Music of Indonesia: Java and Bali

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Music of Indonesia Java and Bali
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Overview

• Nation of 17,000 islands
• Worlds 4th most populous country
• National language Indonesian
• Independence from Netherlands 1945
• Was Dutch colony for 300 years
• Historically known as Spice Islands
• Religious influences via traders/colonizers
  Hinduism/Buddhism, Islam, Christianity.

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Javanese Court Cities

• Yogyakarta (Yogya)
• Surakarta (Solo)

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Music of the Courts

• Gamelan (musical ensemble)
• Classical Javanese dance
• Wayang Kulit (shadow puppetry)

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Javanese Gamelan

• Orchestra (70-80 instruments)
• Metallophones (incl. gong)
• Drum
• Rebab
• Male and female chorus, vocalists

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Groups of Instruments

• Punctuating (time markers)
• gong, kenong (lg kettle gong), kempul (sm hanging
  gong), kethuk (sm kettle gong), and kempyang
• Melody (skeletal)
• Saron (metal xylophone) and slenthem
• Elaborating
• bonang, gambang, gender, rebab, and suling
• Regulating (tempo,start, stop)
• drums - kendang.

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Gamelan Instruments
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Music Terms and Concepts

• Scales and Modes
• Scales
• Pelog (7 tones, many small intervals) ( various
  modespathet)
• Slendro (5 tones, relatively equal intervals)
• Styles
• Loud style
• Soft style
• Form and Structure
• Colotomic structure
• Bubaran (formal structure with 16 beats per
  gongan (i.e. one complete cycle)
• Loud style (often used outdoors)
• Soft style