What’s in A Gamelan Manual
How do you play a thung stroke on the ketipung?
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A Gamelan Manual describes and shows you three different
ways – and explains how the thung stroke differs
on the ciblon. All the other drum strokes are described
and illustrated too.
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Some other questions answered in the book:
- Why do sléndro gamelan sound different from each other?
- What are all the various stages of a gendhing?
- When should I use low 6 on the saron?
- How many different iråmå are there?
- How loud should I play?
- Who really controls the gamelan – and is it always the same person?
- What is a normal set of kempul in a pélog
gamelan? What happens if the gamelan does not have all of them?
- What is the difference between Yogya-style kinthilan and
Solo-style kinthilan, and when would I use them?
- After I get lost, how do I get back in?
- What do you really do with all those different ciblon strokes?
- What is or are nyacah?
- What happens in a palaran?
- When do the Javanese play ‘concerts’, and what sorts of pieces do
they play in them?
- What does a gambang gångså look like?
- What is special about the way you play a langgam?
- When do you delay the strokes on the punctuating instruments, and
by how much?
- During the transition from kébar to iråmå
dados, what should I listen out for, and is the transition always
played the same way?
- What is the difference between a gendhing soran and a gendhing
bonang?
- Should the rebab really sound like that?
- What are those fantastic things our teacher plays on the bonang
– but doesn’t teach us?
- Which instruments respond to a gåtrå gantung,
and how?
- What notes do I play when the notation says ‘demung imbal’?
- What is a gati?
- Does the slenthem always play the same notes as the demung?
- What is the standard instrumentation for a gamelan gadhon?
- When we reach the end of a gongan in iråmå
wilet, how do I know what will happen next?
- Is a set of drums always arranged in the same way?
- Which pieces can I expect to play in a wayang accompaniment?
- What do ‘dados’, ‘wangsul’ and ‘kendhangan Cåndrå’ mean in the description
of a piece?
- Is there any difference between tembang and sekar?
- How do I finger the high 1 on a suling in sléndro?
- What are wayang wahyu, wayang ukur and wayang listrik,
and could I expect to see wayang bèbèr?
- What does the gendèr panerus actually play, and when?
- How can I make my bonang playing sound more Yogyanese?
- How many kinds of siter are there, and are they the same
as a celempung?
- What is the difference between a siyem and a gong suwukan
– and does it matter?
- How about some more possible peking patterns to play
for balungan nibani?
- … and countless others
You will also find
- pictures of every instrument in the gamelan – even some rare and
obsolete types
- illustrations of important details of playing technique
- music examples for all the instruments
- explanations of the theoretical basis of the music – laras,
pathet, iråmå and the forms of compositions
- details of performance practice for some of the most frequently
played pieces in the repertoire
- … and much more
Published by Jaman Mas Books, 32 Boyne Road, London SE13 5AW, UK
020 8318 2698/+44 20 8318 2698
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