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 ( electrophone ...

used in Javanese

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, per ...

, 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 metalloid ...

. They are actually metal slit drums. 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 The Srimpi () (also written as Serimpi) is a ritualised Javanese dance, dance of Java (island), Java, Indonesia, associated with the royal palaces of Yogyakarta Sultanate, Yogyakarta and Surakarta Sunanate, Surakarta. The ''srimpi'' dance is on ...

, female court dances. Kemanak is also a style of gendhing which includes, in addition to kemanak, only colotomic instruments, a

kendang A ''kendang'' or ''gendang'' (, , , Tausug language, Tausug/Bajau/Maranao language, Maranao: ''gandang'', Buginese language, Bugis: ''gendrang'' and Makassarese language, Makassar: ''gandrang'' or ''ganrang'') is a two-headed drum used by peop ...

, 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 J ...

on the Northwest Coast of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, 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 (; ; , ; ) 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, per ...

repertoire.

References

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