Balinese Music: Gamelan

Overview

Gamelan means “musical ensemble” in Indonesia with major traditions in Java and Bali. Gamelan can be made up of a small group of musicians or can be a large ensemble. For example, the gamelan that accompanies the traditional theatre, wayang kulit, can be made up of four musicians while the royal court orchestras can have as many as 26 musicians as shown in this performance video. Some are even larger. Instruments include bronze gongs, gong-chimes, and metallophones. There can also be a smaller number of drums, flutes, stringed instruments, and singers. The music is used for a wide range of social functions including accompaniment of sacred and secular ceremonies, dance, drama, and shadow puppet theatre. The two heptatonic (7-note) and pentatonic (5-note) tuning systems are widespread with regional differences for tuning of individual pitches. A full set of instruments from one gamelan often has a unique tuning so that instruments of one gamelan cannot be interchanged with those from another. Gamelans from Bali include pairs of instruments with slight tuning differences to create a shimmering sonority through interference beating. Compositions consist of cyclic phrases marked by specific instruments creating what is called the colotomic structure (metrical cycles of 2 to 256 beats), a skeletal melody by one or more sets of smaller higher-pitched metallophones, and a layer of elaborating high-pitched instruments. Performances include an improvised synchronous increase and decrease in tempo guided by the drums and select instrumentalists responsible for the colotomic structure. The videos in this module are of kind of modern gamelan from Bali called Semara Dana, with a traditional composer, instructors, and performers at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo.

Musicians

I Dewa Made Suparta

Dewa Suparta is a musician, composer, and teacher born to a family of artists in Pengosekan, Bali, Indonesia. Immersed in Balinese gamelan from early childhood, he began performing with the children’s group of his village at age 10. He is a founding member of Çudamani, one of Bali’s most innovative gamelan ensembles, which has engaged in international tours, including performances at sacred music festivals, the Lincoln Center, in Italy, Greece, and Japan. He has engaged in collaborations with international artists and performed and given workshops worldwide. He previously served as Visiting Professor at l’Université de Montréal and is currently at Conrad Grebel University College where he is artistic director of the University of Waterloo Balinese Gamelan and the Grebel Community Gamelan. He teaches courses in Balinese music, culture, and composition.

Maisie Sum, PhD

Maisie Sum is an ethnomusicologist, educator, performer, and faculty member for the Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo. Her research and teaching combine a variety of fields, including ethnomusicology, anthropology, music theory and analysis, performance, ritual studies, peace and conflict studies, music and health studies, and psychology. As a performer and general director of the College’s two gamelan ensembles, she shares her passion for Balinese gamelan music with a wide audience through concerts, workshops, worship services, and open access recordings. Professor Sum has published her research widely and gained recognition through numerous awards and research grants.

Terminology

An understanding of the following terms would be helpful before proceeding with the Video Content.

• Gamelan
• Colotomic structure
• Gilak
• Kempur
• Kempli
• Ugal
• Reyong
• Barong
• Skelatal melody
• Kajar
• Calung
• Sléndro
• Pélog
• Interference beating/Ombak
• Kendang
• Kotekan
• Kilitan

Video Content

Demonstrations and a discussion of the Balinese gamelan are provided in three videos: 1) a full performance of a Gilak piece 2) a lecture and ensemble demonstration led by Dewa, and 3) an interview with Dewa and Maisie for an in-depth look at the instruments, concepts, and social context of the music. In the first two videos, Dewa directs the Balinese Gamelan at the University of Waterloo in a performance of a Gilak piece, then a lecture-demonstration to show the various parts of the composition: its eight-beat colotomic structure, skeletal melody, variations, ornamentation of the melody with interlocking parts, percussive accents, on-beat and off-beat patterns on the drums, and how these parts fit together. A performance at the end captures typical changes in tempo, and energy of the music in a shorter example of the Gilak piece.

In the third video, Dewa and Maisie provide a closer look at the instruments, their sound, tuning and interference beating, playing techniques, and function in the gamelan. A discussion and demonstrations cover topics of ornamentation of the melody, tempo changes, interdependent instrumental parts, body language for communication while performing, repertoire, and how compositions change depending on the gamelan being played. Dewa shares his experience of growing up with the music and draws links between technical aspects of the music and social contexts such as learning the music, difference in tuning between Balinese villages, the relationship between music and dance, and the significance of the gamelan maker.

Video 1: Gilak Performance

Gilak- UWaterloo and Grebel Community Balinese Gamelan
Grebal Gamelan YouTube. (April 2019). “ ‘Gilak’ – UWaterloo and Grebel Community Balinese Gamelan April 2019.” [YouTube video]. Performed by the Conrad Grebel University College and University of Waterloo ensemble. Uploaded by University of Waterloo, Conrad Grebel University College, Grebel Gamelan YouTube channel. Retrieved February 2022 from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6kdf-NXhmM. Reproduced with permission.
Note: no transcript is available for this video. It is entirely instrumental.

Video 2: Lecture-Demonstration: Gilak

Transcript: Balinese Music Video 2: Lecture-Demonstration: Gilak

Video 3: Interview: Dewa Suparta and Maisie Sum

Transcript: Balinese Music Video 3: Interview: Dewa Suparta and Maisie Sum

Video Time Cues

• 0:06 Self-introduction and purchase of the gamelan
• 2:29 Demonstration of gongs, kempur, and kempli
• 3:50 Starting a piece with the ugal
• 6:21 Learning instruments/ownership of gamelan
• 11:52 Example of learning a Barong dance piece
• 12:43 Learning from teachers/family
• 14:06 Ornamenting the skeletal melody on ugal
• 15:12 Kajar and changing tempo with the drum and ugal
• 18:11 Performance contexts for changing tempo
• 20:31 Improvisation in music with dance/tempo changes
• 22:46 Tempo changes and rehearsals
• 24:22 Calung: melody instrument/tuning for beating
• 25:50 Basic technique of playing gamelan
• 27:32 Beating/paired tuning/matching the gong to gamelan
• 32:17 Description of the Samara Dana gamelan
• 33:55 Modes of the Samara Dana gamelan
• 37:34 Cultural function of traditional modes
• 42:40 Impact of unique gamelan tuning on repertoire
• 46:18 Choosing the tuning of the gamelan/how it is tuned
• 55:14 Explanation: variance/identity of a composition
• 1:10:41 Kendang demonstration/leading changes in dynamics
• 1:15:26 Changing tempo on the Kendang
• 1:16:56 Demonstration of the Kendang role as leader
• 1:22:34 Significance of the gamelan maker

Suggested Activities and Assessments

Terms

Create a limited-access wiki of the terms and their definitions listed in the Terminology section above. Students can work individually to create their own “wiki” as text files, or in teams (e.g., through a course website). Students research the meanings, and if relevant, the history of these terms.

Participation

1. Vocalizing the colotomic structure
   Divide the class into 4 groups. Each group will vocalize the instrumental parts of the colotomic structure (see Video 2 starting at time 0:36). Have students say the associated syllables for each of the instruments during the explanation (time 0:36) and with the performance starting at time 10:06. The syllables are as follows:
   • Kempli: “plee”
   • Kempur: “pull” or “pul-l-l”
   • Gong (male): “gong” (high pitch)
   • Gong (female): “gong” (low pitch)

   The chart below may be used as an aid for the eight-beat cycle. Note: the beat numbers are according to the video in which the female gong (lower pitch) is on beat 1 as the beginning. For the remaining cycles, it may be appropriate to think of this beat as a point of transition, or the last beat of the cycle as is typical for the colotomic structure.

   Table: Colotomic Structure

   Beat	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
   Kempli	plee		plee		plee		plee
   Kempur						pull		pull
   Gong (male)					gong (high)
   Gong (female)	gong (low)

2. Quiz: Game show
   Which instrumental part is this?
   The instructor plays audio excerpts of the parts explained in Video 1 (the Gilak demonstration): the eight-beat colotomic structure (kajar, gongs, kempur, and kempli), the skeletal melody (first melody provided), the varied melody, kotekan, and kilitan. All have specific roles: students identify the parts and explain why they came to that decision.
3. Debate
   Music of the Balinese gamelan is sometimes referred to as “virtuosic.” Is virtuosity a universal value in music? Arguments of the debate will require comparison to other music, discussion of what constitutes virtuosity, and evidence to demonstrate the presence or absence of virtuosity.

Research

Compare and contrast gamelan music from Java and Bali. Answers will relate to sound, concept, and behaviour, including historical similarities and differences.