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CHAPTER 12 Indonesia

equidistant degrees of separation (try playing C, E flat, F, G, B flat, and C on the piano). Pélog has a gapped scale; in other words, it doesn’t move evenly from bottom to top, but has gaps as you progress up the scale (try playing, for example, C, D, E flat, G, A flat, and C on the piano). In addition, pélog draws from seven different avail able pitches to create a variety of five-tone gapped scales. Just remember that the piano does not do justice to either tuning; you are better off to simply listen to actual gamelan pieces, if you can. In addition, there is strong variation across Indonesia; pélog in one place will sound quite different from the way it sounds in another. Both tuning systems use a numbering system with 1 at the bottom of the scale and 6 (or 7, in the case of pélog) at the top. Depending on which tones are em phasized, or are used as primary tones for the melody, the entire feel of the piece changes. This emphasis on one tone or another is called mode, and it determines the overall feel and sound of each piece. Each mode has a name, a mood, and other attributes. (Note that this is not the same as the Western definition of mode.) Even within the islands of Java and Bali, these tunings vary. Therefore, each ensemble has to be tuned specifically so that each instrument matches the others. If an in strument goes missing, one cannot simply borrow that same instrument from an other ensemble; the tuning will be different! One of the most important things to know about gamelan is that it has a struc ture, referred to as colotomic . This means the melody and structure are organized into sections of sound, which are then performed in repeating cycles. But how does it work? Think of a sentence with commas at every fourth word and a period at

colotomic—repeating cycles of melody and structure

ketawang—one type of structural framework for Javanese gamelan music

the end of the sentence. Now substitute a large hanging gong for the period, and smaller hanging gongs or kettle gongs for those commas. Once you have the basic framework of the musical “sentence,” imagine that the sentence repeats mul tiple times, in a cycle. In Figure 12.6, one such colotomic structure (the form is known as ketawang ) reveals the posi tions of different structural elements. The structure has eight beats per cycle. The big hanging gong appears at the top; its very low tone functions as the last note of the cycle . Progressing to the right in the circle, the kethuk (a small kettle gong, designated by the letter T) marks the first step into the cycle. The kempul (a medium-sized hanging gong, designated by the letter P) appears next, but in this form it is silent. Another kethuk stroke follows, then the kenong (a large kettle gong, designated by the letter N) appears half way through the cycle. To complete the cycle, we go through PROPERTY OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS FIGURE 12.6 Colotomic structure of the ketawang form. 7 1 T T T 6 P T N N 8 GONG 5 4 3 2