experiencing indonesian gamelan and dance - ilmea · pdf fileexperiencing indonesian gamelan...

ILMEA 2015 Wang & Kertayuda
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Experiencing Indonesian Gamelan and Dance
Presented by NIU Gamelan Ensemble & Indonesian Dance Illinois (IDI) Directed by I Gusti Ngurah Kertayuda ([email protected]) &
Jui-Ching Wang ([email protected])
PROGRAM Listening
Capung Gantung (Hovering Dragonfly), Balinese gamelan angklung Tari Pendet (Welcoming Flower Dance) and Balinese gamelan angklung
Baris (Warrior Dance) and Balinese gamelan angklung
Playing & Singing Basics of gamelan angklung
Singing Game
Meong Meong Alih Jok Bikule (Cat and Mouse), Balinese childrens game
Dancing Tari Payung (Umbrella Dance)
Gamelan is a percussion-dominated ensemble from Indonesia. It is the most popular Asian ensemble in the world, having 120 sets in the United States. The NIU School of Music teaches the Central Javanese and Balinese gamelans and gives regular concerts and demonstrations. Many composers, including NIU students and faculty, also write new compositions for the gamelan. For more information about gamelan, please visit the Indonesian Gamelan page available through NIU's Southeast Asian Studies Resource Site (http://www.seasite.niu.edu/indonesian/budaya_bangsa/gamelan/main_page/main_page.htm).

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About the Dance
Tari Pendet (Welcoming Flower Dance) Pendet dance, a greeting dance to welcome the audience and to invite spirits to enjoy a performance, is originally an important part of a ritual offering. The movements in Pendet, the basic dance movements of many Balinese female dances, are taught simply by imitation. The original Pendet dance is performed by four to five young girls in the temple courtyard. The dancers bring flowers in small Bokor (silver bowls containing flower petals) and spread the flowers around in a traditional symbolic Balinese ceremony to welcome the spirits. As it has evolved, the dance is now performed in both ritual ceremonies and at some social events. Baris (Warrior Dance) Also from the island of Bali, Baris is a male solo dance, known as the dance of the warrior. Using both abstract and realistic movements to show off the bravery of the young warrior, traditionally this is the first dance learned by young boys because the movements and strength they acquire can be carried over to all the other dance forms. The choreography is an ABA form: it begins with a gilak (a four-beat musical phrase) followed by a bapang (an eight-beat musical phrase) and concludes with another gilak. The dance is strenuous as it requires the dancer to hold his shoulders close to his ears and keep his arms in an upright, bent position for the duration of the piece, about fifteen minuets (Dibia 2004) The dancer improvises by arranging a set of movements to his liking. It is very important for the drummer and the main ugal (metallophone) player to pay close attention to the dancers signals for changes in movements. Seledet or darting eye movements to the side and back to center are used extensively in Baris and are linked to the musical phrases (ibid.). Tari Payung (Umbrella Dance) Tari Payung, Umbrella Dance, is a traditional dance of Minangkabau, an ethnic group also known as Minang in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Traditionally played by several pairs of young couples at a social event, the dance is usually accompanied by folk music in ABA form in Sikambang style in West Sumatra. Held by male dancers, the umbrella symbolizes shelter, and the long scarf, at times held together by the couples, symbolizes their bond, an auspicious relationship.

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The Balinese Gamelan in the Music Classroom
When a god used a gong to signal his army In ancient times, a great god came to Java, where many different gods lived, and became king
of the gods. He created a gong and used it as a signal to call the gods to be on guard. If he struck the gong
twice, it meant the kingdom was at war, and the gods had to be ready to fight. In other situations, he struck the gong more than twice, so the gods got confused by the number
of strokes on this single-pitched gong. So
the great god made a second gong with a different pitch.
With various combinations, these two gongs could be struck to indicate different signals. However, the number of signals had increased gradually, and the gods became confused again.
Consequently, the great god made a third gong tuned to a third pitch. These three gongs together, thus, became known as gamelan

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Gamelan Angklung
Balinese music evolved from a complex mixture of local and Javanese sources. After the 14th-century collapse of the Javanese Majapaht dynasty and the Islamic ascendancy, Hindus fled from Java to Bali, bringing along their music and musical instruments. From then on, Bali was able to sustain its Hindu-Javanese cultural tradition.
Balinese Gamelan music has a strong similarity to Javanese music. Inherent in the Balinese music tradition are the classical gamelan principles, such as the percussion-dominated instrumentation, the cyclical concept of time, the multi-layered polyphonic texture, the tuning of the instruments, and the functions of the music. However, there are still differences between these two musical traditions. Generally, the Balinese music is more structured, allowing less room for improvisation but showcasing the virtuosity of the performers technique, and is more vivid and energetic. The Balinese have exceptionally active composers writing new pieces for their ensembles, and since the 20th century they have also been creating new styles of music as well as new ensembles, involving typical Gamelan instruments with voices, other musical instruments and dance.
Gamelan Angklung is one type of gamelan ensembles popular in Bali. The word Angklung originally referred to a bamboo rattle that produces one tone when shaken. A modern Gamelan Angklung comprises 8-12 4-keyed metallophones of different sizes (kantil, gansa, and jegogan), 2 sets of gong-chimes (reyong), two single-pitched kettle gongs (kempli and kenelang), two sizes of hanging gongs (kempur and tawa-tawa), cymbals (rincik or ceng-ceng), drums (kendang), and other instruments such as a recorder (suling) and a fiddle (rebab). The functions of each category of instruments vary: the metallophones supply the melody or interlocking patterns (kotekan); gong-chimes, elaboration; single-pitched kettle gongs and hanging gongs, time keeping or punctuation; cymbals, rhythm and volume; drums, rhythm, volume, and coordination of the ensemble; and other melodic instruments, counter-melody (See Figure 1 and Table 1).
Figure 1 Balinese Gamelan Angklung Instruments

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In 1928, Carl Orff and Karl Maendler (Harpsichord maker) built the first xylophones based on the gamelan saron (the keyed-instruments). These instruments later became very important for teaching and the development of Orffs Schulwerk. Table 1 Balinese Gamelan Angklung & Orff Instruments
Gamelan Anklung Instruments Orff Instruments I. Metallophones
1. Kantil (small metallophones) 4 2.Gangsa (medium metallophones) 4 3.Jegogan (larger metallophones) 2
Soprano metallophones Alto metallophones Bass metallophones
II. Gong-Chimes Reyong (kettle gongs)
Alto glockenspiel
III. Gongs 1.Gong ageng (large gong)1 2.Kempur (medium gong) 1 3.Kempli (primary time beater) 1 4.Kenelang (secondary time beater)1
Bass bar (C) or Large Gong (Tam-tam) Bass bar (G) or Large Gone (Tam-tam) Triangle (low) Triangle (high)
IV. Cymbals Rincik or ceng ceng
Finger cymbals (3 pairs)
V. Drums 1.Kendang (large drum) 1 or 2 2.Kendang angklung (small drum) 1 or 2
Tubano drums or Conga
VI. Flute Suling (end blown ring flute) optional
Soprano recorder
VII. Bamboo rattles Angklung (optional)
Boom whacker
Equivalent pitches on western diatonic scale:
1 2 3 5 or
1 2 3 5

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Meong Meong alih Jok Bikule (Cat & Mouse)
Balinese Childrens Singing Game [A *2]
- - 0 5 me
3 2 ong me
3. ong
2 a-
5 3 lih jok
2 1 bi- ku-
2 -le
- - 0 5 me
3 2 ong me
3. ong
2 a-
5 3 lih jok
2 1 bi- ku-
2. -le
1 bi-
2 3 kul- ge-
5 3 de- ge
5. de
1 bu
2 3 in mo-
5 2 koh- mo
3 koh
2 ke
5 reng
3 pe-
2 -san
5 nge-
3 ru-
2 shu-
1 in
- -
[B*2] 5 5 5 1 1
1 (x3)
1 1 1 1 1 1
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[Chanting] [juk meng juk kul] x 3 [o o o o o o ja] Lyrics Balinese
English
Meong meong alih jok bikule (x2) The cat is looking for where the mouse is. Bikul gede gede buin mokoh mokoh The big mouse is getting fatter and fatter, Kereng pesan ngerushuin which will cause much more danger. Game instructions
Select one child to be the cat, and another, the mouse. The other children stand in a circle

experiencing indonesian gamelan and dance - ilmea · pdf fileexperiencing indonesian gamelan...

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