Gamelan Resources: Books: Gamelan: The Traditional Sounds of Indonesia, Henry Spiller (2004) includes CD with samples Power

r Plays: Wayang Golek Theater of West Java, Andrew N. Weintraub (2004) Sundanese rod puppet theater includes DVD The Sound of the Ancestral Ship: Highland Music of West Java, Sean Williams (2001) The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 4 (Southeast Asia) A Guide to the Gamelan, Neil Sorrell Central Javanese gamelan Web sites: Dr. Sean Williams American Gamelan Institute Gamelan Pacifica SOU Gamelan (degung) Gamelan Sekar Jaya (Balinese) YouTube.com Wikipedia

www.seanwilliams.org/gamelan www.gamelan.org www.gamelanpacifica.org www.sou.edu/music/gamelan.shtml www.gsj.org www.youtube.com Search on gamelan, or specific groups like gamelan sekar jaya en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamelan

About the SOU Gamelan

In the Spring of 1999, SOU was able to purchase an iron Gamelan Degung from Bandung, Indonesia, over the internet with funds donated by faculty member Todd Barton. After a little TLC and four cans of spray paint, our degung was up and gonging. The set consists of 1 Bonang (14 pot gongs, 3 octaves, L shaped rack) 1 Panerus (14 keys, 3 octaves, common trough resonator) 1 Peking (same as panerus but different range) 1 Jenglong (5 smaller hanging gongs, low octave) 1 Go'ong (largest hanging gong, lowest pitch in set) 1 Kempul (smaller hanging gong, not used in classical) 1 Kendang & 1 Kulanter (double headed rawhide drums) Miscelaneous Suling (end blown bamboo flutes) Also included are exchange keys and pots for Sorog

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General information about gamelan degung NOTE: The following information is taken from the web site of Dr. Sean Williams, ethnomusicologist and professor at Evergreen State College. www.seanwilliams.org/gamelan The Sundanese are Indonesia's second largest ethnic group. They live in the province of West Java (also called "Sunda" by many foreigners), encompassing the interior highlands, the coastal areas, and Cirebon, a culturally distinct region. When the Sundanese refer to their performing arts, they are careful to describe what they call khas Sunda -- that which is characteristically Sundanese -- a designation that bears a sense of regional identity. Sundanese Gamelans A large proportion of Sundanese music is performed on gamelans, sets of bronze or iron instruments supported by carved wooden racks. A Sundanese gamelan usually consists of a core group of metallophones (saron), horizontal gong-chime sets (bonang), vertically suspended gongs (go'ong), and a set of barrel drums (kendang). Other features, including xylophones, aerophones (flutes or oboes), a bowed lute, and vocalists, are included according to the type of ensemble. Pieces for gamelan are normally organized in cycles, with the ending of each cycle marked by the low pitch of the go'ong. These cycles may be played many times in a single piece. The drummer demarcates the cycle by outlining specific patterns; he also acts as the timekeeper, coordinator, and controller of dynamics. Gamelans in West Java encompass a variety of types, from the ubiquitous five-tone gamelan salndro to the rare seven-tone gamelan plog, the multi-laras (multipletuning) gamelan of Asep Sunandar Sunarya, and the five-tone gamelan degung. Gamelan salndro is used in instrumental performance, and as the accompaniment for a solo female vocalist, a dance, or the Sundanese three-dimensional rod-puppet theater (wayang golk). In addition to the standard instrumentarium of metallophones, drums, gong chimes, and gongs, it includes a bowed lute (rebab) and usually a female vocalist. It is versatile and can be played in nearly any context, particularly at important social events, like weddings, ritual feasts, and neighborhood celebrations. Gamelan degung is the other primary Sundanese gamelan; in addition to the usual instruments, it also includes a set of six hanging gongs (degung or jenglong), which gives the ensemble its name. Gamelan degung is frequently used for weddings, and shifted during the latter half of the 20th century from an instrumental ensemble performed primarily by men to one in which the ensemble serves as accompaniment to female singers. In addition, the new repertoire of pieces is less challenging to perform. Women now dominate the performance of gamelan degung, with the exception of the kendang (drum) and suling (bamboo flute), which are still always played by men.

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Indonesia consists of over 17,000 islands, about 6,000 of which are inhabited. There are 300 distinct cultures within Indonesia, most with their own languages. Indonesia lies south of Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines. The styles of gamelan most popular in the west are Balinese and Central Javanese. Although gamelan degung (the type of instruments SOU owns) are from Western Java, degung is a style specific to one region of Western Java, the Sunda region.

WHAT IS A GAMELAN?
"Gamelan is a spirit, not an object," says noted Indonesian musician Sapto Raharjo, "the instruments are just the medium."

A gamelan is often desicribed as a gong-chime percussion orchestra. These beautiful instruments have their origins in the islands of Java and Bali. Unlike the western orchestra, which features predominantly winds and strings, the gamelan is dominated by percussion instruments, although plucked and bowed stings, flutes, and singing are also important. The instruments of a gamelan are usually built as a set. Each set has a characteristic tuning which may be unique or may be copied from another gamelan. The bronze instruments are produced by a complex process of casting and forging. When the full gamelan is playing, the many instruments and voices blend to create a complex texture. The ethnomusicologist Mantle Hood described this texture as stratified polyphony, characterizing it in terms of layers of sound moving semi-independently at different speeds. Others have used the term heterophony, implying that the individual parts are simultaneous variants of the same melody. The effect of gamelan on modern western music has been important, influencing composers ranging from Debussy to Steve Reich. The first gamelan to arrive in the U.S. came to Chicago as part of the the Columbia Exposition of 1893. This gamelan is still housed at the Field Museum in Chicago. Eventually, through an expanding interest in ethnomusicology, gamelan instruments appeared on University campuses. Through the efforts of composer/instrument builders such as the great American composer Lou Harrison, gamelan began to play a significant role in the contemporary music scene with its increasing emphasis on world music influences. Today gamelan instruments are found throughout the world, with many, many active ensembles in the U.S. Gamelan music often includes the following four elements: 1) A cyclical structure. Marked by gongs of various sizes, pitches and timbres, this "colotomic" structure forms a framework for the balungan (literally "skeleton") which is a basic melody played in several octaves on metallophones that have seven or more keys apiece. 2) Instruments with greater ranges and vocals provide elaboration that is related more or less directly to this balungan, converging with it at regular intervals, and is typified by a high degree of patterning. 3) Each of the elaborating parts has a distinct idiom including a stock of patterns (cengkok) and ways of varying these patterns (wiled). 4) Finally, the ensemble is guided by drumming that regulates tempo and controls beginnings, transitions and endings.

From Gamelan Pacific web site: http://www.gamelanpacifica.org/

THEMUSIC OF TNDONESIA
JAVA
Javanese Gamelan - Of the Javanese CentralJavanese CourtGamelan styfes, this is the most widelyperformed and understood by westernmusicians. lt istne 'classical"music of Ja.va,historically performedin relationship to the sultan or susnanwhosetraditionat roleshaveincluded arts patronage.Court musiccan be brokendownin to two distinctstyles;Jogjonese(fromJogjakarta) and Solonese(ftom Surakarta [Solo]). These ensembles quite are largeand includeGeronglmdle chorus)and FsinO'en (one to five female vocal soloists). The Javanese courts are also the birthplace of Wayang (shadow puppet play) whichis very important to bothJavanese and lhe Balinese culture. Cirebonese Gamelan- Cirebon is locatedin west Java. The instruments used in this styleare verysimilarto thoseof central Java but the musicis quitedifferent. : The ensemble size is muchsmallerthanthat of the courtsand the moodis more relaxed. OftentimesTopeng(masked dance)is perform"O *itn in" music. - Also located SundaneseDqgu.nq in west Java,this smallensemble is very much like western chambermusic. A sweet,crisp soundis characteristic of its highly melodious music' Usingmanyof the sameinstruments as the courts, the suling (bamboo flute)usually playsa leading role. - No two Gamelan Tuningsystems. shareexactlythe sametuning. This feature . very important to the quality tradition. The unique of soundproduced by euery is individual Gamelan is part of what givesthe musicvitality. The,same piecesptayeO on differentsetscan soundve4z different.Neverthe less,two distinct scalesare usedthroughout all of Java. Theyare Slendro (a pentatonic scaleof roughly equidistant intervals) and Pelog( a seventone scalethat includes smalier, semitonelike intervals and largermajorsecondand minorthird-like intervals are no fl-here standardized intervalic relationships. Consequently, equaltempereb intervals can only give approximate pitchlevelsJ ).

- Music pragtice Performance is taught in the oraltradition. Even whenmusic notation is used, it doesno more thanshowthe Balungan (nuclear melody [akinto Cantus Firmusl). Musicians areexpected to be skilledlt ptaying "u"ry instrument in the Gamelan because it is considered to be one instrument. Even the most basic partis considered to be a vitalaspect of the "organism'.Themusic existsin the inftnite space of the heavens andthe physical performance of anypiece is simply a reflection. Thequality of musicplayed is a resultof howwellthe'd;p can alignwith the perfection of the eternal. fnstruments Colotomic
GongAgung and Gong suwukan- Large hanginggongsused to mark the beginning and endingof the pieceand smalier internat phrases. Kempul- Mediumsizedhanging gongsthat punctuate beatsbetween gongs. large Kgnong- Largest of the 'pot gongs". Alternates with Kempul . - Time keepers. Kethukand Kempyang Balungan - Lowest slenthem of balungan instruments.uses individual resonators and suspended keys. Demung - Lowestof commontroughbalungan instruments. - Mid rangecommon Saron trough. Peking- High rangecommontrough. Elaborating Bonang barung- Two rowsof smaflpot gongs. playedwith both hands. Usedto embellish balungan. Bonangpanerus- Sameas barungbut an octavehigher. Gender barung - Two handedplaying. suspended keyswith individual resonators.Playsstylizedchengcok(memorized melodic lines ) to Selehtones( goal tones). Genderpanerus- Sameas barungbut an octavehigher. Gambang- commontrough, woodenkeyed. played withbothhands. Also playsChengcok. Rebab - Two stringed spikefiddle. playswith vocalparts. suling Bamboo flute. Veryfree style. Bird-like imitations. sfer - stringedzither. Played with thumbnaits. Alsoplayschengcok. Kendang- Sets of drumswhichlead the ensemble.

BALI
Balinese Gamelan CourtGametan. to Javanese GamelanGonq Gede- The equivalent the fact that many of thernwere due to became extinct This style is very old and almost as GamelanGong Kebyar. Historically, the Gede melteddown and refashioned became they the collectiveproperty of were ownedby royaltybut eventually ensembles are cunently villages. These very large,statelyand extremelyloudensembles a resurgence. enjoying - Smallerthan Gede,theseensembles featurea wide Gamelan Peleoongan gongs pot Now rare,these all. somewhat no at include but varietyof metalophones dances. the Legong usedto accompany Gamelanare sometimes - Roughly to Gamelan of the lovegod translates GamelanSemar Pegulinoan pelog by far the majority note but Semar. Oldervarietiesof this Gamelanuse a seven of the same scale. Oftentunedto a higher employa five note modalextraction sound. by a light shimmering register, the music is characterized - The name meansto burst in to flamesand this style GamelanGono Kebvar these by extremelyloudand fast passages, is explosive indeed. Characterized virtuosity.In this technical ensembles are usuallyvery largeand requireamazing lines are made up of several melodic music, Gamelan Balinese in style,as all other people. By far the most parts playedsimultaneously by two or more interlocking island itself. the popular and on in America Balinese style - Considered theseensembles to be the firstGamelan, GamelanSelonding the styles, fromall otherBalinese different are as rare as they are ancient.Distinctly have been recently, these Gamelan Until beauteous. fyrical and musicis amazingly exclusively reservedfor sacredceremonies. - Thisfour note Slendro in size. is usually smaller Gamelan Angkluno Gamelan Gamelan. as a children's used processionals, it is also Sometimes used in quartetonly usedfor the Wayang. GenderWayang- A metalophone to be mastersof the Gamelandue to the Performers of this styleare considered required. virtuoso technique and extensive repertoire instruments also use Balinese Gamelan, Tuningsystems- LikeJavanese it is rare that onewouldfind all sevennotes both Pelogand Slendroscales. However, Gamelan.Instead,most use onlythe five pitchesthat correlate usedin any Balinese for the GenderWayangwhilethe to the Selisirmode. FivenoteSlendrois reserved Angklung use A four noteSlendro.

&il;;i tn"r"peopre,s the interdependent r;til ;f c"*"r"n-firri-" is oeueroped toa IIT ,"t"r3::quentlY,
- ManyBalinese Instruments Gamelancontainpairsof every instrument. Thesepairsare tunedslilhtlyapart. when tne samenotesare simuttaneously pfayedtogether, the.beatingbet*een the two 'out of tune"keysgives the musica threedimensional shimmen:ng quafitv tnai a "ffiil aesthetic desirabifity to the Balinese' fndividual descripti6ns of instrumentt "i" too numerous to mention here. Becausethere are so manyditferent types of ensembles in Bafi, and each one containsits own specialized set of instluments,I wilr ristonly a few of the ones found in the Gamefan GongGede. Colotomy Gongs Walon..andLanang - signaf large phrases. Kempur- smallergongusually luned o-rtrio"of the scale. Kempli and ponggani_ Time keepers Nuclear melody Saron - Common or Gangsa trough metafophones. Jegogan- Lowestoctave of the suspended key individual resonator metalophones. - Same_as J_ublag Jegogan but an octavehigher. Penyachahs - Sameas Jublagbut an octavJ higher. Efaborating Trompong- Row of pot gongs. P!"v-rstylized edensionsof the nucfearmelody. Reong- Row.oIpo! gongs.rro to fouriray"rirprovisea continuous, interrocking figuration basedon the nr.l"",' mefody. Suling- Bambooflute. cheng- Hand.hefd cymbars.providerhythmic 9-hen.g accentuation. Kendangwadan and Lanang - Largeorums,J"o to fead the ensembre.

Performance - The. nractice primary method for teaching musicin Bafiis by oral tradition' Notation in Bafiis atmost'unnearo of. A; important feature of Balinese Gamelan liesin the factthatmost setsare owned cortectively.by viltages. Theyare maintained by the Banjar (club) whoser"*o"it Jre ail inhabitants of the sarne community' Practically everyone in the villagi Grel: sings, paints, carveswoodand plavs Gameran. ft isa vitar part ofthe ;;j;il'siiriirar

Central Javanese Gamelan

Indonesia is a big country, consisting of many cultures with many musical traditions. The biggest culture, with the most highly refined musical tradition, is that of the Javanese. The island of Bali also supports a distinct classical tradition. The music of other cultures has also been recorded, but I will not be dealing with that, as it has more the character of folk art. Since many readers are apparently less familiar with the Javanese cultural setting (as opposed to India, China or Iran), I will discuss this background before proceeding to the list of recordings. The language we call Javanese is spoken in the central and eastern parts of the island of Java. The western part is Sundanese (from which there are also a few recordings, not to be discussed). Javanese is a very complicated language, consisting of three distinct vocabularies and grammars to be used with those in superior, equal, or inferior social positions with respect to the speaker. The national language of Indonesia is a modern construction, designed for simplicity and easy use by the wide array of different cultures within its boundaries. Prior to the European period, Javanese was the dominant culture of the region, at times holding hegemony in parts of the Asian mainland. For instance, in the early-medieval history of what is now Cambodia, a restoration of the traditional monarchy was heralded by the arrival of a prince from Java to take the kingship. During the Mongol era, a large invasion fleet (much larger than that sent to Japan) was sent to Java, only to be soundly thrashed at sea, without a landing. This will give the reader some idea of the Javanese strength, but it should also be noted that this hegemony was generally not expressed through military means (at least insofar as we understand it), but rather as cultural and trading superiority. Of course, this situation was drastically modified by the arrival of the Arab traders. Indonesia is counted as the most populous Muslim nation in the world, but this is somewhat misleading. Islam is not a "state religion" as it is in many Islamic countries, and there is quite a bit of variety, although the majority of inhabitants do profess Islamic beliefs. Among the larger cultures, North Sumatra is the "most" Muslim; in fact, it was home to a major Islamic University (known, for instance, in China) during the later medieval era. Java is also Islamic, in the sense that the people believe in many of the tenets of Islam and identify themselves as Muslims, but there are also other simultaneous belief systems. Prior to Islam, Java was alternately Hindu and Buddhist (and Bali remains Hindu), and these beliefs continue to be important for Muslim people. There is also an older layer of native religious practice which is still alive and well. Javanese religion is termed "syncretistic" (i.e., combining various influences), and it is generally only our tendency to give priority to the monotheistic religions which yields the Javanese the designation of "Islamic" per se. Of course, the influence of Islam should not be understated either. The above discussion of syncretism should not give the impression that Java is an area of religious conflict. The different belief systems have been molded into a coherent whole, and the various public rituals (like the calendar with its simultaneous cycles of five and seven days, i.e. these coincide every thirty-five days) are thoroughly ingrained throughout the Javanese population (of course, as we know, the "Europeanized elite" frequently have different ideas). The Sanskrit classic epic Mahabharata continues to be a huge cultural influence on Java (it is easily

apparent from the simple fact that many personal names are taken from that text, etc.) and the shadow puppet theatre based on episodes from this epic is one of the most distinctive and widespread Javanese cultural practices. The gamelan is always used to accompany these plays (wayang kulit). The classical dance forms of Indonesia are also attaining some level of popularity in the USA (you could have seen them regularly in the Rose Bowl Parade, for instance), and much of the court music was written to accompany dance. There is also a large and impressive body of surviving classical literature on various topics, usually written in verse (including a verse encyclopedia, if you can imagine...). The gamelan orchestra, based on metallic percussion with winds and drums, is well-known to many readers. In various forms, it is ubiquitous to Southeast Asia. In Java, the full gamelan also adds a bowed-string instrument (the rebab, a name illustrative of Islamic influence) and voices. The rebab is one of the main melodic instruments of the ensemble (together with the xylophone "gender") and is often played by the senior musician. Voices consist of male and female choruses, together with soloists; however, the voices are not usually featured in court gamelan (as opposed to wayang kulit, shadow puppet theatre) and are supposed to be heard discreetly in the middle of the orchestral sound. In these abstract pieces, the words are largely secondary to the music itself. There are four royal courts (kratons) in Central Java, two each in Surakarta (Solo) and Yogyakarta. Returning briefly to history... when the Dutch took over the Southeast Asian trade and established themselves in Java (Sunda, actually), their policy was not to destroy the royal court, but to isolate it. In other words, they did everything they could to remove any political influence from the sultans, but allowed the court to remain as a cultural institution (which had always been a large part of its role, perhaps analogous to the Chinese Emperor). Much later, the court (originally in Solo) divided into four, due to philosophical differences (of aesthetic) in the royal house, and with encouragement from the Dutch. The kratons continue to serve as cultural and educational institutions, and house the classical music tradition of Java. Each court has a huge roster of musicians and an extensive collection of historical instruments; today many of these musicians also have jobs outside their kraton, but this was not true in the past. Despite what any of this discussion might imply, the music itself is extremely coherent. It shows no sign of mixed objectives, but is rather a "pure" style. The repertory is vast. There are two scales in Javanese gamelan music, "slendro" (pentatonic) and "pelog" (heptatonicpentatonic). Tuning is not standard, rather each gamelan set will have a distinctive tuning. A complete gamelan consists of a pair of sets, one tuned in each of the scales and intended to be played together in many instances. Different gamelan sets have different sonorities, and are used for different pieces of music; many are very old, and used for only one specific piece. Musical forms are defined by the rhythmic cycles. These consist of major cycles subdivided by smaller cycles, each marked by the striking of successively smaller gongs. The melodic interplay takes place within this framework (technically called "colotomic"). There are also distinct melodic modes ("patet") within the division of scale, but my knowledge of this is insufficient to attempt any sort of detailed explanation. Extracted from a paper by T. M. McComb; 19 May 1999 http://www.gamelan.org

TOWARD AN APPRECIATION OF JAVANESE GAMELAN

by Hardja Susilo, Associate Professor in Ethnomusicology University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Gamelan is an Indonesian indigenous "orchestra" largely composed of struck metalophones in the shape of gongs and slabs. Unlike the Western usage of the term orchestra, however, the word gamelan refers to the instruments that make up the ensemble. Although similar ensembles may be found in other parts of Southeast Asia, gamelan are primarily the musical culture of Java, Madura, Bali, and Lombok. Three types of metal (or metallic alloys) are commonly used to make gamelan. In order of preference, a gamelan set may be made of bronze, brass, or iron--bronze is the most preferred. In addition to the choice of material, an owner's wealth and taste may be factors in determining the number of instruments, how big or small each is to be, the motif of the decorative carvings, and the painting of the instruments. Traditional constraints, however, prevent individual preference from becoming bizarre personal expressions. Although different gamelan may vary slightly in their tunings, all gamelan must be in one of two basic intervallic structures--namely, the 5-tone slendro or the 7-tone pelog. Neither of these tunings is compatible with the Western music tuning system. For this reason, gamelan may sound "out-of-tune" to those with a deeply rooted sense of Western tuning, causing reactions ranging from a pleasant surprise to perhaps complete dislike. In Central Java, regardless of the size, a gamelan set would include four groups of instruments: (1 ) those which carry the main melody (balungan); (2) the accentuating instruments; (3) the elaborating instruments; and (4) a set of drums, which functions as an audible conductor. The number of actual instruments in each group may vary from one gamelan set to another. Vocal parts may be either featured solos or included, like any instrument, merely to enrich the musical texture. The Musical Process Although most of the instruments have one function in the ensemble, a few may be required to perform more than one role in the structure of the music. Thus, for example, the primary function of a saron (a set of 6-7 metal slabs mounted over a trough resonator) is to carry the main melody, although on some occasions it might "elaborate" on the basic melody. The kendhang (laced drums) may function as a tempo and dynamic leader at one moment and as a dance

accompaniment the next. The kenong (horizontally mounted medium-size gongs) and kempul (vertically mounted medium-size gongs) may provide accentuation for one piece and act as movable drones for another. Unlike Western composers, Javanese composers of traditional music do not have the freedom to vary their musical functions beyond this traditional range. On the other hand, unlike Western musicians, Javanese performers have the freedom to "develop" a theme, to edit a piece, to drastically vary the tempo and dynamics, to "improve" or improvise on the music as they play it. A type of cipher notation has been developed for gamelan instruments, but traditionally musicians did not rely on it much. Rather, while playing soft sections, they listen to the melody leadership of the rebab (two-string spiked fiddle), and when playing loud sections, they rely on the bonang barung (a set of 10-14 small gongs horizontally mounted on a rack in two rows). Instruments such as clempung (zither), suling (flute), gambang (xylophone), and gender (thin metal keys mounted over tube resonators) perform what is generally referred to as "improvisation." Just as traditional constraints limit the shape, size, and tuning of the gamelan, preventing it from becoming an individual expression, they also restrict musicians from improvising wildly and composers from expressing personal feelings at will (with the notable exception of several experimental compositions in the past few years). The same rules apply to other Javanese performing arts such as dance and theatre. Thus, performing artists do not express personal feelings, but, rather, perform their personal interpretations of the tradition. Improvisation Some remarks should be made regarding the term improvisation. In the West, the word improvisation is synonymous with ad lib, which implies a great deal more freedom than is allowed Javanese musicians. In jazz, the improvising musicians are sometimes known "to fake," a term that does not conjure up a particularly positive image. There are many Javanese terms that may be translated loosely as improvisation: kembangan

(literally "flowering"), improvisation that adds beauty; isen-isen ("filling"), improvisation that pleasantly fills a vacuum; ngambang ("floating"), improvisation produced by musicians who do not have a clear knowledge of where the music is going; sambang-rapet ("making a tight connection"), covering up a fellow performer's mistake in order to save him or her from embarrassment; and finally, ngawur ("blunder"), an out-of-style or irrelevant improvisation. In the performance of Javanese music, improvisatory parts should be of the kembangan, isen-isen, or sambang-rape type. Occasional ngambang is tolerated, but not ngawur. Kwabena Nketia, an African ethnomusicologist, once remarked that in traditional performing arts, the renewal of past artistic experience is expected. The role of an artist is to shed new light and to intensify the experiences that the audience wishes to renew. Insufficient innovation tends to bore the audience; too much innovation destroys the pleasant memory of the art work, possibly resulting in the audience's displeasure with the interpretation. A "good" performing artist, then is one who knows the borderline between "too much" and "not enough," a fine line that is often very personal indeed. Such is the case with Javanese music. Performance Practice In an uyon-uyon, a musical presentation with individual or institutional sponsorship, program notes are not normally provided to the audience. Musicians do not come to an uyon-uyon with any specific musical program in mind. They may not even know who the other musicians will be. Nevertheless, the tradition provides a general schema for an uyon-uyon. If performing at night, it should begin after the 'Isa Moslem night prayer, about 7:30. If it begins with the pelog tuning system, it should be in the lima mode; if in slendro, it should be nem mode. The pieces should be of the "calm genre," reserving the fancy dance drumming and rowdy vocal parts for later in the evening. At about 10:00 p.m. one may proceed to the next modes (nem in pelog or sanga in slendro). At this time, to liven up the party, the female vocalist or an invited female dancer may perform a dance that is subtly sensual. About 1:00 a.m., "anything goes" as long as it is in certain modes (slendro pathet manyura or pelog barang). A daytime uyon-uyon may start about 9:00 a.m. and last until 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, with a slightly different modal scheme. During the presentation, both the audience and the musicians are allowed to consume refreshments provided by the sponsor of the uyon-uyon. Cross-cultural Aspects Certain adjustments obviously have to be made when presenting an uyonuyon in the United States. Here, concerts begin at a definite, not approximate hour. The length of the presentation should normally not exceed two hours. Westerners expect an intermission a little beyond the

halfway point. In any case, the performance should not extend much past 10:00 p.m.. Program notes should be provided for the audience (and submitted two weeks in advance in order to make the printer's deadlines!). Items in the program should be lively, varied, and filled with contrast: what Javanese feel to be "calm," another culture may perceive as "dull"; what is thought of as "congruous" and "eventempered" may just sound "monotonous" to outsiders; "slow, gradual evolvement of musical ideas" may just be "dragging on and on"; and "solemn appearances" may be mistaken for "not enjoying what they are doing." One Javanese criterion of a good musical presentation is that it can place the audience into a state between awake and asleep, hardly a positive criterion for a Western performance. Therefore, certain adjustments must be made in presenting a "concert" of Javanese music outside its cultural context. The individual pieces in the program are not necessarily altered beyond what is traditionally allowable, but they might not be presented in the normal Javanese order or during the same evening. The University of Hawaii Gamelan concerts differ from the Javanese uyon-uyon because the performers here are members of a Javanese music study group - amateurs in the best sense of the term. The participants are encouraged to use the Javanese process of learning as much as possible. They are also encouraged to learn and play more than one instrument and to learn the relationships among them. Thus in our "concerts", the musicians move from one position to another in order to put into practice what they have learned. In contrast to gamelan in American universities, Javanese ensembles do not just perform once each semester. Thus, although a Javanese musician would be able to handle at least five instruments, he does not change to other instruments within a performance unless it is absolutely necessary. There are always subsequent opportunities to play other instruments. Because most of the instruments are percussion, one might wonder "just how hard could it possibly be to learn to hit a gong, for example". To learn to hit a gong only takes about one minute! To learn to play the gong--if the student is sensitive and diligent--would require at least one semester. To be able to play the gong, one must know all the musical forms, to know (at least passively) the various drum signals directed to the gong, to know when to delay the stroke and when to be precisely on the beat, to know when to give an extra gong stroke or when to delete one, and--in the context of an all-night shadow puppet play--to be able to perform half asleep. In short, knowing how to properly play the gong requires internalization of basic Javanese musicianship. Of course, the other instruments require even more effort and patience to master. Music is one of the manifestations of a culture, and learning Javanese music is one of the more pleasant ways of entering Javanese culture.

Line drawings by Martha Kreig from Traditional Music in Modern Java: Gamelan in a Changing Society, by Judith Becker. C. 1980 University of Hawaii Press. From Gamelan Pacifica web site: http://www.gamelan.org/library/susiloessay.html

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