Gamelan is surely not a foreign music. It has been popular in most continents and has created new music of jazz-gamelan, gave birth to the institution as a learning space and the expression of gamelan music, to produce famous gamelan musicians. Gamelan music instrument can now be enjoyed in many parts of the world, but Yogyakarta is the most appropriate place to enjoy the gamelan it since you can enjoy the original version.
Gamelan developing in Yogyakarta is Javanese gamelan, a different form of gamelan Balinese gamelan or Sundanese gamelan. Javanese gamelan has a softer tone and slow, unlike dynamic Balinese gamelan and Sundanese gamelan lilting flute and voice dominated. The difference is reasonable, since Java has its own view of life that is expressed in the rhythm of gamelan music.
Javanese worldview expressed in gamelan music is the harmony of physical and spiritual, harmony in talking and acting so as not to create an expression that explosive and create tolerance. Being real in his music is the pull string fiddle that is, a balanced blend of sound kenong, saron drums and xylophone and a gong sounds on every cover of rhythm.
There is no definite history of gamelan. Development of gamelan music is expected since the emergence of wide band, fiddle, tap on the mouth, the friction on the cord or thin bamboo until the introduction of metal musical instruments. Further development after named gamelan, the music was used to accompany wayang performance, and dance. Time was not until later on some independent music and equipped with the voice of the sinden.
A set of gamelan consists of several instruments, including a set of similar musical instrument drum called drums, fiddle and zither, xylophone, gongs and bamboo flutes. The main components that make up musical instruments in the gamelan is bamboo, metal, and wood. Each instrument has its own function in gamelan music show, for example, closing a gong played music and gave long after the previous balance was decorated by the rhythm of the music gising.
Javanese gamelan is music with pentatonic melodies. A complete gamelan game consists of two rounds, namely slendro and pelog. Slendro has 5 tones per octave, ie 1 2 3 5 6 [C-D E + GA] with a small interval difference. Pelog has 7 tones per octave, ie 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [C + D E-F # G # AB] with a large difference intervals. Gamelan music composition created with some rules, which consist of several rounds and pathet, bordered by a gong and the melodies were created in a unit consisting of 4 tones.
You can see gamelan as an independent music performance as well as a dance or performance arts such as wayang kulit and ketoprak. As a performance, gamelan music is usually combined with the voices of the singers of Java (called wiraswara male singers and female singers called waranggana or sinden). Gamelan music performances that performance can be classic or contemporary gamelan. One form of contemporary gamelan music is jazz-gamelan as a combination of music with pentatonic and diatonic.
One of the places in Yogyakarta where you can see the performance of gamelan is the sultan's palace. On Thursday at 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. gamelan as a music performance. On Saturday at the same time held the gamelan music as accompaniment shadow puppets, while on Sunday at the same time held the gamelan music as a traditional Javanese dance accompanist. To see the show, you can go to the Hall of Sri Maganti. Meanwhile, in order to see the old gamelan, you can go to another hall of the kingdom which lies further to the rear.
