Thank you, Thomas, your gamelan ratings have been invaluable to me! I'm just wondering if you are involved in playing/teaching/studying this music, or did you develop your interest some other way? I joined a Javanese ensemble here in Dublin last September and we have our first public performance tomorrow afternoon, playing traditional pieces like Ladrang Eling-Eling & Ketawang Puspagiwang, among others, plus some of our own compositions. I must say, the Balinese stuff I've found among your ratings is excellent to listen to, but rather alien to what I've learned so far...
I think the rule of thumb is that if you're playing gamelan in the west, it's probably Javanese, while if you're playing it, it's probably Balinese. While there a few Javanese ensembles in Ireland, there's just one Balinese gamelan, in Belfast, and absolutely no one knows what to do with it! The fact that it's housed in an anthropology department rather than a musicology one says it all...
We have a pretty impressive set of slendro & pelog instruments, plus some of the so-called soft instruments, but we've so far been prohibited from playing those. Apparently they require 'years and years of one on one tuition'. We have a few Javanese & Solonese women in the group, who act as our gerongan (though they do simultaneously play), but no sindhen as such. Our director plans to introduce some massively simplified rebab and suling parts soon though. Have you played either of them?
I did not know that about degung's reversed keys! I've been listening to it, but obviously that fact can't be heard.
Our ensemble has a copy of that book but we're not allowed to read it outside of our two hours a week rehearsal time, thereby rendering it effectively useless. Now that you've given it an additional recommendation, I think I'll splash out for a copy, thanks!
That clip is really amazing! I've heard just one piece of Beleganjur before - the last track on The Gamelan Music of Bali - but I wasn't entirely able to differentiate between it & the other styles showcased on that recording without visuals, as Balinese music is much more unfamiliar to me than Javanese. You're lucky you got to try it! My group recently started playing again and I got to play gambang for the first time, on this piece - Ladrang Westminster.
Thanks for the add, by the way. Great to see another person who is interested in Indonesian gamelan. I also find Indian classical music to be incredibly fascinating - I will never get bored of Shivkumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia solo works.
We have a pretty impressive set of slendro & pelog instruments, plus some of the so-called soft instruments, but we've so far been prohibited from playing those. Apparently they require 'years and years of one on one tuition'. We have a few Javanese & Solonese women in the group, who act as our gerongan (though they do simultaneously play), but no sindhen as such. Our director plans to introduce some massively simplified rebab and suling parts soon though. Have you played either of them?
I did not know that about degung's reversed keys! I've been listening to it, but obviously that fact can't be heard.
Our ensemble has a copy of that book but we're not allowed to read it outside of our two hours a week rehearsal time, thereby rendering it effectively useless. Now that you've given it an additional recommendation, I think I'll splash out for a copy, thanks!