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Balungan
The ''balungan'' () is sometimes called the "core melody" or, "skeletal melodic outline," of a Javanese gamelan composition. This corresponds to the view that gamelan music is heterophonic: the ''balungan'' is then the melody which is being elaborated. "An abstraction of the inner melody felt by musicians," the ''balungan'' is, "the part most frequently notated by Javanese musicians, and the only one likely to be used in performance."Anderson Sutton, Richard (1991). ''Traditions of Gamelan Music in Java: Musical Pluralism and Regional Identity'', p.xix. Cambridge University. . The group of instruments which play the closest to the ''balungan'' are sometimes also called the ''balungan'', or ''balungan'' instruments. These are the '' saron'' family and the '' slenthem''. In many pieces, they play the ''balungan''. However, they can also elaborate on the parts in a variety of techniques. It is possible that there is no instrument playing the ''balungan'', although many musicians cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ladrang Cycle Balungan
''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 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 (music), 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 (), also known as ''gendhing'' structure. There are a number of different structures, which differ greatly in length and complex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saron (instrument)
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 seated performer. In a pelog scale, the bars often read 1-2-3-5-6-7 across (the number four is not used because of its relation to death) (in kepatihan numbering); for slendro, the bars are 6-1-2-3-5-6-1; this can vary from gamelan to gamelan, or even among instruments in the same gamelan. Slendro instruments commonly have only six keys. It provides the core melody ( balungan) in the gamelan orchestra. Varieties Sarons typically come in a number often sizes, from smallest to largest: *Saron panerus (also: peking) *Saron barung (sometimes just saron) *Saron demung (often just called demung) Each one of those is pitched an octave below the previous. The slenthem or slentho performs a similar function to the sarons one octave below the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patet
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. In many cases, however, pieces are se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gendhing
''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 (), also known as ''gendhing'' structure. There are a number of different structures, which differ greatly in length and complexity; however, all of them have some coloto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gatra (music)
A ''gatra'' ("embryo" or "semantic unit") is a unit of melody in Indonesian Javanese people, Javanese gamelan music, analogous to a bar (music), 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamelan Instruments
Gamelan (; ; , ; ) 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 with mallets) and a set of hand-drums called ''kendang'', which keep the beat. The '' kemanak'', a banana-shaped idiophone, and the '' gangsa'', another metallophone, are also commonly used gamelan instruments on Bali. Other notable instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes (similar to the Indian ''bansuri''), a bowed string instrument called a ''rebab'' (somewhat similar to the '' gadulka'' of Bulgaria), and a zither-like instrument called a '' siter'', used in Javanese gamelan. Additionally, vocalists may be featured, being referred to as '' sindhen'' for females or '' gerong'' for males.Sumarsam (1998)''Introduction to Javanese Gamelan''. Middletown. Although the popularity of gamelan has declined slightly since the introduction of moder ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamelan
Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional musical ensemble, ensemble music of the Javanese people, Javanese, Sundanese people, Sundanese, and Balinese people, Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instrument, percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones (played with mallets) and a set of hand-drums called ''kendang'', which keep the beat (music), beat. The ''kemanak'', a banana-shaped idiophone, and the ''gangsa'', another metallophone, are also commonly used gamelan Musical instrument, instruments on Bali. Other notable instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes (similar to the Indian ''bansuri''), a bowed string instrument called a ''rebab'' (somewhat similar to the ''gadulka'' of Bulgaria), and a zither-like instrument called a ''siter'', used in Javanese gamelan. Additionally, vocalists may be featured, being referred to as ''sindhen'' for females or ''gerong'' for males.Sumarsam (1998)''Introduction to Javanese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamelan Theory
Gamelan (; ; , ; ) 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 with mallets) and a set of hand-drums called ''kendang'', which keep the beat. The '' kemanak'', a banana-shaped idiophone, and the '' gangsa'', another metallophone, are also commonly used gamelan instruments on Bali. Other notable instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes (similar to the Indian '' bansuri''), a bowed string instrument called a '' rebab'' (somewhat similar to the '' gadulka'' of Bulgaria), and a zither-like instrument called a '' siter'', used in Javanese gamelan. Additionally, vocalists may be featured, being referred to as '' sindhen'' for females or '' gerong'' for males.Sumarsam (1998)''Introduction to Javanese Gamelan''. Middletown. Although the popularity of gamelan has declined slightly since the introduction of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kepatihan 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 the 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 pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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: there are six keys when playing the slendro scale and seven when playing the pelog. These keys are suspended by leather cords over individual bamboo tube resonators in a wooden frame, which are cut so that the placement of the bamboo's node causes the functional length of the resonator to be shorter for higher notes. The instrument is played by striking the keys with a mallet, called a ''tabuh'', which has a short handle and a thin wooden disk edged in cloth or rubber. One hand is left free to dampen notes. It is a low-pitched instrument with a softer sound than the saron demung. Like the saron barung and demung, it generally plays the most basic form of the melody (balungan) in a composition. However it also sometimes uses techniques sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Gamelan Institute
The American Gamelan Institute (AGI) is an organization devoted to promoting and documenting all forms of gamelan, the performing arts of Indonesia, and their international counterparts. The institute was founded by Jody Diamond in Berkeley, California, in 1981. The office moved to Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1990. AGI publishes scores, recordings, monographs, translations and other material. AGI has an online library with a wide variety of monographs, collections of notation, and a font for the cipher notation commonly used for gamelan, called KepatihanPro. These materials may be freely downloaded for educational use. AGI maintains an extensive archive of notation and scores for both new and traditional gamelan music, scholarly writings on gamelan, as well as audio and video recordings. The organization's scope includes gamelan music as practiced in Indonesia as well as around the world. The journal ''Balungan'' was started in 1984 to encourage a dialog between artists and schola ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
