Gamelan and Balinese music

entity

A close friend is working on this project and I feel personally invested in seeing it succeed.

Pak Terip, a gamelan teacher of (I'm told; I don't have much context for comparison) incredible skill, is having produced a professional CD of his gamelan troupe's music for the first time. My friend, a student of his, is helping get the word out—they're trying to pre-sell CDs to cover costs of production. Please also listen to these SoundCloud tracks to get more of an idea of the style of music. And if you feel inspired, please spread the word.

Thanks! Anyone else interested in Balinese music, or want to talk about it? I honestly know nothing other than what my friend has told me.

Seth

I love gamelan music. We recently had a topic on the Bang the Bore forum from a friend seeking out good gamelan music, so I'll cross post this and see whether it gets it a few more hits.

I'm particularly hankering after some well recorded gamelan - lots of the stuff I've heard doesn't seem to capture those beautiful ringing overtones particularly well. I'd love it if someone recorded it with that pornographic Another Timbre-esque attention to lush detail.

entity

Thanks, Seth—I hope this CD will achieve something approaching that. Certainly all the exposure they can get will be a help.

iLibertine

Gamelan music is very enjoyable.

grant

I once spent a couple of very memorable weeks in Bali. Gamelan music was everywhere.

Here's one thing I know about Balinese music (not gamelan, and really kind of touristy, but still cool).

The host of a homestay I was staying at explained how a kecak dance worked (we saw him perform in one later that evening). There's a sea of musicans - chanters - playing monkeys. They're arranged in a circle around the central figure (Hanuman!). There are four kinds of chants, each in a different odd numbered time. One is in three (CHEK-CHEK-chuh-CHEK-CHEK-chuh), one is in five, one is in seven, and one just keeps the beat (if I remember right).

And they're sitting in such a way that no-one is next to someone chanting the same pattern - around a three guy, there's a five guy, a seven guy and a one guy.

(Was there a nine guy? I don't remember.)

Anyway, here's one version:

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