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This is the UCSB Gamelan Ensemble, Kyai Selamet. Notice that there are two of every instrument, sitting at right angles to eachother. One of these is the slendro scale and the other is pelog.
These are the gongs and kempuls. The gong kyai selamet is the large one on the right. The left one is also a gong. The two smaller gongs in the centre of the picuture are actually kempuls. They sound a higher frequencies. The gong is played once per cycle (anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes, depending on the song). The kempuls sound a punctuation between soundings of the kenong.
The kendhang (or drums) are usually played by thr groups leader. He is responsible for setting the tempos and signaling changes in the song.
The sarons carry the main portion of the song. This is particularly evident in the loud playing style, which often forces the sarons to play quite fast. In the soft playing style, it can be up to several seconds between notes, depending on the tempo.
The bonang barng (front right) usually plays two or four times faster than the sarons. The bonang panerus (front left) plays twice as fast as the bonang barung. Fast tempo songs are quite a challenge for the panerus player.
Also notice the kenong in the background. Despite the size of the "bells", they actually sound quite high. Their size just causes them to ring for a longer time. The kenong are a punctuating instrument.
The gender is possibly the hardest of all gamelan instruments. Its difficulty comes from the fact that the player must stop the sounding of each note just after striking the next one. Oh, and did I mention that he has to play fast!
The kempuls are in the foreground, with the sarons behind that, and the kendhang (drums) and gender beyond that.
This is a good view of the gong, sarons, gender, and bonang pit.
The singers usually punctuate the khebar tempo with special clapping ryhthms.
(c)2005, Jeff Reinecke. |