Gamelan: Orchestra Music of Indonesia

A couple years ago, I was enrolled in an ethnomusicology course at my local community college. For those who don't know, ethnomusicology is a fascinating interdisciplinary study of culture through the lens of music. Using the anthropological practice of participant-observation, ethnomusicologists are able to gain an understanding of the role that a musical tradition plays in the surrounding culture.

For my field work project, I studied gamelan, the orchestral music of Indonesia. I was drawn to gamelan because of its unique sound, which is unlike anything I heard in western music. This video was one of my motivations for studying gamelan. Watching this video was one of the first times I heard gamelan, and the first time I saw it in action. It is still one of my favorites.

Over a period of a couple months, I took several trips to the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DC. Downstairs in a cozy music room, they have twice weekly rehearsals which are open to the public for all ages and skill levels to learn by playing. The more experienced core members of the group also put on performances at various cultural events.

A wooden statue/carving from the lobby of the Indonesian Embassy

I was blown away at my first visit when I saw the music room. The instruments are true works of art. They are hand crafted and each set of gamelan is unique. They can't be retuned once the metal has cooled, so the specific tonal characteristics varies from set to set.

The gamelan room of the Indonesian Embassy

The rehearsals are led by Bapak Muryanto (Bapak is an indonesian honorific), who plays a hand drum and alternates between singing and calling out the correct notes to help guide the players. He is the older gentleman in the picture below.

The gamelan ensemble preparing to play

Typically gamelan was passed on as an oral tradition, with very little or no written music. However to preserve and archive the music a simple notation system was developed. This also helps new players learn the songs that are being practiced.

Written gamelan notation

The following video was not recorded by myself, but is the gamelan group that I was studying. It is taken from a performance, and as you can see they wear very vibrant costumes during performances. Often performances are occampanied by puppet shows or plays.

I hope you found it as interesting as I did!