The slentho (also spelled slento) is a musical instrument of 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 ...

. It is similar to 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 ...

family of instruments, and would be its lowest member (pitched one octave below the

saron 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 ...

). Like those instruments, it has (typically) seven keys in the same arrangement, over a

resonator A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a resonator ...

box, and is hit with a wooden mallet (''tabuh''). However, unlike the other sarons, the center of its keys have a boss similar to that of a

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 ...

. The slentho usually has the same notes 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: ther ...

, but a brighter, louder sound. The slentho is no longer a common instrument in the gamelan, having largely been replaced by the slenthem. It does, however, continue to be used in older sets of gamelan, in which it may be used in preference to the slenthem in gendhing bonang.

External links

Photograph of a slentho
{{Authority control Balungan instruments Keyboard percussion instruments Indonesian musical instruments Gamelan instruments