Walter Mendez

2-22-11

Music

Weekly Response

This week’s response is based on the Gamelan Music and Shadow Puppetry
section. It begins by demonstrating how the Javanese Gendhing is performed. The Gendhing
musical piece consists of layers and four major phrases. The Gong separates these different
phrases by marking when it will repeat again. This motion of repeating gives out a sense of
balance in the music. In the Gamelan music tradition, structures of the natural world give
important meaning to the style and influence of this music. The drummer plays an important
role as the conductor. The drummer leads the way purely through sound and the rest of the
players must follow. For shadow puppetry, Gamelan music is played in different varieties as
slow, medium, and fast. Fast would be very exciting music for like a battle. The puppeteer adds
this excitement by hitting metal plaques with his feet that give off loud noise to excite the
crowd.

The main point of this section is to show us the different structures of Javanese
Ghending and the phrases and melodies that go with it. Also to show what kind of music the
puppeteer uses in his performance to show calmness or excitement. It really amazed me to
learn how this puppeteer puts in this whole show with music all on his own at the same time.