My Gamelan Experience

On Monday February 4^th, 2013 I received the opportunity to join the Arts Village on a trip to UNC-Chapel in order to play the various instruments of the Gamelan. At 6:00 pm that evening we left to head towards the music practice rooms of Chapel Hill. As we made our way to the room we were told to take off our shoes. When we entered the room, I was welcomed by the smell of incense, giving it a calming atmosphere. The man, whose name evades me, that instructed my peers and me on the Gamelan, was an American student in his third year of his Master’s in music. He asked us to sit where there was space in front of an instrument in the rather small practice room. He told us that the instruments were traditionally seen as sacred and asked that we not step over the instruments but maneuver around them. Once we were settled He began to tell us what a Gamelan is, where the particular set we would be playing came from and what it was made of.

Gamelan is a general term used for traditional musical ensembles of the Pacific Islands, generally in Indonesia. A Gamelan set consists of different instruments all forged by the same creator. Depending on the area in which the gamelan is from the instruments are generally the same, yet they may differ in name.

These are the names of the particular instruments we used which were forged in Java and made of bronze.  The set was originally made 21 years ago and was used to accompany shadow puppetry. Approximately 13 years ago these instruments were wrapped in Javanese newspaper, cigar paper, and twine and put on a ship to the University of Chapel Hill. Gamelan Nyai Saraswati is the name of the ensemble at UNC Chapel Hill and the students and faculty have done multiple performances using this particular set.

After he was done explaining the background on the instruments, we were told we would be playing a simple song known as Singanebah. He first told what he called the “keyboard instruments” (e.g. the gambang and celempung) to begin playing according to the numbers he called out. After they knew what to do he moved on to the other instruments such as the bonang barung and the kenong. It was very difficult to understand what he explained to us at first but once we began to play it seemed to come naturally. It was still rather difficult to keep the pace though.

 This is a sample of the song that we played. 

After completing the piece we learned that the piece was cyclical meaning they did not have an ending nor a beginning. We also learned the piece was essentially a nursery rhyme, but for beginners we did very well.

The closest that I have ever been to Indonesia is a course on the Pacific Islands. Through this event I was able to experience a portion of the culture of the Javanese people by learning more about this particular type of music. It was a much more enlightening experience as it was hands-on rather than simply a lecture on the matter partnered with the watching of YouTube videos.

As an International Studies student music lover, I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to play a few of the instruments that are a part of Gamelan. Music is a huge part of my life; however, I generally use my voice as my instrument as opposed to actually using my hands to play a physical one.

Playing the kenong for the first time was a completely new experience as the music is not written in typical Western style (which is to be expected) but generally scribbled down on a scrap sheet of paper.

This is the written format of the piece that we played during my time at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Not only was this a new experience, but I walked away from the event knowing much more about Gamelan, something I barely knew anything about previously. I hope to get the opportunity to play in a Gamelan again and play the instruments that I did not have time to play. The instruments were beautiful with their intricate designs making them very unique in my eyes.

I would encourage anyone to play in one if they ever get the chance.