gtaylor@lasspvax.UUCP (Greg Taylor) (03/16/85)
Hello again. Article deadline time, this time one of those "Write something on the music from Bali, since this is the B issue" SInce a couple of people wanted to know about gamelan, here's a little introduction: Bali is an island of some 3000 square kilometers which lies to the east of Java in the chain of islands that make up the Indonesian archipelago. We know it as a part of Indonesia. When most of us think about the music of Indonesia, we would initially think of gamelan music, and probably stop there (if we thought about it at all. The USENET is the kind of place in which I can fairly safely assume that you've heard of gamelan music before). The fact of the matter is that there is also an enor- mous market for music of all types and styles throughout Indonesia that we never get to hear. One of my teachers recently returned from a Fulbright jaunt to study theatre in Malaysia carrying hundreds of examples of cassette culture at work. The cassette market in Indonesia is positively unbelievable, not in small measure because they already know well what only only Indie Culture in this part of the world is gradually figuring out: the cassette is the appropriate technol- ogy solution to the problem of producing and distribut- ing music. Sadly, nearly all of that music is well nigh unto impossible to acquire in this part of the world. And it will remain that way until the music business decides that Indonesian Pop is the Next Big Thing, or until we can save up lots of money and send a buyer to Denpasar. A part of the general ethos of the alternative culture is that of making do. THis article is a brief and gen- eral attempt by a non-specialist (that's me) to intro- duce you to the musical culture of Bali. I'll make a serious attempt to provide you with the most jargon- free bit of discussion that I can, and I'll also include a small listing of recordings of Balinese music that you can get your hands on with a little luck. When most of us talk about music in Bali, we're prob- ably talking about the gamelan. A gamelan is not an instrument (although there once was probably a thing with little bronze keys and that name).: it's a collec- tion of instruments. The word carries a meaning some- what akin to orchestra (literally, the word in Balinese comes from the verb to strike). The Balinese gamelan is a collection of instruments that are struck when they are played: metallophones, gong-chimes, gongs and cym- bals. You'll also find the drum, and occasionally flutes and a two stringed violin of Arabic origin called the rebab. Culturally, the music of Bali is strongly influenced by the music of Java, which is itself thoroughly satured with Indian influences. The greatest historical and cultural influences in Bali go all the way back to the 14th century, when a Hindu-Javanese colony was esta- blished on the island. Later on, Islam came to Indonesia, many Javanese nobles who chose not to become Muslim came to Bali with their courts, dancers, and instruments. From the 16th to the 20th century Balinese music developed their own music in splendid isolation. The musical traditions of the gamelan in Bali go back a long way: It is the classical music of Bali. That sort of distinction is a little bit crude, though--since it's full of the linguistic baggage that the term Classical (say it with a sneer, kids) evokes in this part of the world. In Bali, there are a very different set of ideas from the Romantic formulations about what Art is, who makes it, their relationship to the world, and so forth. But that's one of the things that makes the rest of the world's music so interesting. The Balinese music you can find in recorded form here is primarily orchestral. There are several different kinds of gamelan music, distinguished byt the size of the ensemble playing (from a small group of three or more to 2 dozen), the kind of music being played (music for the theatre, dance, weddings, funeral, court func- tions), and the tuning systems and scales used. One of the unusual features of gamelan music is that no two collections of instruments are tuned exactly alike. Generally, there are two different kinds of scales in common use--one has five tones (and is similar to a pentatonic or black-key scale), and one with seven tones, which contains more obviously wide and narrow intervals. Certain scales are associated with different kinds of gamelan ensembles, and certain sets of instru- ments are highly prized for their unique sound. The basis of a Balinese composition is the pokok. Western musicologists usually think of it as the "nuclear melody". The other instruments in the gamelan orchestra either play the nuclear melody, keep time, or add little elaborating patterns that ornament the nuclear melody. The little ornaments and veariations are layered over the top of the simple melody in silum- taneous variations. The number of layers is determined by the size of the orchestra. If you've never heard Balinese gamelan music before, it may remind you quite a bit of the music of composers like Steve Reich. And no wonder: Steve Reich studied the stuff at one point (attention source hounds!). There's a kind of riotous, complex racket to hearing the music that may surprise you if you expect just another xylophone orchestra. Now, on to the important stuff--where to look and where to listen. Most of what we know about the music of Bali is due to the work of a man named Colin McPhee, who fell in love with some 78 recordings of the gamelan in Bali he heard in the early 1920's and spent the rest of his life writing about it. His book Music in Bali is the best place to start. It is an enormous book full of transcribed examples which you may never get all the way through. It also has copious notes about all forms of Balinese art--because music is so intimately related to almost all of the arts in Bali. A lot of the other books out there in the world exist as obscure mono- graphs in little known journals, so this may tbe the only one you have ready access to. If you really love what you hear on the recordings, this is the place to go and learn. There are really two good sources for the curious listener: The Nonesuch Explorer Series of World Music recordings has three or four recordings of Balinese music. The Nonesuch records are really a bargain in terms of price. For those of you with a little more focused tastes and more money, Ocora records (the record label of the French TV network ORTF) has a number of Balinese recordings. In this country, Ocora records are distributed by Harmonia Mundi. Of course, there are other places, but I'm assuming you're a curi- ous beginner. I'll try to list a couple of exemplary recordings, and tell you a little about them. NONESUCH RECORDINGS: Golden Rain: Music from the Island of Bali: This album is a good general introduction to the different kinds of music played in Bali. Like many of the Nonesuch recordings, the emphasis is on compiling a set of representative examples. The thing that makes this recording really special is a whole side of the Ketchak--the Monkey Chant. This is about the only kind of choral singing found in Bali, and is used only in a kind of dance/theatre that tells the story of a beauti- ful princess rescued from demons by the Monkey King. The male chorus of literally hundreds does a choral imitation of the gamelan ensemble, and lays down this incredible polyrhythmic chant that depicts the Monkey King's vast army. You have NEVER heard ANYTHING like this ion your life. Turn it up. Semar Pegulingan: The Gamelan of the Love God: This is a recording of a special gamelan known all over Bali and the world for its sweet sound. To my western ears, it was the most pleasant-sounding gamelan I'd encoun- tered on first hearing. The ensemble has very few instruments in a low pitch range, and its sound is very quiet and delicate. Nice flute embroidery, as well. Wayang: Music for the Balinese Shadow Theatre: The Balinese Wayang Kulit of shadow puppet theatre uses a kind of chamber ensemble composed of four suspended-key vibraphones played two-handed in a technique that uses an extremely complex set of interlocking patterns. The result sounds like a room full xylophones. Entirely instrumental. OCORA RECORDINGS The Gong Gede de Batur: As is often the case, the Ocora recordings tend to emphasize specific genres of a culture's music, and group the recordings by style or type of music. This recording is the closest you'll find to the type of gamelan that was probably played in the early years of this century. This is a very old and venerable gamelan. I'd heard that it was so sacred that it could not be recorded, but I guess someone changed their mind. Sebatu: Masked Dances: With all this talk about classi- cal traditions there's something I should explain. There's current style of Balinese gamelan called kebyar that started sometime in the first two decades of the century that literally took the musical world of Bali by storm. It's a noisy, fast paced and complex style of play that's marked by abrupt changes in volume and com- plexity (the term kebyar comes from the word explode). This recording of Balinese dance is an excellent exam- ple of one of the best gamelans in all of Bali at full tilt. Joged Bumbung: This is a recording of a kind of Balinese music that became popular in the fifties. Instead of using an ensemble of bronze instruments (which are, after all, too expensive for the average Balinese garage band), the music is performed on a unique set of bamboo xylophones that get their unique tone from some sort of odd technique that involves burying them in the ground. The musical reportoire is based on the kebyar style, with a bit less of the abrupt stops and starts. It's an interesting example of a third world kind of appropriate tech. Music and Theatre: This recording is a collection of the kinds of smaller gamelan ensembles feature flutes (called the gamelan gambuh), rebabs, and the music for the wayang. The flute-based ensembles in these record- ings are especially interesting. I hope that you find the above descriptions and recom- mendations helpful. I hope I haven't offended any eth- nomusicologists out there with my sense of the impre- cise. My point here was to communicate a certain enthusiasm for the music of Bali. I leave the clarifi- cations to others more skilled than myself.