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GAMELAN ASSIGNMENT JAVANESE GAMELAN

Name: Nur Amalina Binti Ramlan ID: 14904 Programme: Mechanical Engineering

INTRODUCTION
Gamelan derives from the word gamel, to strike or to handle, is a generic term referring to an ensemble which comprises predominantly of percussive instrument. It is an Indonesian orchestra of mainly percussive instruments, with occasional winds, strings, voices and even dancers. Many appear to be variations on the xylophone, but instead of wood, they are crafted mainly of metal. Other instruments resemble pots arranged in rows, and still others are gongs of various sizes. Vocal music also has important role in the development of gamelan. A gamelan contains four types of xylophones and metallophones. The keys of wood, iron and brass are suspended over a common trough resonator or suspended on cords over individual resonating tubes made of bamboo. In Javanese mythology, the gamelan was created by Sang Hyang Guru in Saka era 167 (c. AD 230), the god who ruled as king of all Java from a palace on the Maendra mountains in Medangkamulan (now Mount Lawu). He needed a signal to summon the gods and thus invented the gong. For more complex messages, he invented two other Gongs, thus forming the original gamelan set. Western audiences still respond to the haunting and chant-like sounds of the ancient gamelan, while recognizing how far removed it is from the music that they hear every day. Many people find the sound to be spiritually inspiring. In fact, the gamelans spiritual nature is deeply embedded in the culture of Indonesia, where each gamelan is thought to possess mystical powers, and is even considered an animate being with its own identity.

INSTRUMENTS
SARON The saron form the backbone of the Javanese gamelan ensemble. This melody line, the balungan (literally "skeleton"), is the part from which all of the elaborating instruments derive their parts. It is a glockenspiel with bronze bar struck with wooden mallet. There are three kinds; Saron Barung, Saron Peking, Saron Demung. When playing the saron, one strike the metal bars with a hammer in one hand and dampens notes with the other.

Demung The demung is the largest and lowest of the saron. It is played with a hammer with a wooden head.

Barung The saron (also known as saron barung) is somewhat smaller than the demung. Its bars sound an octave higher than those of the demung.

Peking The peking (also known as the saron panerus) is small and plays high notes (an octave higher than the saron). When playing the peking, one uses a hammer made from an animal horn. The peking usually playes an elaboration on the basic melody.

BONANG The Javanese gamelan has two pairs of bonang instruments: the bonang barung and the bonang penerus. There are two of each bonang to play in the two gamelan scales. Bonang Barung The bonang barung is the lower of the two instruments. Melodically, it is one of the more important instruments in a Javanese gamelan ensemble. In many loud pieces, it is the melodic leader playing an elaborate version of the basic melody. Bonang Penerus The bonang penerus plays an octave higher than the bonang barung. It usually plays a fast melodic strain based on that played by the bonang barung. In some pieces, both bonang play a fast interlocking pattern called imbal.

GONG Gong Agong and Gong Suwuk The gong agong (the two dark-colored gongs in the photograph) are very important to the gamelan. They mark the end of major divisions called gongan. The big gong is also used when ending most pieces. The gong suwuk are large gongs of definite pitch. In some pieces, they are used to mark different gongan or when there are many gong strokes in rapid successesion (the gong agong sounds muddy if played often).

Kempul The kempul are a set of pitched gongs. These instruments often subdivide a line of gamelan music. There are two racks of gongs because of the two gamelan scales, or laras.

Kenong The kenong, like the gongs, are punctuating instruments. The kenong are related to gongs. Essentially, a kenong kettle is a small, but deep tuned gong that is suspended on cords in a rack. The musician sits in the middle of all of the instruments (which include kettles from both scales). Kenong beaters are large sticks with a padded end. Normally, the musician will play a kenong and let it ring. In some pieces, the kenong is played in rapid succession. The player must dampen the instrument with the beater so only the desired pitch is heard. In many pieces, the kenong play at the end of each line (called kenongan). A number of kenongan makes up a gongan, or one gong-cycle of a piece.

DRUMS There are several drums or gendang of different sizes in a Javanese gamelan ensemble: gendang ageng, gendang wayangan, gendang ciblon, and gendang ketipung (not all of the drums are necessarily played in one piece). The laced drums have skin heads on both sides are are played with the hand. Usually, one musician will play the drums, one or two at a time. The drummer supplies many of the signals to the rest of the group. Some drums patterns may mean finish the piece, another may mean change to a new piece, while yet another drum pattern may mean switch styles of playing. In a gamelan ensemble, the drums are not the only signal, other instruments like the bonang barung or rebab may lead the ensemble melodically. Because the drums are played with the hands, they have a wide variety of sounds from a high pitched "tak" to a low "dlong."

GAMELAN CIPHER NOTATION


Gamelan musicians have always learned gamelan as an aural tradition. They learn and memorize a piece by hearing it played and by practicing it themselves. There is a written cipher notation for gamelan. Notation is not generally used by Javanese musicians but may be used by others, such as ethnomusicologists and foreign students learning gamelan. Gamelan notation is written in numbers with special characters for accentuating instruments. Music is not notated in a score for all the instruments, so one generally sees the balungan, or melody. Other parts can be notated but this can be difficult to read--it is often easier to learn how to derive one's part and use one's own shorthand notation for reminders. The notation for the buka and umpak of Lancaran Jaranan is shown in the image below (the lagu section of Jaranan is not notated).

The numbers are the pitches, dots are rests, and the overbars denote notes played twice as fast as usual (similar to the beams of eighth-notes ). To denote a pitch in a higher octave, a dot would be placed

above a number. A pitch in a lower octave would have a dot below the pitch number. Other symbols denote punctuating instruments. For example, the circle is for gong ageng and the sideways parentheses for gong suwuk. The plus-sign is for kethuk, the "smiley" for kempul, and the "frowny" for kenong. In the above notation, the kethuk, kenong, and kempul parts apply to each line. Note also that the notes come in groups called gatra, which can be thought of as "measures" in Western music. There are other common notations for the punctuating instruments. In another familiar notation system, an N stands for kenong and a P for kempul. The first kenongan, or line, of the umpak in Lancaran Jaranan could also be notated thus:

Other instruments have their own notation using numbers, although these are often complex, especially if there are two notes being played at the same time, bowing markings, etc. The drums have their own special notation with different symbols.

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