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CHAPTER 12 Indonesia

Timing Section 4:13

Entry of cymbals matching flurry of drumming

4:25

Ending pattern starts as everything drops to one fourth the density and the reyong regains prominence, playing softer and louder in alternation

4:50

Drumming takes over to rush toward the ending

5:11

End

Many Balinese instruments for kebyar are paired, and are gendered male and female. Those pairs divide into the ones that play on the beat and the ones that play off the beat so that they perform in interlocking patterns. You can try this yourself simply by clapping on beats 1, 3, 5, and 7, and asking a friend to clap on beats 2, 4, 6, and 8. Now speed it up so that you are clapping as fast as you possibly can! You won’t even come close to the fastest Balinese playing! Playing in interlocking patterns—which the Balinese call kotekan —makes the elaborations of the melody (pokok) line sound even faster; the overall effect is dazzling. Even the drummers play in interlocking patterns. Search online for two players (their names are I Putu Putrawan and Wayne Vitale) doing kotekan and playing “Taruna Jaya” on the gangsa instruments; you can see how the upper player (the one at the top of the screen) is playing on the onbeats ( polos ), while the one at the bottom of the screen is playing on the offbeats ( sangsih ). What makes these even more interesting is the fact that Balinese paired instru ments are tuned slightly differently from each other. In a single pair, one is tuned higher than the other. The result is an extraordinary shimmering sound ( ombak , “wave”) that comes from the interaction between two different sound waves. In order to create this effect, the tuning must be done very precisely so as to create the “wave” sound. Only then are the instruments believed to have come to life. Before going on to Listening Guide 12.2, watch Videos 12.1 and 12.2 to learn more about the gamelan in Bali. Both Balinese and Javanese gamelan are often cited as among the most refined and elite of all the Indonesian performing arts (or indeed, the only Indonesian per forming arts worth discussing). However, thousands of other beloved genres exist in Indonesia including music for wind instruments, zithers, drums, solo and group singing, or tuned rattles. All of those musical genres are well worth exploring. PROPERTY OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS