Other
gamelan may provide music for a specific kind of dance or theater performance. For example,
wayang kulit , the famous shadow-puppet theater, is traditionally accompanied by a
gender wayang ensemble, while dance-dramas may be accompanied by
gamelan gambuh .
Specific kinds of dance may also call for specific kinds of ensembles. The conception of dance is also somewhat different from Western ideas; when a performance includes dance, the dance and music are considered to be intensely interdependent, two aspects of a single artistic expression, rather than separable "accompaniments" to each other. Traditionally, women are more likely to be dancers and men are more likely play instruments, but some traditional dances are for men, and it is more common now for women to also play in the
gamelan .
Gamelan can vary in the number of instruments, the tuning of the instruments, and the types of instruments used. Naming and describing all of the possible instruments and ensembles is outside the scope of this introductory essay. Instead, each family of instruments that is commonly used will be described, followed by a general description of several common ensemble types (to give an idea of the variety involved), and a detailed description of one ensemble type that is particularly popular with tourists.
Gongs
The
gong is one of the most important
gamelan instruments, and a variety of gongs are used in various ensembles.
Gongs
In the foreground are several of the kettle-gongs in a
gong chime . Behind them are three large hung gongs.
In many types of
gamelan , large hung gongs typically outline the
form of the piece of music, providing the most basic layer of the sound. These hung gongs are of a type familiar to westerners - thick, fairly flat, circles of bronze - but each has a raised area in the center called a
boss , which gives these instruments a slightly more focussed pitch than a flat gong has. Hung gongs can vary from dinner-plate-sized to impressively large (approximately a meter in diameter), and it is common for large ensembles to have several hung gongs of different sizes.
Gongs that are not hung are also very common in
gamelan ; many Westerners are unfamiliar with this kind of gong. They rest with their central boss facing up, and their edges curve downward into very deep sides. (The bottom is left open.) The result looks vaguely like a small, lidded, metal cooking pot.
These small kettle-gongs, which tend to have more specific pitches than flat gongs, may be played singly, or they may be arranged in a line as a single instrument, rather like a very large xylophone, called a
gong chime . This type of instrument may be played by a single person; but it is not unusual for a large kettle-gong chime to be played by as many as four players at once. When this occurs, the players sit in a row, with each player playing only the gongs in front of him, and all coordinating their movements very precisely in order to play a single complex part, using
kotekan technique.
