Karawitan

Etymology

The word gamelan comes from the Javanese word gamel (ꦒꦩꦼꦭ꧀) in the ngoko register, which refers to playing of percussion instruments or the act of striking with a mallet, and the noun-forming suffix-an. The gamelan in the Sundanese is Degung (Degung), the word Degung apparently is an old Sundanese term, which refers to gongs and gong ensembles. For this reason, the words degung and gong are essentially synonyms for the word gamelan. At the same time, the expression gamelan degung may be a way to point at a gamelan ensemble tuned to degung scale. The term karawitan (ꦏꦫꦮꦶꦠꦤ꧀) refers to classical gamelan music and performance practice, and comes from the Javanese word rawit (ꦫꦮꦶꦠ꧀) of Sanskrit origin, meaning 'intricate' or 'finely worked', referring to the sense of smoothness and elegance idealized in Javanese music. Another word, pangrawit (ꦥꦁꦫꦮꦶꦠ꧀), means a person with such sense, and is used as an honorific when discussing esteemed gamelan musicians. The Javanese word for gamelan in the krama register is gangsa (ꦒꦁꦱ), formed either from the words tembaga (ꦠꦼꦩ꧀ꦧꦒ) and rejasa (ꦉꦗꦱ) referring to the materials used in bronze gamelan construction (copper and tin), or tiga (ꦠꦶꦒ) and sedasa (ꦱꦼꦢꦱ) referring to their proportions (three and ten).