Music of IndonesiaMUSI 3721YUniversity of Lethbridge, Calgary CampusJohn 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 3-note 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 loud-style 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?