Indonesia Music

Differences: in sound, style, and purpose "Begadang II" ("Staying up All Night") - Rhoma Ira

"Begadang II" ("Staying up All Night") - Rhoma Ira - Popular dangdut music by Rhoma Irama has a very predictable pop sound -Stays within the commercially safe and appealing sound of good-time dance music -Easy rhythms melodic rhythms, while the drum set part recalls patterns of gamelan-related hand-drum patterns -Rhoma Ira remains a strong Muslim, even though he had a big political shift in 1990s -Music speaks to the disenfranchised masses - offering social and religious messages to their listeners and followers

Three examples in the Book

"Begadang II" ("Staying up All Night") Popular dangdut music by Rhoma Irama • "Shufflendang-Shufflending" Ethno-jazz fusion, Sundanese. Performed by Krakatau • "Dan Sekarang" Indonesian rock performed by Gigi

Intonation in Balinese Gamelans

"Shimmery" quality of sound •Beats or pulsations are the result of intentionally tuning two sound sources

Differences: in sound, style, and purpose "Shufflendang-Shufflending" - performed by Krakatau

"Shufflendang-Shufflending" - performed by Krakatau -Mix of both non-Western and Western Jazz/rock sections dominated by guitar/drum ostinatos -Melodies have a strong "Eastern" sound with unusual and unpredictable rhythms -Rather ambiguous timbres (use of gamelan instruments) - less "popular" music sounding -Krakatau's public image is secular and appeals to a smaller audience -Bridges between local tradition and international modernity

Musical Ensembles in Bali

Almost everyone takes part in some artistic activity: music, dance, carving, painting, such activities are a normal part of life. A variety of ensembles; no single, large ensemble that can be called "the Balinese gamelan"

Specific Instruments:

. Knobbed Gong Instruments: gong ageng, gong siyem, kempul, kenong, kethuk, kempyang, bonang barung, bonang panerus. II. Metal Keyed Instruments (Metallophones) saron demung, saron barung, saron peking, gendèr slenthem, gendèr barung, gendèr panerus. III. Other Melodic Instruments: gambang (similar to a xylophone—both instruments use wooden keys), celempung (plucked zither see below), siter (small zither), suling (bamboo flute, an aerophone), rebab (two-stringed fiddle). IV. Drums: kendhang gendhing, kendhang ciblon, kendhang ketipung, bedhug.

Four Categories of Instruments:

1.Knobbed gong instruments 2.Metal keyed instruments 3.Other melodic instruments 4.Drums

Uses for Traditional Gamelan Performances

1.Life Events: weddings, births, etc. 2.Dance - lots of various types of dances to accompany online through MindTap there are 3 examples to watch strong male dance; refined female dance; and duet 3.Theater (in particular, shadow puppet theater Wayang kulit) again, there is an example to watch through MindTap online

Three Stylistic Characteristics of Balinese gamelans:

1.Strictly instrumental in most ensembles - no vocalists (usually) 2.Changes in tempo and dynamics 3. Requires technical mastery

Gamelan

A set of instruments unified by their tuning and often by their decorative carving and painting •Most consist of several kinds of metal slab instruments and tuned, knobbed gongs

Java

Indonesia's most heavily populated island 100 million+ people Many are Muslim

Central Java

Island approximately the size of New York State Over 100 million people Largest ethnic group "Javanese" - roughly 75 million Mostly a farming society Most Javanese identify themselves as Muslim •Sunda - Western third of the island •Sundanese ethic group

Map of Indonesia capital

Jakarta -

Batak people

Karo Batak people live in North Sumatra in the highlands west of Medan and north of Lake Toba • Protestant, Christian, or Muslim

Wayang Kulit - Shadow puppet theatre

Dhalang (puppeteer) delivers own rendition of a story Using epic poems such as Ramayana or Mahabharata

Two Tuning System

Differs from the Western 7-tone Major Scale Two scale systems: sléndro and pelog

Popular Music -

Disseminated through mass media •all of these examples also use at least some Western instruments (that are amplief) and Western harmonies •variety of genres defined by instrumentation and vocal style

Kendhang

Double-headed, barrel-shaped drum (Java); similar term used in West Java and Bali (kendang)

Rhoma Irama -

Born in 1947 in Java; labeled as the King of Dangdut in the 1970's-1980's. His music gained wide popularity throughout all of Indonesia. which was not the case with the other two examples

Differences of the Batak Gendang to Other Gamelan Ensembles we have studied

Both feel that the other's music does not posses the "proper" aesthetic quality. •For example, the Javanese feel the Batak music is too simplistic and sparse •The Batak feel the thick-textured, powerful-sounding Javanese gamelan lacks personal intimacy and does not allow for the necessary spontaneity.

Gamelan Construction

Bronze preferred •Also use: brass and iron Metal workers are held in high regard •Make ritual preparations

A Javanese Gendhing in Performance

Bubaran "Kembang Pacar" - "Red Flower" • •Gendhing - means "gamelan piece" or gamelan composition" Example of Central Javanese gamelan music • Loud-playing Style

Gamelan Performance Contexts

Closely related to other performing arts Social/ritual events life events, dance, theater •Audience is not silent and focused as in West

Roma Irama - Dangdut life

Dropped out of high school and joined the underground music movement, influenced by Western rock. •Became disenchanted by rock, and sought to create a sound that would appeal to the youth searching for a more modern sound, but one that still sounded very "Indonesian" • •Commercially successful with song lyrics about love, social protest, and even religion at some point •example: "Those of us who have no money just dance here (by the road)" •Involved in the film industry too

Comparison of the Three Examples of Indonesian Pop Music Similarities

Each band uses some Western popular/rock instruments •electronic keyboard/guitar/bass and trap drum set •Western harmonies •Heavy metric beat •Sectional organization common to pop music •Prominent ostinato patterns (repeating riffs) as the basis of its sound. •Professionally produced in a studio •Vocal quality of the singers is strongly influenced by Western-pop

Example 2:"Shufflendang-Shufflending basics

Ethno-jazz fusion - see this force of globalization •Synthesis of Sundanese gamelan and fusion jazz •Performed by Krakatau - Sundanese ensemble

"Kosalia Arini"

Example of Balinese Gamelan Four big sections all with different instruments, rhythm and texture Neither cyclic or binary (like Javanese examples)

Playon "Lasem"

Example of Shadow Puppetry (Wayang Kulit)

Irama level refers to where the gamelan players sit.

False

The scale systems of most Gamelan music use Western half steps and whole steps to make new scales.

False

Indonesia

Formerly known as the Dutch East Indies Approximately 6,000 islands • 215 million people • Cultural Diversity within a single "Indonesian" culture • Over 200 separate languages

Biography of Ki Nartosabdho

Gamelan musician, composer and puppeteer Helped bring the (Western) triple/waltz meter to gamelan music •example on YouTube of Wayang Kulit

European colonial domination of Indonesia by the Dutch imposed:

Geographical borders and single rule over highly diverse peoples.

Gigi: Indonesian Rock Music

Gigi" - means tooth/teeth Inspiration mostly from American and British rock •Rarely do they try to incorporate indigenous traditional musical influences in their music • •Formed in the mid-1990's and over the past two decades have released numerous albums, toured abroad, and maintained popularity in Indonesia. • •Beginning in 2004, they started releasing a series of albums with devotional Muslim pop songs.

Gamelan Identity and Tuning

Held in great respect, given a proper name, and given offerings Usually a unique set and tuning according to the physical condition of the instruments and the tastes of the owner •Can not be used interchangeably between other gamelans

Salient Characteristics of the Batak Music Example

Small, intimate ensemble •NO metal percussion •Plucked-string kulcapi plays the melody (small boat-shaped lute) •Bamboo keteng-keteng (bamboo zithers) •there is a gong-like low sound and busy clickety sounds created by these keteng-ketengs •Porcelain bowl •Stratified texture (melody, punctuation, and filling in by the clickety sounds) •Cyclic repetition of phrases with variation

Shufflendang-Shufflending" - performed by Krakatau Instruments

Special challenges learning to combine Indonesian instruments/tuning systems with Western ones Indonesian Instruments: -sarons (metal slab inst.) -rebab -kendang (drum) - Western Instruments -fretless bass -drum set Title mixes: shuffle - type of American song/dance with Sundanese words for drum (Kendang) and gamelan musical piece (gendhing) Tends to have a more narrow focus than the Dangdut music of Rhoma Irama

North Sumatra

Sumatra is a large island northwest of Java

Gendang or Gordang

The most celebrated Batak ensembles (percussion and wind) • Used as ritual music

Gamelan instruments cannot necessarily be used in different gamelans.

True

keteng-keteng

Two bamboo tube zithers

Instruments in the Recording Gendang Keteng-Keteng

Two bamboo tube zithers (keteng-keteng) The kulcapi (small two-stringed lute) plays the melody, The porcelain bowl (mangkuk) and gong-like sounds (from striking a bamboo disk attached to the zithers)

Gendang Keteng-Keteng

Two excerpts from this 5-hour long event: 1.) early part of the evening 2.) starts at 48" - climax of the evening event. Much faster tempo than the first one

Use of Vocalists in a Gamelan

Usually complemented by a single male chorus - (gerong) AND female soloist (pesindhen) This plays into the highly developed tradition of Javanese poetry being sung (rather than read silently or aloud)

Gamelan Music and Shadow Puppetry

Wayang Kulit - shadow puppet show Can be loud or soft playing - Uses pieces that generate a level of excitement, partly because of the dense gong punctuation - Phrases of varying length

Differences between Wayang orang and Wayang kulit

Wayang orang - shows performed by human actor-dancers Wayang kulit are shadow puppet shows.

Two court cities:

Yogyakarta (Yogya) Surakarta ("Solo")

Dangdut -

a contemporary style, in imitation of the sound formerly made on hand drums and more recently on trap set and electric guitar.

gerong

a single male chorus

pathet -

musical mode; also major section of shadow play

Gamelan -Two primary scales:

pelog and slendro

celempung

plucked zither see below

mangkuk

porcelain bowl

Which of the following is NOT part of a traditional gamelan ensemble from Java?

porcelain bowls

Which of the following is essential to the sound of gamelan music?

punctuating gongs; full, busy texture

Dhalang meaning

puppeteer

Gamelan -

set of instruments unified by their tuning and often by their decorative carving and painting

Pelog -

seven-tone system •Usually noted with: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 •Made up of larger and smaller intervals

Wayang kulit, or __________, is the genre held in the highest esteem by most Javanese and nearly always reserved for ceremony.

shadow puppet theatre

gambang

similar to a xylophone—both instruments use wooden keys

kulcapi

small two-stringed lute

Rhoma also used his music to promote his Islamic religion in his other songs, in the late 1970's onward

started adopting Islamic dress, shorter hairstyles, and ejecting band members who consumed alcohol or had extra-marital sex • he also resolved that his music should instruct, and not merely entertain, a form of devotion waged through music. • •Themes in his music included extra-marital sex, government corruption, drugs, and gambling. The song "Haram" for instance, warns against both drugs and gambling, while the song "Keramat" asserts the instructions in Islam to honor mothers. • •Also, he became involved in politics.

Two Gamelan Instrument Groups

Loud-playing gamelans and Soft-playing gamelans

Select two examples of epic poetry (that have been adapted and transformed in Southeast Asia and Java) that may be used as a basis for a puppeteers basis of their play/story line.

Mahabharata Ramayana

Differences: in sound, style, and purpose "Dan Sekarang" - Gigi

Music within the stylistic norms of Western rock -Usually their lyrics in their hit songs deal with typical pop music issues of love and youth -Have found popularity throughout the entire nation of Indonesia, as the youth flock in large numbers to their live concerts and download their music

Soft-playing gamelans

are associated with more intimate indoor events and involve singing. •these instruments play softly, and voices and "soft-playing" instruments are featured

Suling

bamboo flute, aerophone

Arrangement (set-up)

Musicians in a gamelan sit at right angles to each other, reflecting Javanese concern with the cardinal directions. Generally, the larger gong instruments are in the back, with the saron family immediately in front of them, bonang family and bedhug drum to the sides, other melodic instruments in front, and kendhang drums in the center.

Example 2:"Shufflendang-Shufflending details

Named after the famous volcanic island to the west of Java •Group was founded in 1980's by Dwiki Dharmawan, keyboardist who was imitating the styles of Weather Report and Chick Corea •Female singer, Trie Utami joined the group •Both grew tired of imitating Western music, started to incorporate Sundanese musical elements into their music

Listening Example: "Dan Sekrang" by Gigi

One of nine songs on their 2009 album • •lyrics are in Indonesian • •Sound is not uniquely Indonesian, but not a surprise to Indonesians who have heard rock music since about the mid-1960's

Loud-playing gamelans

consist of instruments only (no voices) and are associated with noisy outdoor events (festivals, processions, and so on). •only the drums and louder metal instruments are used

Listening Example 7.1 - Bubaran "Kembang Pacar" -

demonstration of loud-playing structure: Bubaran melody: "Kembang Pacar" modal category: Pathet nem

pesindhen

female soloist

Slendro -

five-tone scale •Usually notes with: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 (no 4) •Each interval is slightly larger than one whole-step

Gamelan Instrumentation

four main types

Similarities of the Batak Gendang to Other Gamelan Ensembles we have studied

gong punctuation, cyclic melody, binary rhythms, and fast-moving dense percussion playing.

Bubaran: structure

in this case, bubaran means sixteen beats per gongan, four kenong beats per gongan.

Dhalang

in wayang kulit dhalang refers to the master puppeteer who must operate the puppets, perform all the narration and dialogue, sing mood songs, and direct the musicians in the accompanying gamelan (for about eight hours with no intermission). When used in relation to wayang orang (dance theater), dhalang is the person who sits with the gamelan musicians and provides narration and sings mood songs. delivers own rendition of a story

Gongan -

is the basic time and melodic unit; usually marked off by the sound one of the largest hanging gongs and measured in beats of the melody

Bali -

island east of Java The majority of Balinese do not adhere to Islam rather they follow a blend of Hinduism and Buddhism

Kenong

large kettle gong

irama -

level of subdivision of main melody beat by elaborating instruments

Gendhing

means "gamelan piece" or gamelan composition"

balungan -

melodic tone

Gamelan gong kebyar -

the most popular ensemble in Bali today

rebab

two-stringed fiddle

Example 1: "Begadang II" ("Staying up All Night")

Popular dangdut music by Rhoma Irama

Gendhing - "gamelan piece" or "gamelan composition" -

Referred to by their formal structure, melody, scale system, and modal category

Comparison of Gamelans: Balinese and Javanese Similarities

Similarly named instruments •Both are ensembles made of percussion instruments playing interlocking parts with varying tempi •Use of pelog scale (7 notes) •Accompanies shadow puppetry Used in rituals

Comparison of Gamelans: Balinese and Javanese Differences

Balinese gamelan sounds much more exciting, dynamic, and exuberant than the Javanese examples of gamelan music. • Balinese gamelan music is strongly sectional with marked contrasts between the sections (including variations in tempo, instrumentation, dynamics, high or low pitch range, and tonal center)

Balinese gamelans tend to differ from Javanese gamelans because:

Balinese gamelans are more exciting, dynamic, and exuberant

Bubaran "Kembang Pacar"

Because gamelan pieces are so complicated, this is a recording of demonstration where you are able to identify the various statements and instruments that enter. Example of Loud-playing throughout