Music of Indonesia
MUSI 3721Y
University of Lethbridge, Calgary Campus
John Anderson
General Musical Characteristics
• Music of Central Java
usually has four layers of
activity
• basic melody
• elaboration
• rhythmic punctuation
(“colotomic structure”)
• and cyclical forms
General Musical Characteristics
• In Bali we have:
• A kotekan and
• An ostinato
• The term kotekan implies
the interlocking of two or
more instruments in the
ensemble
• Ostinato mean repeating
melody or bass line.
There’s no interruption or
variation
General Musical Characteristics
• Let me sing a simple 3note ostinato for you
• To create a kotekan find a
partner and lay your hands
interlocked and flat on the
desk. Count out a 4-beat
rhythm
Dynamics
• Javanese music can
generally be divided
between loud- and
soft-style pieces
• This is achieved
through adding or
subtracting
instruments of varying
density
Javanese vs. Balinese
• Javanese styles are much
more predictable and
orderly
• Balinese styles are more
“virtuosic” to our ears,
having more fluctuations
in dynamics and tempo
Tuning
• There is no concept of
standard pitch
• Each gamelan has its own
individual tuning
• You cannot take an
instrument from one
gamelan and expect it to
be “in tune” with the
instruments of another
ensemble
Tuning
• There are two different
scale systems (laras), each
of which has three modes
(patet)
• Slendro is a five-tone
scale
• It uses pitches 1 2 3 5 6
• Its patets are called Nem,
Sanga, Manyura
Tuning
• Pelog is a seven-tone scale
• It uses pitches 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
• It also has three patets
called Lima, Nem, and
Barang
• Each patet only draws upon
a selection of five pitches
Instrument Functions and Formal Principles
• The three levels of
musical activity in
gamelan music are
coordinated by the
drummer
• They are:
• Melody
• Elaboration
• Rhythmic punctuation
Melody
• Balunga (“skeleton”)
• Main melody or close
variation
• Played in three different
ranges by sarons and a
single slentem
• High, medium and low
ranges
Elaboration
• Bunga, (“flowering”)
• Higher register
instruments–bonang and
gender
• In quieter pieces, rebab,
gambang, celempung,
suling, and pesindhen
(solo female singer)
ornament the tune by
subdividing the beat
Rhythmic Punctuation
• Colotomic structure
• Conceived cyclically
• The big gong marks the longest
units
• Kenong and kempul subdivide
the cycle
• Ketuk and kempyang provide
tertiary punctuation
• The number of beats and
particular arrangement of
punctuation in a cycle
determine the form of a
composition
Buburan “Udan Mas” (Golden Rain)
Laras Pelog, Patet Barang
• As the full title tells us, “Udan
Mas” (“Golden Rain”) is a
piece in buburan form
• It’s a 16-beat gong cycle with
four kenong phrases–called
kenongan–each of 4 beats
• It uses the barang mode of the
pelog scale
• A buburan is a closing piece,
played at the end of a function
as the audience departs
Buburan “Udan Mas” (Golden Rain)
Laras Pelog, Patet Barang
• “Udan Mas” is a simple loudstyle piece with only two
phrases
• Each phrase is repeated
• AA BB AA BB
• It begins with a short
introduction (buka) played by
the lower of the two bonangs
• Can you pick out the balungan
played by the sarons? That is
the basic beat
• Can you find the colotomic
punctuation?
Buburan “Udan Mas” (Golden Rain)
Laras Pelog, Patet Barang
• The kempul and large gong are easiest to hear since the
sound of hanging gongs carries better than the
suspended kenong and ketuk kettles
• Each large gong stroke marks the last beat of the
buburan cycle
• Anything playing faster than the saron is an elaborating
instrument
• For example, the saron panerus plays at a ratio of 2:1 to
the main saron line
• Bonangs play at ratios of 2:1, 4:1, or 8:1, depending on
tempo
Ketawang “Puspawarna”(Kinds of Flowers)
Laras Slendro, Patet Manyura
• Puspawarna is a piece in
ketawang form, another
16-beat gong cycle
• But this time with two
kenongan, each of 8 beats
• It uses the manyura mode
of the slendro scale
• This more complex “soft
style” piece is performed
for the entrance of a
prince
Kebyar “Teruna”
• This is a typical example of the
gong kebyar style
• The frequent changes of tempo,
dynamics, and mood allow the
solo dancer to express a wide
range of moods and emotions
• Musically, the composition is a
series of ostinato patterns of
different lengths
• The fantastic speed of the
metallophones is possible
because several performers
play interlocking parts
(kotekan)
Kebyar “Teruna”
• The Balinese rule of thumb is
that if one player can play so
fast, four players can play four
times as fast.
• In the slow, quiet sections, “soft
style” instruments, particularly
the suling (bamboo flute), can
be heard
• In Central Javanese style you
would not expect both soft- and
loud-style instruments to play
in the same piece
Tabuh Empat Pagawak
• A typical old style piece for
gamelan gong gede
• It contrasts the newer kebyar
style
• The meandering trompong
introduction is starkly different
to the explosive beginning of
"Teruna" of the previous
example
• The stately progression of the
melody when the whole
ensemble enters is rigidly
organized with a regular meter
and equally regular
ornamentation and
orchestration
Dangdut Quran Dan Koran (excerpt)
• This contemporary recording
prominently features
synthesizers in both the lead
and supporting roles
• The synthesized “voices”
imitate traditional instrument
sounds, while also setting them
in a more modern context
Discussion Questions
• How may Westerners conceptualize colotomic
structures in Western music?
• What caused the divergences of Javanese and
Balinese music in the fifteenth-century, and then
in the twentieth-century?
• Why can Indonesia be labeled a “bronze culture”?
• What other cultures can we list that are
influenced by a material as bronze is to Indonesia?
Discussion Questions
• In what other world music cultures might we find
interlocking?
• Where might we find Western, African, Asian,
Native America or folk European equivalents to
Balinese musical instruments that contain spirits?
• How may shadow play be compared to opera or
ballet?
Discussion Questions
• What acculturations had Balinese music made in the
twentieth-century, and how/why was it beneficial?
• What were the forces that created Arabic and then
Portuguese influences on Indonesian popular music?
Effects of Tourism on Traditional Music:
• This is a good place to discuss the effects of tourism on local
cultures, the phenomenon of the cultural attraction, and the
growing standardization of traditions. In Bali, new genres,
developed to entertain tourists, are accepted by Balinese
themselves as part of “traditional” culture
• What is traditional? Is this syncretism or hegemony?
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