A few weeks ago, me and my class learned how to play gamelan in music class. But now since the class has ended, I will explain to you all about gamelan!
What is Gamelan? Gamelan is a traditional music that consists of a lot of individual instruments. The gamelan orchestra comes from Indonesia, specifically from the island Bali and Java. The orchestra includes a lot of other traditional music instruments like:
- Bonang Barung
- Gender
- Slenthem
- Sahron
- Demung
- Gendang
- Kenong
- Gong
And what I find interesting is that, all of these instruments can’t be played individually because they are all made to play together.
This is the instrument that I played in the gamelan orchestra. It is called gender and I play it using a mallet. The patterns that we play is the the same with slenthem, sahron, and demung. When we play, after we hit one note, we have to stop it using our hand which is sometimes confusing for me since I also need to concentrate on playing.
I think that people that invented this music must be really smart, because gamelan music is very-very complicated. It is made out of a lot of layers for each category of instruments. Even though it’s complicated, the layers are the one who made gamelan music interesting to listen to.Furthermore, this traditional orchestra is not only famous in Indonesia, but it also inspired French composers that was amused when they first listen to gamelan. This makes me very proud of my country and what they have done to the world.
From my personal experience, the first time I’ve played gamelan was actually a few weeks ago in music class. I myself thought that playing gamelan is fun and interesting. I really love how the melody goes and I love so much is how each instrument can synchronize. The chance to play gamelan is quite rare. Especially when you don’t live in Indonesia. So, when you get a chance to play gamelan, go for it!