What Is Gamelan?

“Gamelan” is an umbrella name for many different kinds of melodically focused percussion ensembles from Indonesia.

Gamelan music is old. No one knows exactly how old, but very old. It has developed and spread over thousands of islands in the archipelago of Nusantara (modern-day Indonesia), with many distinct ensembles, music theories, and styles.

Gamelan music has nourished Indonesian cultures for over a thousand years. Nusantara Arts is here to nourish our community with it today. We teach and perform gamelan music from the islands of both Bali and Java on four unique sets of instruments.

Performance

One of the most striking things about visiting Indonesia is seeing gamelan music performed in its indigenous context. Music in Indonesia can be both secular and ritualistic. There are spaces dedicated to seeing music in both of these contexts, and in some places that are flexible.

Generally speaking, gamelan is not performed in concert halls for seated audiences. It’s art that is incorporated into everyday life. On Java, performances for the public usually feature wayang kulit shadow puppetry and occasionally dance or klenengan performances. Klenengan is the closest thing to concert-style music, but is mainly performed for the musicians’ enjoyment rather than for the audience.

Performances on Java typically happen at night and last quite a long time—often between 6 and 8 hours. They are often presented in a pendhopo or joglo, pavilions with large steep roofs and no walls. These pendhopo might be located in public spaces, on private property, or even in palaces.

On Bali, there is a stark difference between secular and ritualistic performances. Ritualistic performances are usually performed in Balinese Hindu temples or other sacred spaces. Secular performance has played an important role in entertaining tourists, and is also a staple at various group contests, public presentations, and private events.

Musical style

While it’s hard to sum up the vast and beautiful variety of gamelan music, we can highlight some of its distinct features—from the instruments and tuning to the stylistic elements that contribute to its unique sound.

  • Just as western orchestras have many types of bowed string instruments of varying size, range, and function, gamelan orchestras have a variety of percussion instruments that make sound through hitting with a mallet.

    Most gamelan instruments are made from tuned bronze or iron and fit into two families that define their physical shape. Pencon instruments are gongs or gong-shaped objects of various sizes. They resonate themselves because of their shape. The other big family is wilah instruments that are keys or slabs suspended over resonator tubes or troughs to amplify their sound. Within each of these families are a large variety of functions and musical potential.

  • One of the hallmarks of gamelan instruments are their unique tuning systems. Sets of instruments are tuned to themselves in one of two systems: slendro or pelog. Balinese gamelan sets are made in one of these two tunings. Central Javanese gamelan are often double sets that contain instruments in both tuning systems.

    Both slendro and pelog tuning systems offer a variety of scales within themselves and can produce a variety of sonic states and emotional feelings by emphasizing different notes. They are, however, unmistakably distinct tunings: slendro is based off a 5-note scale of more equidistant notes, and pelog is based off a 7-note scale of notes with more variety in the distance between individual notes.

  • Gamelan music is generally more cyclical in nature than western music, with cycles that begin and end with a large gong stroke. These cycles are punctuated by time-keeping instruments and other markers and can be repeated as desired. Different cycle types and lengths can be pieced together in compositions or to create suites of songs.

  • There is no conductor of a gamelan group, and the experience of making music is fairly communal. Tempo and cycle changes are cued by a hand drummer. Melodies are usually led and elaborated on by different instrument types, with varying degrees of complexity. There is a high regard for aural learning, memorization, and adaptability on the part of musicians.

  • Gamelan music is not improvised. It is highly refined and precise music that is practiced and learned over the course of many years, fostering compositions and instrumental skills that allow musicians to be highly adaptable and interpretive.

Javanese mythology says that gamelan instruments were forged by the god Bathara Guru for humans; physical manifestations of celestial non-corporeal instruments played by gods in heaven called Lokananta,

Javanese Gamelan

Our Javanese music style and instruments come from Solo, Central Java. For many centuries, Solo was the center of cultural life and the seat of empires on Java. It’s a city of two royal palaces devoted to the arts—the Kraton Kasunanan and Puro Mangkunegaran—and an acclaimed school of the arts, ISI Surakata. Music from Solo is known for its meditative, ethereal quality and highly complex music theory. It’s beautiful and rich, mirroring the complexity seen in many art forms from Solo.

Central Javanese gamelan compositions can be played in “loud style” or “soft style.” Loud style pieces and sections feature the slabbed balungan section instruments playing loudly and intensely. Refined soft style pieces and sections feature elaborating instruments that play various interpretations and treatments of the melody with virtuosity.

Javanese compositions are grouped into different gong cycle structures that are adaptable and often pieced together to form longer suites. Songs range from a few minutes long to upwards of around 30 minutes. Some compositions are more focused on a vocal melody with the instruments acting as backup, while some longer compositions treat the vocalist as another instrument and feature extended sections with elaborating instruments exploring the nuances of the piece’s melody.

One of the unique music theory hallmarks of Central Javanese music is irama, a concept related to time and relativity. There are many different levels of irama that determine the density of notes one instrument plays versus another, impacting the overall mood of a piece. Because of this, individual compositions can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Musicians must be highly adaptable and skilled in order to play compositions with different levels of irama.

Balinese Gamelan

There are many styles of Balinese gamelan, with different sizes and forms of ensembles. The overall character of Balinese music is quite different from Javanese music. Its shimmering and beautiful sound comes from the unique tuning: Balinese instruments are tuned in pairs, slightly apart from each other. This creates a dissonance between instruments that results in a sound that vibrates like a wave.

Balinese music is full of energy and excitement. The performative quality of the music is very important. Individual lines of melody can be divided into parts between multiple players called polos and sangsih to allow for a higher rate of speed. Coordination between players must be precise and does not leave room for personal interpretation. As opposed to Javanese music, Balinese songs are often through-composed and and are led by the drummer for changes in speed, volume, or cycles. Players learn the songs by memorizing their parts, and the parts of all the other instruments in the group are constantly in their ear while playing in order to stay on track and on time with the rest of the group.

Many Balinese gamelan songs are centered around a central melody on the calung instrument played with a soft mallet. Other instruments are struck with hard mallets that play a dazzling elaboration of the central melody, or their own melody that complements it.

One of the most ubiquitous arts on Bali is dance, so there are many music compositions where the group must coordinate with with the specific dance being performed.