KS34_gamelan.pdf

Classroom Music I spring term 1 I 2010/11 1

KS5KS3/4 Gamelanby Sam Gladstone

IntroductIon

These lesson materials can be used to introduce gamelan through listening, composing and performing to KS3 students, and is relevant for GCSE and iGCSE listening papers. Analysis of the musical processes in gamelan also provides effective preparation for the IB unprepared listening paper and musical links investigation.

Indonesia’s national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (‘unity

in diversity’), is reflected in the music of the gamelan. Ev-

ery part is vital yet distinct in its contribution to the whole

ensemble, from the simplest that can be mastered easily

by any student, to complicated parts that will challenge

the most advanced musicians. In gamelan, the whole re-

ally is greater than the parts. Mutual cooperation is vital,

listening to others is key, and the aim of a gamelan player

is to blend seamlessly into the complex texture.

These lesson materials enable you and your students to explore the role of the gamelan in Indonesian cul-

ture, grasp the key characteristics of gamelan music through performance and composition, and experience

the excitement of the famous Balinese interlocking kotekan patterns.

ResouRces

While the processes and textures of gamelan can be recreated, explored and understood using classroom

instruments, there is no substitute for the full physical experience of the gamelan. Fortunately there are

now many gamelans around the UK, some of which, such as the gamelan in the South Bank Centre, London,

are used for educational workshops.

A detailed list of over 75 gamelan throughout the UK, including contact details, can be found at www.

gamelan.org.uk/uklist.htm. Many of these offer public, school and community workshops.

Recordings:

The best resource for recordings and videos of gamelan is YouTube, from where most examples in the

article are taken.

Other useful websites, CDs and MP3s are listed during the course of this article.

The sevenoaks school gamelan: kyi nogo aliT

The Sevenoaks School gamelan was purchased using money granted by the DfES as part of the ‘Independent/State School Link’ scheme in 2001. It was commissioned from a company in Solo, Java, and arrived in Sevenoaks in spring 2002. A team of students and staff run weekly workshops, and several thousand local primary school children have learnt to play the gamelan and explored Indonesian dance. This has led to performances both at the school and in the Royal Festival Hall, London.

kyi nogo alit (The Honourable Little Dragon) consists of the slendro section of an Indonesian court gamelan, made to a particularly small scale for use by young children. This, and the carved dragon’s heard on the gong pole, has given the Gamelan its name.

Sam Gladstone is assistant director of music at Sevenoaks School.

www.gamelan.org.uk/uklist.htm

www.gamelan.org.uk/uklist.htm

Classroom Music I spring term 1 I 2010/11 2

Gamelan In context

Indonesia, an archipelago of over

17,500 islands, is the world’s fourth

most populous country, with a popu-

lation of around 238 million people.

The product of a sometimes turbulent

history and climate, Indonesia has

hundreds of ethnic groups and sub-

groups, but has developed a shared

identity with a national language, In-

donesian, which is used in schools,

government offices and massed me-

dia, although it is spoken mostly as a second language to one of hundreds of regional languages.

‘Gamelan’ refers to both an instrumental ensemble and the music it plays. Bronze percussion ensembles

like the gamelan are thought to have played an important role in the cultures of Indonesia’s most populous

islands, Java and Bali, for thousands of years. Similar types of music and ensembles to gamelan can be

found all around south-east Asia. Gamelan has attained significance as a symbol of history, a marker of royal

legitimacy (and perhaps divine right to rule) and a statement of continuity with the past. It is a central feature

in rituals, dance and theatre, processions (the smaller Balinese Gamelan Beleganjur), in court for formal oc-

casions or in more relaxed settings.

Perhaps most famous is gamelan’s role in accompanying the Wayang Kulit performances (shadow puppet

theatre) and dance. Sections of dances are named after their tempos and each section of a specific dance

is associated with a special piece of music This has a special foundation (gong pattern) and a variety of

associated movements for the dancer, with drum patterns that by convention match the dancer’s specific

movements.

The gamelan is treated with respect: a musician would never step over an instrument, and shoes are custom-

arily removed. Each gamelan is named, and addressed as ‘Kyi”’ (the honourable, the venerable, or ‘sir’). The

extremely large, awe-inspiring and sonorous gong ageng is considered by the Javanese to be the repository

of spiritual power, while the music itself is said to mirror and maintain cosmic order.

Gamelan in the west

The performance by a central Javanese slendro gamelan in the 1889 Paris Exposition was the first time

composers in the west, including Debussy, Ravel and Satie, were exposed to gamelan music. Since then,

many composers have acknowledged the influence of gamelan upon their compositions. Consider how the

influence of gamelan can be heard in music by the following composers (suggested works in brackets):

Debussy � (‘Pagodes’ from Estampes)

Satie � (Gnossienne)

Messiaen � (Turangalila Symphony)

Cage � (Works for Prepared Piano)

Britten � (Prince of the Pagodas)

Reich � (Music for 18 Musicians)

Ligeti � (Etudes pour piano).

Listen particularly for use of gamelan-like sonorities, pentatonic scales, heterophonic textures and repetitive

cycles.

For a great aural and visual introduc-tion to the variety and contexts of Javanese and Balinese gamelan, see this YouTube page.

For an entertain-ing example of Balinese dancing, watch and listen here. From around 2:30, the music is increasingly closely related to the danc-ing. Notice the role of the kendhang (drum) player in particular.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehjbwdgnp2o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EXzfpS6WK4

3 Classroom Music I spring term 1 I 2010/11

gamelan on cD

The � Explorer series on the Nonesuch label has a wide range of excellent recordings of both Javanese and Balinese gamelan in different styles

The � Gamelan of Central Java series on the Felmay label is also a comprehensive survey of Javanese gamelan

Ligeti: � Galamb Borong?, performed by gamelan orchestra Gong Kebyar and pianist Jan Michelis on the Megadisc Classics label, places Balinese gamelan performances alongside Ligeti’s Etudes pour piano

World Sound Matters � (Schott) includes two Indonesian pieces, with transcriptions.

Key muSIcal characterIStIcS

Discussion

Before studying the key musical characteristics of gamelan, discuss which elements of gamelan music are

most important. Which are less easy (or even inappropriate) to describe? Should gamelan be analysed in a

different way to a piece of western classical music? Are there links that could be drawn with other styles of

music – African drumming, dance music, jazz?

In Indonesian regional languages ‘gamel’ variously means:

‘To handle’ (managing or presenting something) – gamelan music is the handling and elaboration of �a central musical idea

‘To strike’ or ‘to hammer’ – gamelan is primarily formed from instruments that are played with a hammer �or mallet; bronze gamelan instruments are hot-forged and hammered when they are made.

There is huge variety in gamelan music, but there are significant underlying shared musical characteristics:

the most prestigious instruments in the ensemble are made from bronze �

music is organised into distinct musical layers that have four main functions and are closely related to �

each other

the texture can be described as � heterophonic

musicians memorise condensed versions of the piece; this framework is then fleshed out in performance, �

elaborated through conventional formulae

the music is � cyclic (recurring) and end-directed, with the strong gong falling on the last beat of the cycle.

heterophonic texture: a layered texture where each layer plays a version of the same melody. Spiller (2008) gives the analogy of a man walking a dog: both walk in the same direction and at roughly the same time, but the ground covered by the dog is a far more elaborate version.

Tuning

Gamelans are tuned to one of two scales:

Slendro � : five pitches, dividing the octave into roughly equal divisions

Pelog � : seven pitches, dividing the octave in intervals that vary in size.

Each gamelan is tuned with itself in a deliberately unique individual tuning: it is therefore usually impossible

for an instrument from one gamelan to be used in another. However, they all tend to follow general outlines

of one of two main tuning systems.

A full court gamelan will con-tain both slendro and pelog (40–60 instruments). Some central Javanese pieces can be played in slendro or pelog – they have the same melodic contours but the pitches change because of differ-ences between the tuning systems.

4Classroom Music I spring term 1 I 2010/11

InStrumentS

Instruments in the gamelan can roughly be divided into metal-

lophones, gongs, cymbals and drums. In addition, vocalists,

woodwind and string instruments may be included.

There are huge similarities between the instruments in Javanese

and Balinese gamelan, and much variety within each, but the ter-

minology is sufficiently distinct to merit separate treatment.

Javanese gamelan instruments

PenCon (MeTaLLoPhoneS)

Sarons:

Seven-keyed metallophones �

demung (lowest pitch) �

Barung (octave higher than demung) �

Peking (octave higher than barung). �

Gender – thinner keys, suspended on chords above resonating

tubes:

Slenthem – the largest gender: seven keys, plays with the sarons �

but at a lower octave

other gender – 14 keys, played with two mallets, provides embel- �

lishment.

WiLahan (GonGS)

Suspended gongs:

Kempul �

Suwakan �

ageng (the largest gong). �

Cradled gongs:

Kenongs – small gongs supported horizontally on a crossed cord, �

struck with mallets with padding of coiled string

Kethuk and kempyang – smaller than kenong; important beat-keepers �

Bonang – two rows of six gongs, smaller than the kethuk and kem- �

pyang and supported in a frame; played with two long sticks bound

with cord; they have an embellishing role.

oTheR inSTRuMenTS

Singers: an unaccompanied male vocalist might sing long virtuosic intro (a bawa); more

typically, a group of men (gerong) sing a chorus in unison. There are also often female

vocalists (pesindhen) who sing rhythmically free, melodic lines (usually as soloists).

Other possible instruments are the rebab (bowed string instrument), suling (bamboo

flute), gambang (xylophone with wooden keys that plays fast melodic patterns) and

celempung (a plucked zither with metal strings).

DRuMMinG

Bedug � : large barrel-shaped drum with a deep, booming sound

Kendhang: � several two-headed, barrel-shaped drums together known as kendhang; one head is always larger

(lower-pitched) than the other; usually played with different hand strokes, although a stick may be used.

Many instruments in the gamelan have onomatopoeic names – gong (low, rings, not damped), ketuk (‘tuk’ is like a damping sound), kenong (‘nong’ rings and is quite high; not damped).

Kendhang gen-dhing (large), ketipung (small), kendhang kalih (two drums).

Instruments from the Sevenoaks School gamelan (Javanese; slendro tuning)


Balinese instruments

MeTaLLoPhoneS

ugal � , pemade, kantil – ten-keyed metallophones (in size order, largest to smallest)

Jublag � , jegog – larger, five-keyed metallophones.

GonGS

Reyong � – set of 12 small gongs suspended horizontally on a frame (melodic decorations played by four

players)

Trompong � – similar to the reyong but with ten gongs (played by one player)

Kempur � , kelentong and gong ageng – suspended gongs

Kadjar � – small gong, used to keep the pulse.

oTheR inSTRuMenTS

Rebab � (bowed string instrument), suling (bamboo flute), kendang (double-headed drums), ceng-ceng

(small cymbals).

In Balinese gamelan, keyed instruments come in matched pairs with one instrument tuned slightly lower than the other. This creates an oscillation or shimmer (known as beating) when a single note is played.

TRanslaTing onTo classRoom insTRumenTs

Aim for a variety of timbres so that it is possible to hear independent lines (for example, use different types

of beaters).

Play parts in different octaves to widen the range of pitch and sense of large ensemble.

It is most effective to use percussion instruments (metallophones, glockenspiels, xylophones, vibraphones,

gongs if possible), both for the physical experience of playing and also the characteristic attack and decay

of the sound.

Where gongs are not available, use different-sized cymbals (played with a large, soft beater). A large,

resonant drum may even suffice as the gong ageng.

A cowbell or agogo bell can play a similar role to the kethuk.

For the kendhang part, double-headed drums are best, but congas, bongos or even different sized djembes

work well, as long as different sounds can be achieved.

Performance: damping

When performing gamelan, damping can add an element of technical authenticity: the left hand acts as a

damper by grasping the key with thumb and forefinger; damping of the key must be done at the same time

as the right hand strikes the next key. This requires some coordination and practice, but can add an extra

layer of challenge and becomes important when playing more resonant instruments.

a noTe on noTaTion

While forms of notation are used in these materials, it is important that, where possible, students also have the opportunity to learn and play the gamelan aurally. Gamelan is the product of an oral tradition and listening, observing and imitating are the best ways to make sense of the relationship between different parts.

Notation has been used for about a century to preserve pieces in the court records, and most transcriptions you will find (online and elsewhere) will use kepatihan notation, a cipher system where numbers correspond to notes, developed around 1900.


Slendro on classroom instruments:

1 2 3 5 6

C D E G A

PerformInG a JavaneSe Gamelan PIece: rIcIK rIcIK

The best way to quickly understand the musical texture is to build up a performance in layers. This can be

completed through the Javanese gamelan piece Ricik Ricik, which is often used for Indonesian students

starting to learn the principle of lancaran (traditional gamelan). This can be completed as a class, aurally

or with notation.

The balungan

The process of learning a gamelan piece starts with the balungan. This is the simple, abstract melodic

thread that carries the main musical material of the piece and from which other parts can be determined. It

is usually rhythmically regular with a single note for each beat, and is played in octaves on sarons (metal-

lophones).

It is often effective to sing the balungan first, to the numbers:

3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

3 2 3 2 3 2 1 6

3 2 3 2 3 2 1 6

The kenong, kempul and gong parts

The gongs provide a colotomic template. Each of these templates has a name, lasts a defined number of

beats and is recognised by its distinct interlocking pattern of gong, kenong and kempul parts. These parts

are designed so that there is a sound on every beat and a continuous musical line is heard. This section:

Provides a solid foundation and cohesion for the piece �

Provides a sense of direction – all parts propel towards the gong beat (always on the last beat) �

emphasises particular pitches (related to the shape of the balungan) �

lays out the timeline, marking off units of time. �

Notation for this is printed at the end of the article, and is also downloadable as a Sibelius file from the ‘support-ing materials’ tab on the Classroom Music website.

Balungan is a Javanese term literally meaning ‘skeleton’; the equivalent in Bali is the pokok). Some Indonesian musi-cians refer to an even more abstract melodic shape that is not played by any instrument but implied through the performance.


Kempul 6 6 1 2

Kenong 5 5 6 6

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

Kempul 6 6 1 2

Kenong 5 5 6 6

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

Kempul 3 3 1 2

Kenong 2 2 6 6

Balungan 3 2 3 2 3 2 1 6

Kempul 3 3 1 Gong!

Kenong 2 2 6 6

Balungan 3 2 3 2 3 2 1 6

Kethuk and kendhang

The kethuk marks off smaller time segments: it has a sharp attack and is quickly dampened to have a sharp

decay. In Ricik Ricik it anticipates the balungan beat, coming on the ‘off-beat’.

Kethuk K K K K K K K etc.

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 etc.

The drums (kendhang) have been likened to the conductor of the ensemble. Their role is to:

control the tempo, including speeding up and slowing down �

Begin and end the piece �

control the transition into other pieces or sections �

respond to and enhance the dancing or puppets’ movements �

coordinate the ensemble with unobtrusive aural signals. �

Drum strikes are given different, onomatopoeic names and there are different styles of drum playing. Here

are some basic strokes used in Ricik Ricik:

Dhah � – a bounced strike on the edge of the large head, using fingers and palm

Tok � – a short, bounced strike on the small head with the fingers only

Thung � – low-pitched, booming sound – bounced strike in the centre of the large head

Tak � – sharp, crisp sound – a flat strike of the small head of either drum with fingers and palm.

DRuM inTRoDuCTion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

tak tak thung dah tok thung tok dah

BaSiC DRuM RhYThM ThRouGhouT

1 2 3 4

dah tak tak tak

Adding elaboration

The other instruments play simultaneous variations of the piece’s melody; more complicated instruments will

Gong sounds on beat 8.


land on the same notes as the melody at regular time intervals.

Some are quite closely related to the balungan: they maintain the melodic contour but are faster and/or more

rhythmically varied.

The most straightforward elaboration to add is the peking part (one octave higher than the saron), which

may play each note twice.

Peking 3 3 5 5 6 6 5 5 6 6 5 5 1 1 6 6

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

Or, the peking may anticipate the balungan, playing with the kethuk:

Peking 3 3 5 5 6 6 5 5 6 6 5 5 1 1 6 6 3

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

In Javanese gamelan, the bonang provides the most elaborate decoration. This may take several forms and

can be very complicated to play, but most common in the lancaran form (which this piece is played in) is

an ostinato on one note. This is often a syncopated or off-beat pattern, played in octaves, and provides an

abstract version of the balungan:

Bonang 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

Bonang 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

Bonang 2 2 2 2 6 6 6 6

Balungan 3 2 3 2 3 2 1 6

Bonang 2 2 2 2 6 6 6 6

Balungan 3 2 3 2 3 2 1 6

The full piece

a chart of the whole piece is printed at the end of the article.

When the performance is secure, try experimenting with changing the tempo (led by the kendhang player).

The kendhang part can also be elaborated, with more interesting interlocking parts, as can the bonang.

BalI: Gamelan GonG KeByar

The following ideas can be added to the performance of Ricik Ricik, or learnt independently.

The most common form of gamelan in Bali is gamelan gong kebyar – ‘kebyar’ means flaring or dazzling (like

fireworks). It is a relatively modern form, arising in the early 20th century. As its name suggests, it is exciting

and impressive, with a large dynamic range and sudden changes.

Its most distinctive feature is the kotekan, a fast, interlocking pattern including two or more instruments in the

ensemble played at breakneck speed. It sounds like a single melodic line but, with notes shared between

See the end of the article for a guided composition worksheet based on Ricik Ricik.


two players, it is faster than a single player could perform.

Watch this YouTube clip to see a clear example of Kotekan Njog Cak, where performers play alternate notes.

Notice how the performers damp each note after they have played it so that the notes never overlap. For

kotekan played as part of a gamelan gong kebyar performance, watch this incredible YouTube clip (it is

worth watching all the way through).

A note is played by at least one player on every beat, and the kotekan is an elaboration on the main melody

(pokok), meeting up with it at significant moments and following its general contour. The aim is for a fast,

smooth and even performance that sounds like a constant stream of notes.

Performing kotekan

Students could start by learning the following interlocking rhythmic pattern (this could also be used on the

kendhang in the performance of Ricik Ricik above). Perform in pairs or in two large groups.

Pulse 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Player 1 x . x . . x . x . x . x x . x . x . x . . x . x . x . x x . x .

Player 2 . x . x x . x . x . x . . x . x . x . x x . x . x . x . . x . x

In Balinese gamelan, the interlocking embellishment is played by the pemade, kantil and reyong; in some

Javanese pieces, the bonangs play a similar role (called imbal-imbalan). This embellishment is an elabora-

tion of the balungan (or pokok, to use Balinese terminology). There are different conventions for embellish-

ment – read more here.

Kotekan Njog Cak involves performers playing on alternate beats. This is very difficult to perform in time.

The following example uses notes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6. Build up a performance slowly, in pairs or groups. A performer

keeping the pulse might help!

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

Polos 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 5.2. 3.5. 3.2. 3.5. 6.1.

Sangsih .3.3 .6.6 .1.6 .6.1 .2.6 .6.5 .1.2. .3.3

A more complicated but easier-to-perform kotekan pattern is the kotekan empat. The following version uses

3, 5, 6, 1…

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

Polos .35. 35.3 5.35 .3.5 3.53 .53. 53.5 3.53

Sangsih 61.6 1.61 .61. 6.6. 16.1 6.16 .16. 16.1

…or an alternative pattern – 6, 1, 2, 3:

Balungan 3 2 3 2 3 2 1 6

Polos 3.23 .32. 3.23 .32. 32.3 2.32 .32. 32.2

Sangsih 61.6 16.1 61.6 16.1 6.16 .16. 16.1 6.1.

In this and following tables, dots repre-sent empty beats – so there are four beats per box.

Polos is the higher-pitched instrument, sangsih the lower.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbCuEOXvuoE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldPMifPbngc&feature=related

http://remus.shidler.hawaii.edu/gamelan/balikote.htm


and fInally…KecaK

The Balinese dance drama kecak, a reasonably recent invention, enacts the Ramayana story. One section

features a large group of men, in concentric circles, acting as the monkey army.

Watch YouTube clips here and here. Notice the sound of the men vocally imitating the sounds of the gamelan

underneath the chanting and the sudden changes reminiscent of Balinese gong kebyar. The performers

chant the syllable ‘chak’ – very short and staccato – in an interlocking rhythm not dissimilar to the kotekan

(see above).

Kecak performance

Using the grid below, create a score for a kecak performance. There should be a sound on every beat, and

there may occasionally be more than one sound on some beats. The first eight beats have been completed:

Group 1 x . . x x . x x

Group 2 x . x . . . x .

Group 3 . x . . x x . .

Group 4 x . . . . x . x

This can then be performed as a class, with each group taking a separate line. It may be useful to have

somebody keeping the pulse. See how fast the class can perform it without falling to pieces!

try creating sudden dynamic changes, without changing the pulse or energy �

try inserting a short unison phrase part-way through the performance �

try scrambling the performers, so they are holding their own part while surrounded by performers chanting �

other parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGXcnWUqV-Y

http://tiny.cc/Kecak2


FuRTheR ResouRces

Books:

Many books go into a huge amount of technical depth very quickly. However, the following two books are

more approachable:

The most recommended is Henry Spiller’s � Gamelan Music of Indonesia from the Focus on World Music series

(Routledge). This is accompanied by a CD of selected tracks.

A shorter but quite dense alternative is Neil Sorrell’s � A Guide to the Gamelan (Faber).

The resource pack � Music of Indonesia by Gordon Jones (published by Heinemann Educational) contains a

wealth of practical activities, but is now difficult to find.

Websites:

There is an enormous quantity of information on the internet about gamelan, much of which is well-written

and interesting. Some highlights are:

www.gamelan-bali.e � u contains a considerable amount of information, including musical scores and audio

examples in a clear and well-presented format

www.balibeyond.co � m has a wealth of audio examples

http://smarsam.web.wesleyan.edu/intro.gamelan.pd � f provides a detailed introduction to gamelan mu-

sic, with plenty of examples

http://remus.shidler.hawaii.edu/gamela � n

www.imusic.org.uk/modulegamelan.as � p – Wells Cathedral School Virtual Gamelan.

acknoWleDgemenT

With thanks to Jackie Hendry, who was instrumental in setting up the gamelan project at Sevenoaks School and continually promotes gamelan in the Sevenoaks area.

For further reading recommendations (books, websites and CDs), see here.

http://www.gamelan-bali.eu

http://www.balibeyond.com

http://smarsam.web.wesleyan.edu/Intro.gamelan.pdf

http://remus.shidler.hawaii.edu/gamelan

http://www.imusic.org.uk/modulegamelan.asp

http://pages.infit.net/musis.matsu_take_eng/32_AMG_Java_Bali.html


rIcIK rIcIK: the whole PIece

(Including the introduction (buka) for lancaran form)

Beat 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 +

Bonang 6 3 5 6 5 3 2 6 6

Peking 3

Balungan

Kempul Gong!

Kenong

Kethuk K

Kendhang tak tak thung dah tok thung tok dah

Bonang 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 5

Peking 3 5 5 6 6 5 5 6 6 5 5 1 1 6 6 3

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

Kempul 6 6 1 2

Kenong 5 5 6 6

Kethuk K K K K K K K K

Kendhang dah tak tak tak dah tak tak tak

Bonang 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 2

Peking 3 5 5 6 6 5 5 6 6 5 5 1 1 6 6 3

Balungan 3 5 6 5 6 5 1 6

Kempul 6 6 1 2

Kenong 5 5 6 6



Bonang 2 2 2 6 6 6 6 2

Peking 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 1 1 6 6 3

Balungan 3 2 3 2 3 2 1 6

Kempul 3 3 1 2

Kenong 2 2 6 6




Bonang 2 2 2 6 6 6 6

Peking 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 1 1 6 6

Balungan 3 2 3 2 3 2 1 6

Kempul 3 3 1 Gong!

Kenong 2 2 6 6

Kethuk K K K K K K K




16

rIcIK rIcIK for claSSroom InStrumentS

(Including the introduction (buka) for lancaran form)

Beat 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 +

Bonang A E G A G E D A A G

Peking E

Balungan

Kempul Gong!

Kenong

Kethuk K

Kendhang tak tak thung dah tok thung tok Dah

Bonang G G G A A A A G

Peking E G G A A G G A A G G C C A A E

Balungan E G A G A G C A

Kempul A A C D

Kenong G G A A



Bonang G G G A A A A D



Kempul A A C D

Kenong G G A A



Bonang D D D A A A A D

Peking E D D E E D D E E D D C C A A E

Balungan E D E D E D C A

Kempul E E C D

Kenong D D A A



Classroom Music I spring term 1 I 2010/11

17

Bonang D D D A A A A

Peking E D D E E D D E E D D C C A A


Kempul E E C Gong!

Kenong D D A A




18

rIcIK rIcIK BalunGan for claSSroom InStrumentS

E G A G A G C A

E G A G A G C A

E D E D E D C A

E D E D E D C A


19

rIcIK rIcIK GonG PartS for claSSroom InStrumentS

Beat 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 +

Kempul Gong!

Kenong

Kethuk K

Kempul A A C D

Kenong G G A A


Kempul A A C D

Kenong G G A A


Kempul E E C D

Kenong D D A A


Kempul E E C Gong!

Kenong D D A A



20

rIcIK rIcIK elaBoratInG PartS for claSSroom InStrumentS

Beat 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 +

Bonang A E G A G E D A A G

Peking E

Balungan

Bonang G G G A A A A G



Bonang G G G A A A A D



Bonang D D D A A A A D

Peking E D D E E D D E E D D C C A A E


Bonang D D D A A A A

Peking E D D E E D D E E D D C C A A




Step 1: write a balungan using notes from the slendro: C, D, E, G, A

Same as line 1

Same as line 3

Step 2: add in the peking ornamentation (fill in the shaded boxes only)

Beat 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 +

Peking

Balungan

Peking

Balungan

Peking

Balungan

Peking

Balungan

Step 3: add in the gong parts (fill in the shaded boxes only):

the kempul should play on beats 3, 5, 7 and 8; use the same notes as in the balungan �

the kenong should play on: �

Beats 2 and 4 (using the balungan note from beat 4) �

Beats 6 and 8 (using the balungan note from beat 8). �

composition based on ricik ricik


Beat 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 +

Balungan

Kempul Gong!

Kenong

Kethuk K

Balungan

Kempul

Kenong


Balungan

Kempul

Kenong


Balungan

Kempul

Kenong


Balungan

Kempul Gong!

Kenong


Step 4: write the bonang parts:

they should be at the same time as the kethuk (half a beat before each balungan note) �

the first four bonang notes are the same as balungan note 4, the next four bonang notes are the same as �

balungan note 8 and so on

try adding a bonang introduction in the first line �

fill in the shaded boxes. �

Beat 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 +

intro

Bonang

Peking

Balungan


Bonang

Peking

Balungan

Bonang

Peking

Balungan

Bonang

Peking

Balungan

Bonang

Peking

Balungan

Step 5: perform your completed composition

Beat 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 +

intro

Bonang

Peking

Balungan

Kempul Gong!

Kenong

Kethuk K

Kendhang tak tak thung dah tok thung tok dah

Bonang

Peking

Balungan

Kempul

Kenong




Bonang

Peking

Balungan

Kempul

Kenong



Bonang

Peking

Balungan

Kempul

Kenong



Bonang

Peking

Balungan

Kempul Gong!

Kenong



KS34_gamelan.pdf

Documents

videos of gamelan

textures of gamelan

gamelan player

indonesian court gamelan

classroom music

local primary school

assistant director of

musical processes