The Javanese Gamelan

         The Gamelan is an Indonesian ensemble that is comprised almost entirely of percussion instruments.  The base of this group is centered around various gong instruments which include the Gong ageng, kempul, suwukan, kenong, kempyong, kethuk and the bonangs.  accompanying these instruments are various other metallophones and drums.  One of the more unique features of this ensemble is the fact that while it has two modes or scale sets, the instruments themselves have no standardized tuning system.  This means that the instruments themselves must come in sets and can not be separated. This makes for an extremely diverse set of sounds that come from just one genre.  The scales themselves are not equally tempered either and add a lot of depth to the overall sound that makes this ensemble so unique.

      This first piece gives us a good baseline for what to expect.  It does a great job of showing how typo changes play such a huge role in the ensemble.

     

         The music itself is popular among the people and is used for many formal and informal occasions.  This next performance shows the lighter side of a relaxed, informal public performance and captures a better look at some of the techniques used for some of the instruments.



        This next performance is a formal performance done in the U.S. and shows the ensemble in a concert style of performance.



         Being so used to western music and our own system of tuning, the tuning of these instruments likely sounds out of tune. So to better explain the differences this video goes through and explains both Slendro and Pelog extremely well.



        As a percussionist myself,  this last video is really just for fun.  It goes into the details of the playing technique of one of the metallophones, the Gender.  The technique itself is representative of the other struck instruments in the same category.