Gamelan Regional and Ethnic Styles

Gamelan Regional and Ethnic Styles

Gamelan

Gamelan has for centuries been a prominent music of certain Indonesian islands (most notably, Java and Bali), central to the temple, the court, and the daily lives of the people. Gamelan encompasses a number of different musical forms, each differing in melodic structure, instrumentation, region, language, and performance contexts. The word "gamelan" also refers to the instruments of a gamelan ensemble. Gamelan became popular outside Java and Bali during the 1930s World Fairs, when ensembles performed for European and American audiences that included composers such as Debussy, Britten, and Poulenc. With the advent of the academic discipline of ethnomusicology (particularly as practiced at UCLA by scholars such as Ki Mantle Hood), sets of instruments were brought to the West and Americans and Europeans began practicing gamelan. Currently, there are hundreds of active gamelans outside of Indonesia, and festivals all over the world featuring gamelan music have become a popular forum for gamelan aficionados.

Top: Arts: Music: Styles: Regional and Ethnic: Gamelan

Organizations

See Also:

- Experimental gamelan band from Santa Barbara, California present virtual gamelan instruments, audio samples, band and instrument profiles, and links.
- The UK Gamelan Newsletter, covering all aspects of gamelan. Subscription-based but features are available on the website.
- An introduction to the music with reviews of recommended recordings.
- Gamelan scores and choreographies and the stories of Javanese court dances.
- International gathering of gamelan players and gamelan lovers. An annual festival, held every July in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Information about previous festivals, including photographs.
- Balinese gamelan orchestra based in San Francisco. Schedule of upcoming performances, slide shows of past performances, discography with audio samples, player profiles, and articles.
- Training exercises and MIDI files.
- Javanese Gamelan notation [PDF].
- And introduction to the music and instruments with photographs and audio and video samples.
- San Jose, California based gameland degung ensemble with audio samples, discography and ordering information, artists profiles, performance schedule, and workshops.
- Profiles of gamelan groups, recordings, courses, mailing list, and links.
- A Scottish gamelan group with information about gamelan, audio files, photographs, links, and dreadful gamelan puns.
- An introduction to the gamelan of Java and Bali with audio samples and photographs, origins and spread to other areas, comparisons with other music, instruments and ensembles, dictionary, and lists of gamelan CDs, books, and links. In French and English
- Information about gamelan in general, including audio clips, and about Swarthmore's gamelan program and how to join.
- Gamelan music teaches cooperation, listening.
- A Balinese gamelan based in Washington, DC, presents information on the instruments, audio samples, performance schedule, classes, and a mailing list.
- A Los Angeles based ensemble presenting concert audio and video, gamelan introduction, history, instruments, scales, audio examples, overviews of Balinese and Javanese gamelan with audio samples, discussion forum, wayang information, and merchandise.
- This list is for anyone with a scholarly, artistic, or practical interest in gamelan. Archives available.
- Traditional musical instruments of Javanese gamelan, their meanings, and the gamelan sets of the royal palaces.

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