Indonesian Gamelan Music

• Indonesia sits along the equator, southwest of the Philippines.
• It’s an archipelago composed of thousands of islands with different indigenous communities.
• Indonesia is a member of ASEAN and has a culture greatly influenced by religion.

Gamelan

• An ensemble of Indonesian indigenous instruments.
• The word "gamelan" is Javanese for "orchestra."
• A gamelan ensemble consists of 4-25 musicians, and may include singers.
• Gamelans vary depending on function, musical styles, and number of instruments.
• It is played at weddings, birthdays, or secular occasions beyond theater and dance.
• Gamelan is popular in Indonesia; it may be heard on the radio.
• Gamelan instruments are highly respected by Indonesians.
• Locals believe the instruments have spirits and should be treated with reverence.
• People should not step or cross over the instruments to avoid offending the spirits.

Balinese Gamelan Instruments

Vertical Hanging Gongs

• Gong Ageng: The largest, creating low-pitch, very deep sounds.
• Gong Siyem: Medium sized, higher pitch than Gong Ageng.
• Kempul: Small hanging gongs with a set of pitches depending on the scale used.

The Kettle Gongs

• Kenong: Small, deep-tuned gong used as a punctuating instrument, placed on racks suspended by cords.
• Kethuk: Single-kettle gong played in different ways depending on tempo
• Kempyang: Set of two kettle gongs set to a higher pitch than Kethuk.
• Bonang Barung: A dozen kettle gongs, a primary instrument playing the melody an octave lower.
• Bonang Panerus: Higher octave set of Bonang Barung, plays a fast melodic pattern based on the melody of the Bonang Barung.

The Metallophones

• Saron Demung: Biggest and lowest-sounding of the saron family with 6 or 7 thick metallic keys over a resonator.
• Gender Slenthem: Encased in a wooden frame, with 6 or 7 wide and thin metal keys suspended by a string over tuned bamboo or metal tubes that function as resonators.
• Gender Barung: Has 12-14 narrow and thin metal keys, and plays a pitch one octave higher than the Gender Slenthem.
• Gambang Kayu: Xylophone with 17-23 keys resting on a wooden resonator.

Zithers

• Celempung: Angled towards the player, has four legs with 20-26 metal strings.
• Siter: Small zither, also angled and resting on the floor, has 10-26 metal strings.
• Rebab: Classified as a spike fiddle with two strings played vertically.

Aerophones

• Suling: End-blown bamboo flute, similar to the suling of Maguindanao, played freely, often at the end of melodic phrases.

Percussion Instruments

• Kendhang Gendhing: Largest hand-played drum with two heads on opposite ends of a barrel-shaped shell.
• Kendhang Ciblon: Middle sized barrel drum.
• Kendhang Ketipung: Smallest barrel-shaped drum.
• Bedhug: Large stick-beaten drum, with heads placed on the cylindrical body suspended in a wooden frame.

Gamelan Styles

• Javanese: More refined, mellow, soft, and connected; traditional style often played in palaces and temples.
• Balinese: Very rhythmic and vigorous; gongs sound bright and percussive with a contemporary feel.

Music of Thailand

• Thailand was formerly known as “Siam”, but is now known by “Muang Thai” meaning “Land of the Free."
• Thai music is a combination of many Asian influences.
• Principles and elements derive from Chinese music.
• Musical instruments are influenced by Indian and Indonesian gong-chimes and strings.
• Thai music has simpler melodic lines.
• Focus of singing is on articulation of text rather than style or technique.
• Melodic structures are complex due to frequent transpositions.
• Improvisations can be done to fit occasions.
• Thai music can be sung in high or low pitches within a long or short duration.

Pi Phat Ensemble

• A mid-sized orchestra.
• Outdoor Style: Performed with hard mallets
• Indoor Style: Performed with padded mallets.
• Composed of woodwind and percussion instruments.
• Interprets the most sacred and high class compositions of Thai repertoire.
• Performed during funerals and cremation ceremonies for Mon ethnic group.
• Used to accompany Khon dance drama, lakhon classical drama, and shadow puppetry.

Khrueang Sai

• Combines some percussion and wind instruments of the Pi Phat with an expanded string section.
• Classical music primarily consists of string instruments.
• A typical khrueang sai ensemble features two-string fiddles (one high and one low), a three-string zither called jakhe, a vertical duct flute called khlui, hand drums, and various cymbals.

Mahori

• Traditionally played by women in the courts of Central Thailand and Cambodia.
• A classical ensemble played in royal courts for secular entertainment.
• Combination of Pi Phat and Khreung Sai Ensemble.

Thai Musical Instruments

Categories

Idiophones

• Instruments in which a vibrating solid material is used to produce sound.
• Ranat Ek: A Thai percussion instrument with 21 wooden bars suspended by cords over a boat-shaped trough resonator struck by two mallets.
• Khong Wong Yai: The Circle of Gongs, a percussion instrument with different toned gongs attached to a rattan base.
• Khong Wong Lek: Smaller version of the Khong Wong Yai with 18 gongs, providing the skeletal melody.

Aerophone

• Produces sound by vibrating a column of air.
• Pi Nai: Sounded by an unusual quadruple reed and six holes that produce a range of 22 tones.

Membranophone

• Instruments that use vibrating, stretched membranes or skin to produce sound.
• Khlong That: large barrel drums used in the classical music of Thailand.

Chordophone

• Produces sound by means of a vibrating string.

Classification of Musical Instruments

• The Sachs-Hornbostel system (H-S System) is a comprehensive, global method of classifying acoustic musical instruments.