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Gamelan
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What is gamelan?Gamelan is a traditional Indonesian instrumental
ensemble made up of mainlypercussion instruments: gongs metallophones
xylophones drums cymbals.
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Where does gamelan come from?Gamelan comes from Indonesia.
There are two main styles; Balinese
(from Bali) and Javanese (from Java)
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What does it sound like?Listen to the following examples of gamelan music.
Some European composers have been influenced by gamelan music. Its
influences can be especially seen in minimalism which shares many of thesame features repetition, cyclic rhythms, loops etc
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The Slendro Scale
The five-note Gamelan scale is called the Slendro.
Gamelan notes dont exactly match Western scales but the
slendro is roughly equivalent to the notes of the major pentatonicscale on C C,D,E,G,A
C D E G A
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The Pelog Scale
The seven-note gamelan scale is called Pelog.To get an idea of what the pelog scale sounds like, play the notes E,F,G,A,B,C,D
on a keyboard.
Most sets of gamelan are tuned either to the slendroor to the pelogscale.Others are tuned to both these are called double gamelan.
C D E A B C D
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Instruments with keys
The keys of an instrument can be bronze, iron, wood or
bamboo. They are arranged in a xylophone-like manner,
always horizontally. The player faces the long side of theinstrument.
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The Gambangis a xylophone with wooden bars
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The Genderhas narrow keys made of bronze. Below the keysthere are bamboo pipes which resonate, making the sound
richer.
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Gongs
Gongs are made of bronze or iron. They are struck on
the central bump, called pecu.
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The Bonangare instrumentswith two rows of gongs
resting on cords across a
wooden frame.
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The biggest hanging gong is called the Gong Ageng. Itusually plays on the last beat of the rhythmic cycle.
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Indonesian/_vti_bin/shtml.dll/Budaya_Bangsa/Gamelan/Javanese_Gamelan/gongs/gong_ageng.htm/map8/12/2019 Indonesian Music 3
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Kempulare smaller hanging gongs.
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The Kenongand Ketukare gongs which resthorizontally on cords stretched across a wooden box.
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The Sulingis a bamboowind instrument, which
you blow through the end
The Rebabis a twostringed fiddle
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The bigger drum is the KendangGendingand the smaller one is called theKetipung.They are cone-shaped, with two drum
skins, one larger and one smaller. Theyreplayed resting sideways, so the drummer
can play one skin with each hand.
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In groups compose a Balinese-style piece that consists of the following
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In groups compose a Balinese-style piece that consists of the followinglayers:1 an 8 or 16 note core melody which uses the notes of the slendroscale,and moves in even crotchets.2 an alto/tenor part which only plays notes 1,3,5 and 7 (and 9,11,13,15)
3
a bass part which only plays notes 1 and 5 (and 9 and 13)4 - a two-part interlocking melody of 8 beats
Beats 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Inter. 1
Inter. 2CoreMel
Alto/Ten.
Bass