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gamelan

Photography Music posted on Aug 06, 2014
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Description


Gamelan is a generic term for traditional musical ensembles of Java and Bali made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments are metallophones played by mallets as well as a set of hand played drums called kendhang which register the beat. Other instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, bowed instrument called rebab, and even vocalists called sindhen] Although the popularity of gamelan has declined since the introduction of pop music, gamelan is still commonly played in formal occasions and is an integral part in many traditional Indonesian ceremonies. For most Indonesians, gamelan is an integral part of Indonesian culture. The word gamelan comes from the low Javanese word gamel, which may refer to a type of mallet of which instruments are struck with or the act of striking with a mallet. The term karawitan refers to the playing of gamelan instruments, and comes from the word rawit, meaning 'intricate' or 'finely worked'] The word derives from the Javanese word of Sanskrit origin, rawit, which refers to the sense of smoothness and elegance idealized in Javanese music. Another word from this root, pangrawit, means a person with such sense, and is used as an honorific when discussing esteemed gamelan musicians. The high Javanese word for gamelan is gangsa, formed either from the words tembaga and rejasa referring to the materials used in bronze gamelan construction (copper and tin), or tiga and sedasa referring to their proportions (three and ten) The gamelan predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture that dominated Indonesia in its earliest records and instead represents a native art form. The instruments developed into their current form during the Majapahit Empire.[5] In contrast to the heavy Indian influence in other art forms, the only obvious Indian influence in gamelan music is in the Javanese style of singing, and in the themes of the Wayang kulit (shadow puppet plays). In Javanese mythology, the gamelan was created by Sang Hyang Guru in Saka era 167 (c. AD 230), the god who ruled as king of all Java from a palace on the Maendra mountain in Medang Kamulan (now Mount Lawu). He needed a signal to summon the gods and thus invented the gong. For more complex messages, he invented two other gongs, thus forming the original gamelan set. The earliest image of a musical ensemble is found on the 8th century Borobudur temple, Central Java. Musical instruments such as the bamboo flute, bells, drums in various sizes, lute, and bowed and plucked string instruments were identified in this image. However it lacks metallophones and xylophones. Nevertheless, the image of this musical ensemble is suggested to be the ancient form of the gamelan. In the palaces of Java are the oldest known ensembles, the Munggang and Kodokngorek gamelans, apparently from the 12th century. These formed the basis of a "loud style". A different, "soft style" developed out of the kemanak tradition and is related to the traditions of singing Javanese poetry, in a manner which is often believed to be similar to performance of modern bedhaya dance. In the 17th century, these loud and soft styles mixed, and to a large extent the variety of modern gamelan styles of Bali, Java, and Sunda resulted from different ways of mixing these elements. Thus, despite the seeming diversity of styles, many of the same theoretical concepts, instruments, and techniques are shared between the styles A gamelan is primarily constituted from metallophones while other instruments such as flute (suling) and zither (celempung) are discretionary. Hand played drums called kendhang however is essential despite not being a metallophone as it control the tempo and rhythm of pieces as well as the transitions from one section to another. Instruments constituting a functioning gamelan in present-day Central Java are as illustrated: (from wiki wood carving figures heritage from Rosalie's father http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1879009&user_id=26491&page=29&member&np TFV & comments

Comments (8)


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PatGoltz

3:35AM | Wed, 06 August 2014

I love gamelan music. I played in a gamelan ensemble for a short time and learned the musical notation (which I have since forgotten). Ours had metallophones and a couple of drums, but no flutes or other instruments. I didn't connect your image with the gamelan, though I like the image very much.

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ontar1

7:20AM | Wed, 06 August 2014

Beautiful piece, great info also, outstanding capture!

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jgeorge

7:27AM | Wed, 06 August 2014

Beautiful lighting... (And interesting info, thanks :-) )

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Juliette.Gribnau

8:54AM | Wed, 06 August 2014

een heel mooie foto die de sfeer goed weergeeft

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choronr

9:17AM | Wed, 06 August 2014

Interesting collection. Thanks for sharing this information.

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FredNunes

3:00PM | Wed, 06 August 2014

This is a great image!

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danapommet

10:10PM | Tue, 12 August 2014

Wonderful information Martin and the nicely carved pieces could be from a chess set!

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mandloks

1:27PM | Thu, 18 September 2014

Very beautiful. I love the short DOF.


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Photograph Details
F Numberf/5.6
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 550D
Shutter Speed1/125
ISO Speed100
Focal Length85

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