Gamelan is thought to come from a Javanese word gamel, which means ‘to handle’ (Sumarsam 1995: 319-320). It also refers to a type of hammer that is particularly appropriate for the metal percussion instruments that dominate gamelan ensembles because of the way the instruments are made and played. The instruments originated probably from northern Vietnam, where visitors brought bronze objects and technology around 300 B.C. and possibly rice cultivation technology as well (Hood 1980: 122). Balinese history can be viewed in four different eras.
The earliest post-prehistoric stage, called Indigenous Bali, is considered to have begun during the third millennium B.C. with a vast amount of migrants from mainland Southeast Asia (Goris 1960). This was followed by the second period of Balinese Hindu Culture immigrants from India. The third phase of Balinese history started at the end of the fifteenth century after the collapse of the East Javanese Majapahit dynasty, where the leaders fled into Bali and cultural development took place over the next four hundred years under Majapahit descendants.
The Dutch colony in the twentieth century marks the last period in Balinese history. According to Michael Tenzer in his book Gamelan Gong Kebyar, gamelan music plays an important role in the traditional life of people in Bali and is based on the concept of “collectivity.” Prior to the modern era, the intertwining of collective behavior and social stratification was reflected in the many intersecting dimensions of cultural production, such as religious beliefs and practices, craftsmanship, plastic arts, performance, literature, and others (Tenzer 2000: 76). Each of these was a collective undertaking with broad social and religious benefits, aiming to reinforce or serve to legitimize the divine power of nobles and priests.
The Dutch colonial enterprise gradually supplanted the organizing structure of the kingdoms during the start of the mid-nineteenth century. In this situation where political and social influences were greatly affected in Bali, the gap between the rich and poor, divided by the caste system, was greater, and Sekaha was the institution that linked between them. Sekaha are non-hierarchical groups or clubs that undertake cooperative work of all kinds, ranging from ritual preparation, irrigation, artistic and production, and local governance, extending to contemporary enterprises like import-export collectives, car-rental agencies, and computer workshops (Tenzer 2000: 77). As mentioned earlier, music plays an important role in traditional life. Next, we will examine how all of these relate to the concept of ‘Collectivity’. Pura are temples and differ in terms of sizes and functions.
In a state temple, gamelan is required during odalan, anniversary festivals that take place in each 210-day cycle according to the ritual calendar. Some other temples include village temples and family temples. Most ceremonies held in the temples require gamelan music for either accompaniment or as offerings for the rituals. Desa Adat, the “village customary law,” is understood as a community that shares a devotional obligation to organize and arrange gamelan from different areas to serve services for any particular event or when a ritual need arises.
A Banjar is a social institution associated with collective action and reciprocal equality among members, and it has been the primary and original context for cultivating kebyar (Tenzer, 2000:80). The banjar is steered by a council consisting of each male head of the household and is responsible for issues related to customary law. Sekaha, as mentioned earlier, are subgroups affiliated with a banjar, which has elected leaders such as a treasurer and secretary (what they do) (sekaha gong page 82).
Kebyar is a new music genre itself in the context of gamelan music in the early 20th century when Balinese society was in the midst of tremendous social upheaval, moving toward modernity under Dutch colonial rule after some five centuries of Hindu-Balinese monarchies (Tenzer, 2000). Kebyar was said to be discovered by composers from North Bali, and when the remote banjar heard about it, the innovation spread throughout the island. Kebyar literally means “to burst up” like a flower or “to flare up” like a match.
In the book Music in Bali, McPhee says that Kebyar can be said to refer to cymbals and their metallic crash and the explosive unison attack in gamelan music (McPhee, 1966:328). The general structure of Kebyar music is in the form of KPP. KPP is an abbreviation of Kawitan (introduction), Pengawak (the main body), and Pengecek (conclusion). This concept is said to be derived from culturally valued dimensions of “threeness,” such as the concept of tri-angga (an anthropomorphism referring to the head, torso, and legs), the three courtyards of the Balinese temple, the tri-loka (upper, middle, and lower worlds of existence), and others.
Like sonata allegro, KPP is mainly associated with a restricted “classical” repertoire (Tenzer, 2000:354). McPhee describes that pengawak is essentially static in form and mood, and the Pengecet is dynamically progressive, passing through successive phases of rising rhythmic tension (McPhee, 1966:83). The instrumentation in a Balinese Gong Kebyar is divided into three categories defined by its construction and materials: Metallaphones, Gongs, and Miscellaneous (Tenzer, 2000:40). When all of these instruments are combined, it can range up to 5 octaves.
Gangsa are metallphones with bronze keys that are suspended on cords strung through holes bored at both ends of each key. The keys hang over bamboo resonators that fit in a wooden case. The keys are struck with a wooden mallet held in the right hand and are damped by grasping the key using the left hand. Damping techniques differ depending on the situation, which will be explained further in the Kotekan section. One special characteristic of these metallophones is that they are all paired-tuned. They are differentiated by pitch, with one lower pitched and one higher pitched.
The lower pitched instrument is known as ‘ngumbang’ (kumbang is a bee) and ‘ngisep’ (meaning to absorb) for the higher pitched. When both of these are struck simultaneously, they create a sound quality called ‘ombak’, which means wave. All gender parts for a piece are based on a common melody called ‘pokok’. The lowest octave in the gender family is the Jegogan. It is struck using a soft wooden mallet, which produces a deep and sustained sound. The Jegogan part is very abstract and plays only the most important notes of the pokok melody, which occurs mostly once in a bar. (Spiller, 2008: 98)
The second lowest sounding instrument in the gender family is the Jublag, also struck with a soft wooden mallet. Jegogan provides the most elemental version of the pokok melody, and the amount of notes is twice as much as the Jegogan. For example, there is an extra one note that the Jublag plays in between every note in the Jegogan. The remaining instruments in the gender family have more keys compared to Jegogan and Jublag and are collectively known as gangsa. The gangsa instruments are struck using a hard wooden mallet, which produces a much brighter metallic timbre and shimmering sound. (Spiller, 2008: 98).
The Ugal is in a higher octave range after the Jublag. However, the Ugal’s range of pitches overlaps with Jublag, but their parts sound quite distinct because of the different mallets used, and the Ugal part is a more elaborate and decorated version of the pokok melody. (Spiller, 2008: 98) The setting of Ugal is much higher compared to all gender instruments because the player is the leader of the entire ensemble, making it more outstanding so that other players can see him. The second-highest octave in the gender family is the Pemade, followed by Kantilan, the highest sounding instrument.
The parts played by pemade and kantilan are often sophisticated interlocking parts called kotekan. The kotekan is also a distinctive characteristic of kebyar music in Balinese gamelan. Kotekan is the interlocking parts played between 2 players within a paired tuned instrument. Two players are divided to play the kotekan, and the two parts are known as ‘polos’ and ‘sangsih’. These two parts are said to be complementary to each other, as one plays during the silence of the other so that the ear and brain are compelled to hear them as a single music melodic line (Spiller, 2008:98). When both of these parts combine, it sounds faster than any single human could possibly play. Ethnomusicologist Hardja Susila once said about Balinese music that “half the group plays as fast as they can, and the other half plays as fast as they can, in between” (quoted in Vitale 1990:14 fn. 10).
Polos is the lower part of the kotekan. The polos part plays the more straightforward and direct part of the kotekan, and it is often on beat. Sangsih, the upper part of the kotekan, differs and usually follows off-beat after the polos.
Each player in a kotekan part is limited to playing either one or two notes because they may require playing at a very fast speed, and they may not handle too many notes at a time. When both parts combine, the entire kotekan comprises either three notes or four notes. Kotek Telu, where ‘telu’ means three, is a type of kotekan that consists of three pitches added in two parts of the kotekan. This means that each part plays two pitches, but there is a sharing note between them. The other type of kotekan is Kotek Pat. Pat is the short form of “empat,” which means four, describing that there are four pitches in total in the kotekan, with each player playing different pitches in their part.
The damping technique for all instruments in a melody is the same, where each note is damped when the next note is played. The damping technique differs in the kotekan section, where every note is damped immediately after each note is played, as the melody should be continuous instead of discontinuous.
The second group of instrumentation is the Gong. The Gong serves colotomic, melodic, and agogic functions in music (Tenzer 2000:45). The Gong punctuates at the beginning or end of an important section. A gong played after another gong is said to be a complete gong cycle, also known as gongan. The Gong can be divided into two types, male and female. A male is meant to have higher timbre, known as Gong Lanang. Gong Wadon, the female Gong, has a higher pitch and is used in alternation with Gong Lanang. A Kempur is a mid-size Gong that marks smaller phrases in a gongan cycle and alternates between gongs.
In music where all three of the instruments mentioned above are required, a complete gongan cycle will be first played by Gong Lanang and Gong Wadon, followed by a Kempur, Gong Wadon, and lastly back to Gong Lanang. The third group of instrumentation, miscellaneous, consists of all other instruments that can be found in a gamelan gong kebyar, such as the Kendang drum, Suling flute, Rebab bow lute, cengceng, and others. Like other instruments, the Kendang also comes in pairs, with a female and male drum player seated cross-legged in front of the ensemble, and the Wadon (female drum) serving as the ensemble director.
The drum can be played either by hands or sticks that can produce different sounds by doing open or mute strokes. The drum also plays an interlocking part, kotekan, between them. Cengceng are cymbals that reinforce the composite rhythm of the parts.
The piece that I will be analyzing is Jagul, a 20th-century Gong Kebyar music. The score of Balinese music can either be notated using Javanese notation or Western notation. I have chosen Western notation over Javanese notation to notate Jagul, and it is attached in Appendix 1.
As noted earlier, the common form of a kebyar music is in KPP form. However, in Jagul, it differs slightly compared to the usual KPP form. The piece begins with the cengceng followed by a drum cue that leads the entire ensemble into the pokok melody. At bar 2, when all gangsa are playing the same note on pitch 1, the Jublag plays pitch 2, which creates a dissonant sound in the music. After several internal repetitions of transition and kotekan 1, the drum player gives a drum cue known as “angsel,” which means a cadence, as a sign of proceeding to the following section.
The melody of the transition for the cadence differs slightly from the previous one, as the last two beats have a small section of interlocking between the gangsa. With an overall look at the kotekan section, we can see that the combination of both interlocking parts creates continuity of a single melody line. In kotekan 3, there are three types of playing it, depending on the signal given by the drum player. The first one is to play through the whole kotekan.
The other way is with one “angsel,” where the second line of the kotekan increases in dynamics with a cadence at the third line and back to soft in the following line. The third type is with a double “angsel,” which means it’s the final repetition of kotekan 3 preparing to proceed to the following section, which is the “byar” section. A double “angsel” differs from a single “angsel” in that the last line of the kotekan is loud rather than soft. After looking at the transition from one section to another, in conclusion, I would say that everything comes in pairs, for example, not an individual activity but collectivity.
While providing a fuller orchestra effect due to the more elaborate instrumentation in gong kebyar, it now only requires 25 players to fill up a gamelan ensemble (McPhee, 1966: 329). Ngempyung, an interval of 4ths, appears in purely melodic passages where it may be used in simple parallel motion above the unison line. It may also be heard in interlocking textures where it alternates with unisons unpredictably, emerging from the motoric continuity of the line as prominent cross rhythms.
