''Gamelan Munggang'' are considered among the most ancient

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 ...

s of the '' kraton'' (courts) of

central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

. The ensemble of instruments consists of ''

gong ageng The gong ageng (or gong gedhe in Ngoko Javanese, means large gong) is an Indonesian musical instrument used in the Javanese gamelan. It is the largest of the bronze gongs in the Javanese and Balinese gamelan orchestra and the only large gong ...

'', ''

kempul A kempul is a type of hanging gong used in Indonesian gamelan. The kempul is a set of pitched, hanging, knobbed gongs, often made of bronze, wood, and cords. Ranging from in diameter, the kempul gong has a flat surface with a protruding knob 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 horizontal gong chimes tuned to three pitches. Very low in absolute pitch, each ensemble consists of two types: ''

pelog Pelog (, , ) is one of the essential tuning systems used in gamelan instruments that has a heptatonic scale. The other, older, scale commonly used is called ''slendro''. ''Pelog'' has seven notes, but many gamelan ensembles only have keys for ...

'' and ''

slendro Slendro () is one of the essential tuning systems used in gamelan instruments that have pentatonic scale (music), scale. Based on Javanese people, Javanese mythology, the Slendro Gamelan tuning system is older than the ''pélog'' tuning system. ...

''.Mantle Hood, José Maceda (1972). ''Music, Part 3; Part 6'', p.13. . There is a repertory of several repetitive pieces, the best known permutation being high-middle-high-low. It is theorized that ''pelog'' was derived from the three note munggang scale.Kay Kaufman Shelemay (1990). ''Ethnomusicological theory and method'', p.68. . The origin of the munggang ensembles themselves are described in Javanese myths, however the first one may have been imported to Indonesia in the first century CE, with the first ensemble constructed by the Javanese made in the 4th century.

Sources

{{Gamelan Gamelan ensembles and genres

See also

Sources