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Overview of Balinese Music |
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Music in Bali
Seka Gambang from Sukawati play at Pura Besakih
Background
Music in Bali is integrated into lifestyle both socially and spiritually, it seems that every ceremony or gathering for any purpose is incomplete without music. Since the Hindu religion has so many ceremonies (regional, village and family-based ), there is always music heard as you travel about the island. Experiencing one of these ceremonies with the music and colour leaves you with a pleasant feeling of a hypnotic/spiritual nature.
The Balinese gamelan is a group of instruments played together rather than singularly, the music is a combination of melodies and Kotekan(embellishment), played by a number of metallophones( bronze keys in carved wooden frames or suspended over bamboo resonators), gongs,cymbals,drums, flutes and occasionally a stringed Rebab to provide a soundscape for the spirits and humans alike.
Some ensembles are made up of bamboo tubes eg. Joged bumbung,Rindiks and the famous Jegog . Others are made bamboo bars (similar to marimbas)eg. Tinglik and Gambang. As you look deeper about the island, you find all sorts of different ensembles, some made of bamboo (Gengong, which is played like a Jaws harp), some just percussive and flutes (Tektekan), some vocal. The unique sound of singers ,singing Kakawin,Pupuh, Gugaritan or some other Hindu ceremonial singing is a memorable experience. All instruments are regarded as sacred with their own spirit and should be respected as such, not stepping over them and providing the proper ritual.
Teaching a child the Curing in Angklung
Different Modal Systems
Balinese music and Western music have different modal systems. The Wesern modal system has 12 notes to an octave, 1200 cents, therefore a semitone is 100 cents, for example, between G and G sharp(a semitone). The Balinese modal system has two main tunings; the Slendro and the Pelog.
However, the mode depends largely on the path these notes take, ending at a particular note with the gong.
The SLENDRO is a 5 tone scale, having a very wide and out of tune fourths, (between 515 and 535 cents). Similar to a pentatonic scale. The basic order of intervals from low to high, where 2 equals an approx. whole step and 3 equals an approx. minor third, is 2 3 2 2 3. This scale is said to be based on a equidistant ten note scale, however, only these intervals are played. There is an obvious link to China in the structure of the slendro scale.
The PELOG is a seven note scale, with intervals of ; 1 = 1/2 step; 2 = approx. 1 step; 3 = approx. minor third; that is; 1 2 3 1 1 2 2 . Similar to the Western minor scale. Balinese pelog is theoretically seven notes, but most instruments only have five pitches available(1 2 3 5 6 of the 7 note scale).
These Balinese scales cannot be notated in the Western system (12 note system). This creates exciting and challenging work for both Balinese and Western musicians.
String, vocal, and wind instruments are not limited by fixed pitch , therefore they can explore other interpretations of the scale.
Slendro intervals: 2 3 2 2 3 Pelog intervals: 1 2 3 1 1 2 2 or 2 1 3 1 1 2 2
TUNINGS
Balinese music has another twist, the tuning of the gamelans themselves, particularly the internal tunings of each pair of instruments. Being a musician from the west studying violin for many years Richard at first found himself wanting to tune the instruments until he realised the pulsating sounds of the gamelans are produced by these tunings within the gamelan."The difference in pitch between two similar instruments,(the male and female) in the gamelan is very precise and the effect is dependant on this precision. It seems the inharmonic overtones cause the pulsating, the closer the pitch of the two instruments the faster the pulsating, if the instruments are tuned together perfectly the pulsating disappears as does the excitement of the music itself."--Richard
Each gamelan is painstakingly tuned by gong smiths, filed and hammered, to a five or seven note scale. Without a reference to go by, the gamelans of Bali are not necessarily tuned to the same pitch. Therefore each gamelan is unique with its own spirit.( Click here for glossary)
A female Gamelan Gong playing at Pura Besakih
THE GAMELANS (ensembles).
There are many different gamelan orchestras in Bali, from the simple Rindik and Gender with as few as two players to the full Gamelan with 30 to 50 players. ( Click here for the Gamelans)
THE SINGING OF BALI .
As there are many different gamelan ensembles in Bali, so too are there many different types of singing.
The most common heard in Bali is the Pupuh singing, also Kakawin and Gaguritan. They are heard at many ceremonies in Bali and the sound can be quite enchanting.
The songs and melodies are very complex and a good singer seems to possess amazing vocal qualities.
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