THE GAMELAN

Traditional orchestra of Indonesia and is considered to be an important part of the culture and
tradition of this country.

It is an instrumental group composed of percussion instruments made of bamboo, bronze, and wood.

It performs often in feasts, puppetry, rituals, and other celebrations including ceremonies.
 THE GAMELAN ENSEMBLE CONSISTS OF
THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS:

A.PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS
1. BONANG – are metal kettles made of bronze which play
the melodic and rhythmic variations of a composition. Two
long sticks are used to strike the bonang.
2. GAMBANG KAYU – a wooden xylophone. It doubles or
anticipates the principal melody.
3. GENDER – consist of thin metal plates made of bronze
suspended over resonating tubes that produce loud and
brilliant tones.
4. GONG AGENG – the biggest, most sacred, and most
 THE GAMELAN ENSEMBLE CONSISTS OF
THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS:

A. PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS
5. KEMPUL – a small gong which plays syncopation with the
kenon. It punctuates short musical phrases.
6. GONG SUWAKAN – gives its own wave, a bit bigger than
the ageng which is the most important in the set of gongs.
7. PEKING – a small xylophone consisting of thick metal bars.
8. SARON – plays the skeletal part of the gamelan
composition. This is composed of metal bars placed on top
of a box resonator. A wooden mallet is used to strike the
bars.
 THE GAMELAN ENSEMBLE CONSISTS OF
THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS:

A.STRING INSTRUMENTS
1. MANDOLIN – a small string instrument
played by plucking, and belongs to the
family of lutes
2. REBAB – similar to the mandolin. It has
two strings played with an arc.
 THE GAMELAN ENSEMBLE CONSISTS OF
THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS:

A.WIND INSTRUMENTS
1. SULING – a flute made of bamboo
2. ANGKLUNG – a famous piece for music which is
made of bamboo (ancient material for musical
instruments.)
3. CHELEMPUNG – has 26 strings wherein one pair is
set to one tone. This is the reason why only thirteen
tones can’t be heard.
VOCAL MUSIC of
INDONESIANS
 TWO KINDS OF TONAL PATTERNS USED IN
INDONESIAN MUSIC:
♪SLENDRO
- it is known as “male” tonal system.
- it consists of five tones which has almost similar
intervals.
- it is also known as pentatonic scale.
♪PELOG
- It is considered the “female” tonal system
- It consists of five tones (minor thirds) and three
tones (whole intervals), however, the sound is
different from that of slendro.
An example of a song that consists of these modes is
“Si Patokaan.” Try to sing with the music applying the
different elements of music and imitating the voice
sound of Indonesians
Poor villagers of
Patokaan,
how stiff they move
They’re so ashamed,
they dare not take
a step forward.
Goodness me, those
Patokaan villagers
RASA SAYANG (Indonesian Children/Folk Song)
 WAYANG KULIT (Shadow Puppetry)
▪ Indonesians regard music, dance, and drama with great
importance.
▪ The most popular drama with the use of puppets made of
animal skin painted with colorful designs and colors.
▪ Usually, the story is derived from the Hindu epics
MAHABHARATA and RAMAYANA
▪ DALANG or puppeteer – gives life to the characters and
also the conductor of the gamelan and narrator of the
play.