninth centuries when Borobudur was built, or from its earlier being given by the god Sang Hyang Hendra. History The origin of the ''slendro'' scale is unknown. However the name ''slendro'' is derived from Sailendra, the ancient dynasty of Mataram Kingdom in Central Java, and also Srivijaya. The ''slendro'' scale is thought to be brought to Srivijaya by Mahayana Buddhists from Gandhara of India, via Nalanda and Srivijaya from there to Java and Bali. It is similar to scales used in Indian and Chinese musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 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 and slendro. They are typically hit with padded sticks (''tabuh''). This is similar to the other cradled gongs in the gamelan, the kethuk, kempyang, and kenong. Bonang may be made of forged bronze, welded and cold-hammered iron, 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-style gamelan, and in some American gamelan. In central Javanese gamelan th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. In the gamelan, this is usually done by gongs of various size: the '' kempyang'', ''ketuk'', '' kempul'', ''kenong'', '' gong suwukan'', and '' gong ageng''. The fast-playing instruments, '' kempyang and ketuk'', keep a regular beat. The larger gongs group together these hits into larger groupings, playing once per each grouping. The largest gong, the '' gong ageng'', represents the largest time cycle and generally indicates that that section will be repeated, or the piece will move on to a new section. The details of the rhythmic patterns depend on the colotomic structure ( jv, italic=yes, bentuk), also known as ''gendhing'' structure. There are a number of different structures, which differ greatly in length and complexity; however, all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colotomy
''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. In the gamelan, this is usually done by gongs of various size: the '' kempyang'', ''ketuk'', '' kempul'', ''kenong'', '' gong suwukan'', and '' gong ageng''. The fast-playing instruments, '' kempyang and ketuk'', keep a regular beat. The larger gongs group together these hits into larger groupings, playing once per each grouping. The largest gong, the '' gong ageng'', represents the largest time cycle and generally indicates that that section will be repeated, or the piece will move on to a new section. The details of the rhythmic patterns depend on the colotomic structure ( jv, italic=yes, bentuk), also known as ''gendhing'' structure. There are a number of different structures, which differ greatly in length and complexity; however, all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irama
''Irama'' is the term used for tempo in Indonesian gamelan in Java and Bali. It can be used with elaborating instruments. It is a concept used in Javanese gamelan music, describing melodic tempo and relationships in density between the balungan, elaborating instruments, and gong structure. It is distinct from tempo ( Javanese: ''Laya''), as each ''Irama'' can be played in different tempi. ''Irama'' thus combines "the rate of temporal flow and temporal density"; and the temporal density is the primary factor.Sumarsan, 1996. page 156 One way to think of ''Irama'' is to use the most consistently struck instrument in the gamelan, the ''saron panerus'' (or ''peking''). In some pieces, it plays once per note in the ''balungan'' (such as played by the ''saron barung''). In others, it may play twice as often, or four times, as the notes of the ''balungan'' are more spread out. This corresponds to a slower ''Irama''. In most cases, the more spread out the ''balungan'' is, the longer it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gatra (music)
A ''gatra'' ("embryo" or "semantic unit") is a unit of melody in Indonesian Javanese gamelan music, analogous to a measure in Western music. It is often considered the smallest unit of a gamelan composition. A ''gatra'' consists of a sequence of four beats (''keteg''), which are filled with notes (or rests, ''pin'') from the '' balungan''. In general, the second and fourth beats of a ''gatra'' are stronger than the first and third, and the final note of a ''gatra'', called the '' seleh'', dominates the ''gatra''. In other words, the ''gatras'' are like Western measures in reverse, with the strongest beat at the end. Important colotomic instruments, most notably the '' gong ageng'', are played on that final beat. If the final beat in a ''gatra'' is a rest, the ''seleh'' is the last note played. It is not uncommon in gamelan repertoire to find entire ''gatras'' of rests. Note that the actual length of time it takes to play a ''gatra'' varies from less than a second to nearly a min ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathet
Pathet ( jv, ꦥꦛꦼꦠ꧀, translit=Pathet, also patet) is an organizing concept in central Javanese gamelan music in Indonesia. It is a system of tonal hierarchies in which some notes are emphasized more than others. The word means '"to damp, or to restrain from" in Javanese. ''Pathet'' is "a limitation on the player's choice of variation, so that while in one ''pathet'' a certain note may be prominent, in another it must be avoided, or used only for special effect. Awareness of such limitations, and exploration of variation within them reflects a basic philosophical aim of gamelan music, and indeed all art in central Java, namely, the restraint and refinement of one's own behaviour." Javanese often give poetic explanations of pathet, such as "Pathet is the couch or bed of a melody." In essence, a pathet indicates which notes are stressed in the melody, especially at the end of phrases ( seleh), as well as determines which elaborations (cengkok and sekaran) are appropriate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Java
Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in the south, East Java in the east, and the Java Sea in the north. It has a total area of 32,800.69 km2, with a population of 36,516,035 at the 2020 Census making it the third-most populous province in both Java and Indonesia after West Java and East Java. The official estimate as at mid 2021 was 36,742,501.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2022. The province also includes the island of Nusakambangan in the south (close to the border of West Java), and the Karimun Jawa Islands in the Java Sea. Central Java is also a cultural concept that includes the Yogyakarta Special Region, in turn including the city of Yogyakarta; however, administratively that city and its surrounding regencies have formed a separate special region (equiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 of gong kebyar and several other Balinese gamelan styles, that combine to create the illusion of a single melodic line that often sounds faster than any single human could possibly play." According to Colin McPhee: "Composed of two rhythmically opposing parts which...interlock to create a perpetual flow of sound, the ''kotekan'' adds sheen and intensity to the music, ...calls for the utmost rhythmic precision... ndlies in the top register of the gamelan."McPhee, Colin (1966). Music in Bali', p.162. New Haven, CT: Yale. . In ''kotekan'' there are two independent parts called ''polos'' and '','' each of which fills in the gaps of the other to form a complete rhythmic texture. In Gamelan gong kebyar, Kotekan is usually played on the highe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, the panerusan instruments play variations on the balungan. They are usually the most difficult instruments to learn in the gamelan, but provide the most opportunity for improvisation and creativity in the performer. Hood, Mantle. ''The Nuclear Theme as a Determinant of Patet in Javanese Music''. New York: Da Capo, 1977. Pages 11–12. Panerusan instruments include the gendér, suling, rebab, siter/celempung, bonang, and gambang. The female singer, the pesindhen, is also often included, as she sings in a similar fashion to the instrumental techniques. As these include the only wind instruments, string instruments, and wooden percussion instruments found in the gamelan, they provide a timbre which stands out from most of the gamelan. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
