gamelan music
The traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali, featuring tuned metallophones, gongs, drums, and flutes in interlocking patterns of extraordinary rhythmic complexity.
In Depth
Gamelan ensembles consist primarily of bronze metallophones (saron, gender), gong sets, drums (kendang), and bamboo flutes (suling), with each instrument playing an interlocking part in a layered texture called "stratification." Javanese gamelan tends toward serene, meditative qualities with slow-moving elaboration, while Balinese gamelan is faster, more dynamic, and marked by sudden shifts in tempo and volume.
Gamelan music profoundly influenced Western composers after it was heard at the 1889 Paris Exposition. Debussy was captivated by the shimmering timbres and non-Western scales, and gamelan influences are audible in works like Pagodes. Britten, Messiaen, and Steve Reich also drew on gamelan concepts. The tuning systems — slendro (five-tone) and pelog (seven-tone) — differ from Western equal temperament, giving gamelan its distinctive, otherworldly quality. Each gamelan set is tuned uniquely, meaning instruments from different sets are not interchangeable.
Each gamelan set is tuned to its own unique pitch standard — instruments from one gamelan cannot be mixed with another, because no two gamelans in the world are tuned identically.