Kemanak ( jv, ꦏꦼꦩꦤꦏ꧀, translit=Kemanak) is a banana-shaped

idiophone An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with aerophones), strings (chordophones), membranes (membranophones) or electricity ( electrophones) ...

used in 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 ...

, made of

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 ...

. They are actually metal

slit drum A slit drum or slit gong is a hollow percussion instrument. In spite of the name, it is not a true drum but an idiophone, usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box with one or more slits in the top. Most slit drums have one slit ...

s. It is struck with a padded stick and then allowed to resonate. It has a specific pitch, which can be varied by covering the slit, but it is not matched to the other instruments of the gamelan. They are usually played in pairs, although they can be played in sets of four as well. They are used to accompany the bedhaya and serimpi, female court dances. Kemanak is also a style of

gendhing ''Colotomy'' is an Music of Indonesia, Indonesian description of the rhythmic and meter (music), metric patterns of gamelan music. It refers to the use of specific instruments to mark off nested time intervals, or the process of dividing rhythm ...

which includes, in addition to kemanak, only

colotomic ''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 ...

instruments, a

kendang Kendang or Gendang ( jv, ꦏꦼꦤ꧀ꦝꦁ, translit=Kendhang, su, ᮊᮨᮔ᮪ᮓᮀ, translit=Kendang, ban, ᬓᬾᬦ᭄ᬤᬂ, translit=Kendang, Tausug/Bajau Maranao: ''Gandang'', Bugis: ''Gendrang'' and Makassar: ''Gandrang'' or ''Ganra ...

, and a sindhen. In the region of

Cirebon Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central Java ...

on the Northwest Coast of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, Kemanak are played in pairs by striking one against the other in a repetitive fashion. Unlike in Central

, Kemanak in Cirebon are not reserved for specific performance idioms and are considered indispensable in the standard

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 ...

repertoire.

References

* Kunst, Jaap. ''The Origin of the Kemanak''. 'S-Gravenhage, Martinus Nijhoff, 1960. Gamelan instruments Idiophones Indonesian musical instruments {{Idiophone-instrument-stub