Traditional Music of Indonesian Gongs
Indonesian folk music has a long tradition that dates back to the third century. Performed in royal courts in Java and Bali, the gamelan employs a number of instruments, the most striking of which include Indonesian gongs. These gongs, which are suspended from wooden instruments, create a striking sound that is familiar to anyone well-versed in Indonesian folk music.
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History
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The popular traditional Indonesian music using gongs is called the gamelan, which means a collection of instruments. The gamelan was possibly created by a third century Javanese king and was often performed in the royal courts of Java and Bali. The music had its first worldwide introduction through Sir Francis Drake, who visited Java in 1580 and wrote about his experience with Indonesian folk music. Since then, the gamelan has evolved into a modern form of Indonesian folk music and has also influenced classical composer Claude Debussy. Gongs play an important part in the instrumentation of this unique musical style.
Function
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The traditional folk music of gamelan functions in various ways, namely because it employs several instruments. One instrument included in the music is the metallophone, which plays the central melody and is performed in the front section of the orchestration. The gongs are located in the back of the orchestration and are performed slowly to punctuate the melody. The large gong, which is called gong ageng, is considered the soul in which the gamelan resides and plays an important role in the musical performance.
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Types
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There are various types of gamelan performed throughout the archipelago of Indonesia. The more well-known form of gamelan, as related above, comes out of Central Java. But West Java, or otherwise known as Sunda, has a diversity of styles of gamelan music, some which do or do not include Indonesian gongs. These styles include: gamelan Degung, gamelan slendro, and tembang sunda. East Java has the less well-known version of gamelan music and employs in its instrumentation a gamyak drum, which is extremely large.
Features
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There are various kinds of gongs employed in the instrumentation of gamelan music. These Indonesian gongs include: ketuk, kenong, and kempu. The gongs are often suspended from strings on a wooden instrumentation with elaborate and intricate designs. Each gong is tuned to a note of the musical scale and when they are struck by a mallet they create a musical sound that punctuates the harmonic melody performed on the mellatophones.
Identification
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Gongs used in gamelan folk music are usually made of flat metal discs (with or without a turned edge) played with beaters. Another type of gong has a raised center boss. Larger gongs are played with larger, softer beaters. The instruments on which the gongs are suspended are heavy ballasts made of wood with two standing legs. The legs are carved with intricate designs, while the long wooden suspension beam usually has carved ceremonial dragons on top. The gongs are suspended from the beam by heavy string.
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