Perspectives of NewMusic-Kebyar

8/10/2019 Perspectives of NewMusic-Kebyar

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Perspectives of New Music

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ol. 40, no. 1 (W

inter 2002): 569

Copyright 2002 Perspectives of New Music

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.perspectivesofnewmusic.or

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TEPPING FROM THE ROAD

, over the elaborately car

ved threshold, andinto the home of the Dewa family of Pengosekan is always a pleasure.

This comes in part from the dramatic change of scene: one leaves behindan insane road full of buzzing near-death motorcycles and roaring trucks,and enters the tropically luxuriant and relaxed atmosphere of a Balinesecompound. Like many that retain traditional architecture, the Dewashome is composed of an array of small buildings (

bal

), each fronted by asitting platform or porch, just 10 to 20 feet from each other. The propor-tions of this layout are comfortably human-sized, not surprising becausetraditional architects use measurements of the owners hands as the basisfor the layout and spatial relations between buildings. The various bal

S


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e complemented by the lush gardening; everything is intertwined withflowers, vines, and broad-leafed tropical plants. In most homes, a visitors

first order of business is full immersion in the long, relaxed Balinese wel-come, as the host invites you to kopi Bali

, sweets, and conversation, sit-ting together on one of the bal

.But this is not most homes. The Dewas of Pengosekan are a family of

brilliant gamelan

musicians, and their home is also the seat of Sanggarudamani, a thriving center of music and dance famous throughout thearea. Here the usual rites of greeting might be deferred for a moment,since, seated just a few steps away on a large and shaded pavilion, one ofthe worlds hottest orchestras is passionately playing the dance piece

Taruna Jaya

. The rehearsal is led by four young brothers, each a virtuosicplayer, who occupy key positions in the orchestra. Their father, himself askilled drummer fluent in the intricacies and spontaneity of arja

andlegong

drumming, is seated next to the gamelan

. He is lost in peacefulcontemplation, smoking a kretek

, listening to every note. I am drawn tothe low platform as if by magnetic attraction.

The group that the Dewa family leads and hosts in their home is, in itsmost characteristic manifestation, a kebyar

ensemble: a large modernbronzegamelan

orchestra played by about thirty musicians. It is not the

standard kebyar

set, however, but a gamelan semara dana

, a hybridgamelan

created about fifteen years ago which combines the full seven-tone palette of older ritual and courtgamelan

ensembles with the instru-mentation of the normally five-tone gamelan gong kebyar

. The youngmusicians are already polished players. They are accompanying a youngdancer in preparation for an upcominggamelan

competition. Of course,as members of a sanggar

or private arts club, they have many other roles,as teachers, organizers, or guardians of neighbors children who arestudying dance at absurdly young ages. The musicians might also trans-

form (in another dramatic scene change) into a team of prop and decora-tion makers for an upcoming temple event to which theyre invited toplay, working and joking over a mountain of split bamboo, twine,colored paper, and carving knives. But at the moment, theyre doingwhat they seem to enjoy most, judging from the intensity of theirrehearsals. They play not only with near technical perfection, but withthat elusive quality that the Balinese call taksu

charisma, energy, mag-netism. Sparks emanate from each and every note as they accompany thefleeting and sharply etched expressions of the skilled seventeen-year old

dancer. The smiles and the notes are both electric.This is, of course, the appropriate attitude for a group playing thisquintessential kebyar

piece. Taruna Jaya

(Dance of the VictoriousYouth) is an eighty-year old work that has become a centerpiece and


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Balinese K

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icon of the kebyar

style. It is, by turns, fast, furious, powerful, slow, play-ful, sexual, innocent, defiant, audacious, teasing. The piece was revolu-

tionary, in its every pore, from the moment of its birth (engendered bythe teamwork of two great musician/dancers and their group in theNorth Balinese village of Jagaraga, circa 1920). Taruna Jaya

is one of atriumvirate of formative kebyar

pieces, all created between 1915 and1925. The others, now known by the names Palawakia

and KebyarDuduk

, are also in the repertoire of the udamani players, as they are ofmost groups. All three celebrate the wedding of movement and music invarious ways, and find their energies in vivid dramatic contrastsastartled wide-eyed expression morphs into a soft smile; a dancer suddenly

picks up mallets and is transformed into a musician with elaborate impro-vised gestures; the music explodes, out of whisper, into cascading glis-sandi.

Now, after more than eight decades of development, kebyar

s raw sen-sationalism has been tempered by age and complexity; qualities such asskill, polish of presentation, unity of ensemble, and maturity are fre-quently mentioned. The udamani musicians manifest all these qualitiesto an unusual degree, even compared to far more experienced groups. InTaruna Jaya

, part of what inspires them to such heights is their personal

connection to this arrangement: Dewa Aji, the father of the group lead-ers, developed a set of drum variations for this work with his drummingpartner from years gone by, Wayan Gandra from the village of Peliatan.

1

Recently

, in a gesture of support and local artistic pride, Dewa Aji andGandra, two elder musical statesmen, trained these young sanggar

play-ers (their kids, as they say) in an older and more original version ofTaruna Jaya

. It is the version they used to play dugas nika

(back then),when they were shining lights on local stages. They conveyed thisarrangement, including the unique drum variations, in all its dramatic

inflection, stylistic uniqueness, and loving structural detail. In the processof absorbing it, the young taruna

of this orchestra also infused theirnew/old rendition with great energy, re-creating the excitement that waspart of its original genesis.

The birth of a new genre of Balinese music is taking place within andaround this group and their peers in other parts of south Bali, through asimilar regenerative process. One of the groups founders, Dewa KetutAlit, has composed new music for their gamelan semara dana

whichtakes full advantage of the potential inherent in its hybrid designa

cross-fertilization of kebyar

style with older seven-tone music and modaltechniques. The work Geregel

(a vocal term loosely meaning vibrato orembellishment), composed in the summer of 2000, is one of the mostvibrant new works of Balinese instrumental composition in recent years,


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Perspectives of New Music

not only through its use of modal techniques in a kebyarsetting, but inthe ways they are exploited through innovative approaches to orchestra-

tion, formal design, phrase structure, and vertical relationships.

2

Alit hasproduced this work in udamanis fertile musical atmosphere, a garage-band-like scene of young academy-trained musicians who play music,hang out together, drink beer at night, and discuss music and danceincessantly. They are immersed ingamelancompetitions, temple festivals,recording sessions, and international projects. Alit is one of a handful ofcomposers, most of whom are still in their thirties (Alit himself was only28 when he composed Geregel) and working in the densely populatedand artistically rich south and central regions of Bali, who are regarded as

the islands vanguard. They do not seek a break with the past: all con-tinue to receive the musical wisdom of their elders through intensivetraining as performers of older repertoire. Most are graduates of STSI,the National Academy of the Arts, and present their works in tried andtrue venues within STSIs artistic sphere such as the annual gamelancompetitions of the Bali Arts Festival (Pesta Kesenian Bali). But they arealso looking in new directions, by recombining and developing musicaltechniques, performance aesthetics, and dramatic conceptions throughwhich the traditional reservoir of musical substance and knowledge can

be re-interpreted.The title Geregel illustrates this orientation. It is, for the composer,evocative of embellishment or ornamentation in a larger sense than itsoriginally narrow vocal definition. He interprets it to mean, Many roadsleading to one goal, (banyak jalan menuju yang satu) in which theroads represent differing variations, manifested in many musical layersand in the various sections of the orchestra. The goal they are headedtowards is none other than the stroke of the large gong, the ultimatemanifestation of unity (metric, tonal, aesthetic, and spiritual) in the

gamelantradition. But the various ways of getting to each gong are, forAlit, unique, idiosyncratic, and special to each player or section of theensemblea vision of combined personal expression that is both collec-tivist and individually expressive, a thoughtful re-interpretation of thegamelanaesthetic.

The background and specifics of what makes Geregela significant workin the evolution of new Balinese music are the subjects of this study.Although it is probably not the first of its kind in any particular technical,modal, or orchestrational innovation, the particular way these dimensions

are fused and given dramatic life in Geregelplaces it in a special categoryof new Balinese work, standing above the many tabuh kreasi baru(newinstrumental works) created each year. As such it has undoubtedly playeda role in the recent ground shift within the Balinese new music scene: In


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Balinese KebyarMusic 9

the eighteen months since Geregels creation, new and wildly experimen-tal seven-tone kebyar works are proliferating rapidly, especially in the

Ubud area where there are severalgamelan semara dana.

3

THEBALINESEMODALSYSTEM

As mentioned above, the gamelan semara dana combines the overallinstrumentation, construction, and range of the ubiquitous five-tonegamelan gong kebyar with the seven-tone scale of the older and rarergamelan semar pegulingan. It is, essentially, a gong kebyarexpanded to

include the two other notes of its parent heptatonic scale, the so-calledpelogscale which has been known in Indonesia for as long as two millen-nia. In traditional terms, the seven-tone scale (saih pitu or row ofseven) opens up the possibility to play in any of the modes, variouslyknown aspatut[an], saih,patet, or tetekep.4A mode is formed by choos-ing five of the seven tones in a particular sequence of adjacent vs. skippedtones. Traditionally, that mode is then used for an entire piece or sectionwithin a piece. (Shifts between modes, involving pivoting on tones com-mon to both in what Balinese musicians now call modulasi, are increas-

ingly common in recent seven-tone music and will be discussed below.)It cannot be overemphasized how central the pentatonic tendency is tothe Balinese musical conception. (Here pentatonic is used simply tomean a five-tone scale, rather than the particular black-key scales withwhich Western musicians often associate the term.) While there arenotable exceptionsfour-tone scales, for example, are employed in a fewwell-knowngamelantypes such as angklung, bebonangan, and the giantbamboojegog; while certain rare modes are said to use all seven tonesthey lie outside of the mainstream of the Balinese tonal impulse. The

variety and proportion of interval sizes that can be formed within penta-tonic scales are, evidently, just right for the Balinese. A bronze gamelanpermanently tuned to selisirmode, as are the thousands ofgamelan gongkebyarthroughout the island, is not considered incomplete or lacking inany way. Its pentatonic tonal universe is made richly multi-dimensionalby the vibrating intensity of the paired tuning system,5the dense enhar-monic overtone spectrum produced by bronze percussion instrumentsstruck with wooden mallets, and the wide range of frequency and timbrespanned from deepest gong tone to highest splash of the ceng-ceng

cymbals. (This is a large part of the reason that gamelan music tran-scribed directly to Western instruments seems so plain or timbrally flat: itloses several layers of tonal richness heard in the originalgamelanorches-tration.)


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10 Perspectives of New Music

Yet another layer of complexity derives from the individuality ofgamelan tunings. Since there is no absolute standard of reference, like

A440 in the Western system, nor a precisely defined intervallic structure,each gamelancan be said to have a unique tuning, slightly (or dramati-cally) different than the next. This brings an individual character to eachgamelans sound that is akin to that of a vineyard-designated vintagewine. A gamelan tuning is the unique result of the owners taste, theintended use of thegamelan, the particular gongsmith chosen, the age ofthe instruments, and other factors.6 Taken together, the attributes andcomplexity of this sonic universe are compelling even in a relativelysimple composition; foreign listeners are often surprised, on first hearing

of a Balinesegamelan, to learn that music of such richness is created withonly five tones.Once the seven-tone door is opened, another musical universe

obtainsyet one in which the pentatonic impulse remains the predomi-nant force. This is a dimensional leap into a multi-pentatonic system ofmodal formation, as meaningful to Balinese musicians as the contrastbetween diatonic and chromatic is to a Western musician. In fact,hearing the various modes of saih pitumusic makes one think of the termchromatic in its original, non-equal-tempered meaningan array of

distinctly colored strata, each with its own character and hue.The chart of Example 1, familiar in general outline to any academy-trained musician in Bali, shows in simplified form how the modes areusually selected within the seven-tonepelogscale. Usually, because theidentity and interrelationship of the modes as outlined in this chart are byno means uniform throughout Bali, between groups, or even betweenindividual musicians who play in a singlegamelan. While there is generalagreement concerning the relationship of selisir, tembung, and sunaren,the two othersbaroand lebengare often interpreted differently. There

are many reasons for these discrepancies. From the most general perspec-tive, such variation is a normal feature of Balis highly integrated oral cul-ture, in which there is a great deal of consistency in underlying generativeprinciple and much less so in the manifestation of surface detail and ter-minology. A comparison of religious offerings between neighboring vil-lages, an intricate and richly semiotic system, would reveal similardifferences. The Balinese gloss for such diversity, which they implicitlyapprove, is lain desa lain adat (different village, different customs).For that reason, in the realm of religious practice and ritual law (adat),

just as in music, the issue of regional variation versus standardizationone locally generated, the other externally imposedhas been the sub-ject of intense discussion for many decades, touching as it does not onlyon diversity but also issues of regional pride and autonomy versus central-ized authority.


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On a more technical level, understanding the varying interpretations ofmode would require tracing the evolution of seven-tone scales and theirgradual transfer from one gamelantype to another, all within an essen-tially oral tradition. Seven-tone systems are found on a variety of oldergamelantypes, bringing a profusion of interpretations. Each uses a dif-ferent terminology, has a unique tuning, and applies its modal systemsomewhat differently in actual practice. The primary source for the semar

pegulinganmodal system was the courtlygambuhensemble, in which themelodic material is carried exclusively by meter-long bamboo flutes,suling gambuh. As noted by McPhee (1966, 3847) many changesoccurred in the transferal of modal systems from gambuhto the bronzegamelan, in which all the keys have fixed pitches.

Despite the variations, consensus is slowly emerging around the way inwhich these five classical modes are interpreted on bronze gamelans.This is partly the result of the increasing academization of Balinese music.The chart in Example 1 was created in 1959 by Nyoman Kaler, Gusti

Putu Griya and Nyoman Rembang, three of Balis most widely recog-nized music scholars of the mid-twentieth century. This interpretationwas then disseminated at KOKAR, the newly-formed Indonesian Conser-vatory of Music, at which they were all faculty or guest lecturers. Today it

116 159 258 172 120 185 190 116 159 258 172 120 185

& 5 5 5

5 5 5 5 5

5 5 5 5

mm m

mm m

notated pitch

interval, in cents

5

7-tone scale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Selisir i o e u a i o e u a

Tembung u a i o e u a i o e

Sunaren u a i o e u a i o e

Baro i o e u a i o e u a

Lebeng* i o e eu u a ai i o e eu u a ai

c c# d d# e f f# g g# a a# b c c# d d# e f f# g g# a a# b c

5

EXAMPLE 1: THE FIVE BALINESE CLASSICAL MODES:THEIR FORMATION, INTERVALS (IN THE TUNING OF

GAMELAN UDAMANI), AND NOTATION

* The extra tones in lebeng, labeled euand aiand pronounced deungand daing, are named by combining their neighboring tone vowels.


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is taught as mainstream musical theory at the two current music acade-mies, SMKI and STSI. The letters i, o, e, u, and a are short for ding,

dong, deng, dung and dang, the Balinese solfge, which is explainedbelow. Two complete octaves are shown, together with the tuningscheme of actual frequencies from the udamani instruments.

Examining closely the sequence of intervals in each of these modes(with the exception of lebeng, discussed below), it becomes clear that thesame pattern is repeated throughout, created by the absent tones. Thenotes of a five-tone mode are always grouped in a sequence of three andtwothat is, three consecutive scale degrees (separated by intervals of116258 cents in this gamelans tuning), followed by a larger interval

(here 266430 cents), two more consecutive scale degrees, finally fol-lowed by another larger interval as the pattern repeats itself in the nextoctave. This consistent intervallic grouping in a 3/2/3/2 pattern gener-ates the characteristic interval sequence of pelog. Such gapped-scaleformation is one of the distinguishing features of Indonesian scales andmodes in general.

Based on this sequence, each tone is assigned a solfge name that givesit a unique identity within the scale. The names for the tones are ding,dong, deng, dung, and dang, where dingis always the lowest of the group

of three tones and the others fall in place accordingly. The relative dis-tances between notes are thus codified in the solfge, which plays anessential role in Balinese performance practice.7To get a different view ofthese relationships, the modes could be reoriented according to theirnote identitiesthat is, hypothetically raise or lower the pitch of eachmode until the note dingof each scale is the same, thus obtaining a com-parative look at their interval structures. (See Example 2.)

Selisir i o e u a i

c c# d d# e f f# g g# a a# b c c# d

Tembung i o e u a i

Sunaren i o e u a i

Baro i o e u a i

Lebeng i o e eu u a ai i

EXAMPLE 2: THE INTERVALLIC STRUCTURE OF FIVE MODESCOMPARED FROM A COMMON STARTING PITCH


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Once a mode is chosen, the remaining two tones are external for themoment to that pentatonic formation. But one or both might reappear as

pamero, false or auxiliary tones, used to add a striking melodic color atimportant moments in the music such as the approach to a gong tone orto an important structural downbeat.8Even in bronze orchestras that useonly one of the modesthat is, where all the keys and gongs are perma-nently tuned to a particular five-tone scalethese blue notes mightreappear briefly, touched upon by the sulingor a singer. In most cases thebrevity of their appearance makes them strictly coloristic in nature, andbrings no implied or perceived shift to another mode.

It should be noted that, among the various patutan, selisiris far and

away the most commonly employed in the tuning of five-tone bronzegamelanand may be thought of as the default pelogmode. This alonemay explain the numbering system, now in common use, in which dingof selisir is labeled as 1; a few earlier interpretation of Balinese modespegged the starting point of the scale elsewhere.

As presented within this chart, one of the modes, the rarely usedlebeng, seems to defy the 3/2 rule, and the Balinese modal conception ingeneral, since it encompasses all seven scale tones. In fact, this is but onerelatively recent interpretation among many. As interpreted at its source

in the gambuhtradition, lebeng is indeed a pentatonic mode of gappedformation like the others. The problems arise since a few of the actualtones produced on the meter-longgambuhflutes fall in the cracks of theseven-tone scale, and seem to therefore lie outside the tonal matrix. Also,probably for that very reason, there are ambiguities in the solfge, so thatplayers in a single ensemble sing tunes in lebengin at least two differentways.9 When transferred to the gamelan semar pegulingan, the modesmust, by the very nature of fixed-pitch bronze instruments, lie in thesame matrix; musicians therefore have no choice but to force a square

peg into a round hole and assign lebenga place within it. While McPheedoes report various pentatonic interpretations on bronze instruments inhis research from the 1930s (1966, 39), modern experts in semarpegulingan saih pitu seem to have thrown up their hands by declaringlebeng an exception to the modal rule, including all seven pitches andwith the same solfge as selisir. When asked, all claim that this inter-pretation is based on a single semar pegulinganwork, Sumambang Jawa.However, this piece can easily be understood as a combination of twoexisting modes, sunarenand baro, with a few appearances of the remain-

ing tone, pitch 1, as apamero. (See Example 15 below.) While the use ofall seven tones within a single piece is extremely rare, nowhere doesSumambang Jawacombine them in any balanced or consistent fashion; itremains as true to the pentatonic impulse as any other work.


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RECENTADDITIONS TO THECHART OF PAT UTA N

In recent years, the modal chart has been enlarged in ways that shed lighton how Balinese composers regard the saih pituuniverse. Through there-emergence of interest in seven-tone music over the past two decades,musicians have learned that otherpatutancan be derived from the hepta-tonic set that were not part of the traditional gambuh/semar pegulinganmatrix, at least in the now-standard interpretation shown in Example 1.These additional modes fall into two groups. One consists of theoreticalconstructs that are logical extrapolations of the existing systemthat is,the results of taking the 3/2 rule and applying it to other possible

positions, even in the absence of existing repertoire that uses the result-ing modal constellations. Two such theoretical modes are shown inExample 3.10

The other newly defined group, the so-called slendromodes, requires abit more elaboration. Their inclusion as possible subsets of the heptatonicpelogsystem brings up a strange contradiction between historical, cosmo-logical, and common-practice interpretations of Balinese music. Accord-ing to most scholars understanding, slendro and pelog scales traceseparate historical roots and are considered independent tuning systems.Balinese musicians refer to them as the two distinct laras (tunings) oftheir music, as opposed to the various patutan (modes) found withinpelog. If true, how can one be a subset of the other? Even from a strictlyacoustic perspective their differences are clear. Slendroscales are charac-terized by a greater uniformity in interval size, which ranges only from anapproximate major second to a minor third, and where, as McPhee putsit, pelog-like steps approaching a semi-tone or major third areunknown. He illustrates the differences between these two scales, repro-duced in Example 4. Slendroscales are almost always pentatonic, neverlarger, though in somegamelantypes one note is omitted. Some versions


7-tone scale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Pengenter o e u a i o e u a i

Pengenter Alit e u a i o e u a i o

EXAMPLE 3: TWO RECENTLY DESIGNATED THEORETICAL MODES


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approximate a black-key scale on the piano. Others spread out the fivetones more evenly within the octave, so that theorists are forever tempted

to imagine an idealized scale of five exact 240-cent intervals to which itmight be aspiring, though none exists in reality.11Slendroandpelogscalesare thought to have arrived in Java at different times, perhaps separatedby several centuries.12

Their contrasting qualities and origins are borne out in contemporary

practice. In both Java and Bali, slendro and pelog have found distinctinstrumental homes and carry essentially distinct repertoire. Particulargamelan sets are tuned to one or the other system, which becomes asignificant aspect of their identities, affecting the choice of repertoire andcontextdramatic, social, ritualin which it is played. In Bali, slendrotunings reside, most famously, on gamelan gender wayang, the smallensemble that accompanies the shadow puppet play; and gamelanangklung(which has both four- and five-tone variants), associated withdeath rituals. In Java, the two tunings are often juxtaposed for dramatic

contrast: Since the mid-nineteenth century, double gamelan sets areused, in which instruments of a slendro-tuned gamelan are placed along-side those of apeloggamelan. The players need only turn ninety degreesto access one or the other tunings and their distinctive sound worlds.

Considering all these differences, it is surprising that musicians arefinding slendroscales within thepeloguniverse, as if they pulled a rabbitout of a hat. (One is reminded of the appearance of Hanuman, the greatmonkey-king of the Ramayana, in certain Balinese and Javanese inter-pretations of the Mahabharata, the other great Hindu epic poem. This

is a shock at first, as if the character jumped, Disney-like, right out of thepages of one text and into the other.) This practice has entered the mus-ical mainstream over the last decade with the emergence of the gamelansemara dana. Uncovering its origins has engendered no small amount of

pelog (selisir) i o e u a i

gamelan gong, Gianyar

slendro i o e u a igender wayang, Kuta

c# d d# e f f# g g# a a# b c c#

EXAMPLE 4: COMPARISON OF SLENDROAND PELOGSCALES(ADAPTED FROM MCPHEE 1966, 52)


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discussion amongst musicians and scholars, Balinese and foreign alike. Ithas been noted, for example, that antecedents exist in other parts of

Indonesia. Sundanese dalang (puppeteers) have created multi-laras(multiple tuning) gamelanof spectacular appearance and sound pro-duction, which have allowed them to significantly enlarge not only thewayang repertoire but their own superstar status; experiments in thisdirection began in the mid-twentieth century and culminated with thecreation of a seventeen-tone gamelan in 1969 (Weintraub 2001).13

Vocalists throughout Java and Bali are accustomed to intermixing thetwo scales; one example occurs in the combination called barang miring,in which Javanese rebabplayers and singers take briefpelog-like excursions

within an otherwise clearly slendro melodic environment.

14

Another isthe Balinese dramatic vocal form arja, in which the only melodicinstruments are voices and flute.

Other researchers point out that the mixing of the pelogand slendroscales, in an all-encompassing cosmological vision of sound and spirit,can be found in the two esoteric treatises, Aji Gurnitaand Prakempa,written in the nineteenth century or perhaps earlier. These two texts,which share a large, previously composed section and may thereforerepresent the work of several authors,15 present a courtly and mystical

cosmology of Balinese music, in which the notes of the scale are alignedwith particular gods, sacred syllables, colors, and cardinal directions. Allis tied together in a philosophy of complementary opposites, as expressedin the sexual union of male and female. One section of the Prakempa, forexample, seeks a grand cosmology in which pelog, the five waters,unites with slendro, the five fires, in a ten-tone system (the dasasuara)producing in the listener a state of ecstatic rapture connecting the innerand outer universes (buana alit and buana agung). While the twotreatises are important source documents for research into eighteenth-

and nineteenth-century court-sponsored philosophy and musical ideal-izations, it is difficult to imagine them as reflecting musical practice.16

Nevertheless, present-day musicians share a high regard for these textsand increasingly turn to them for inspiration, terminology, and philo-sophical underpinning in the creation of new work.

While it is difficult to trace a direct line from any of these previousoccurrences to the current slendro-within-pelog sleight of hand, theirexistence is not surprising. In Indonesia, slendroandpelogscales have co-existed for centuries; independent and varied examples of their cross-

fertilization are inevitable. With the newgamelan semara dana, Balinesecomposers, like the Sundanese dalangsbefore them, are taking advantageof the evocative and referential powers of the two laras, so perfectlysuited to a dramatic tradition obsessed with historical re-creation. From a


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present-day composers point of view, this is straightforward: If certainconstellations of notes in the seven-tone pelogsystem sound like slendro,

why not use and name them as such?Two interpretations of slendro-in-pelogmodes, as given to me by KetutGede Asnawa, are shown in Example 5. Alternate solfge possibilities arealso shown.17Note that the 3/2 rule remains inviolate in each case, butthe solfge does not always adhere to the usual rule in which the lowestof a three-note group is defined as ding. This reflects common solfgepractice in the traditional slendroenvironments of angklungand genderwayang. In general, the greater variability of solfge use in slendroscalesis probably the result of the greater uniformity of interval size compared

topelog. Note also that the intervals of these scales, in the particular (andtypical) tuning of the udamani instruments, resemble neither the evenlyspaced slendro scale described earlier nor the black-key pentatonicfamiliar of Western scales; they fall somewhere in-between as describedby McPhee.

Finally, another new mode should be mentioned in passing. It is theone that evokesjegog, the four-tonegamelanof giant bamboo marimbasfound originally in West Bali. The jegogmode is a striking collection ofintervals, three large and one small. As with the slendro-within-pelogissue, the chances are small that the creators of thegamelan jegogactuallyderived its scale from seven-tone pelog. Rather, composers discovered

after the fact that the jegogscale could be conjured on the a seven-tonegamelanand therefore started including it in their charts. None has yet,to my knowledge, used it in an actual composition. (The jegogmode isincluded in Example 6.)


7-tone scale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Slendro Gede e u a i o e u a i o

alt. solfge 1 i o e u a i o e u a

alt. solfge 2 o e u a i o e u a i

alt. solfge 3 u a i o e u a i o e

Slendro Alit (o) e u a i (o) e u a i

alt. solfge (a) i o e u (a) i o e u

116 159 258 172 120 185 190 116 159 258 172 120 185interval, in cents

EXAMPLE 5: SLENDROMODES WITHIN THE PELOGSCALE


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THECOMPLETECHART

By condensing the above discussion to essentials, and eliminating a fewof the variants, the chart of Example 6 is generated. It is intended onlyfor the sake of reference within this article, not an attempt at codification.The reasons are obvious, even in the narrowest scope: Dewa Alit himselfrefers to the two slendromodes in an opposite (and, to my knowledge,unique) manner, so that slendro gedebecomes slendro alitand vice versa,though he does use the solfge shown here. He describes the modepengenter, but does not use it in Geregel. He sees no use for the modeslebeng, baro, andjegog(the first has little meaning as a mode if described

as including all seven tones; the second is essentially the same as slendro;the last is too specialized and remote from the mainstream bronzegamelantraditions). Thus, his tonal palette for Geregelencompasses onlyfive modes: the three classical patutan around which there is generalagreement (selisir, tembung, and sunaren) plus his own versions of theslendromodes.

116 159 258 172 120 185 190 116 159 258 172 120 185

& 5 5 5

5 5 5 5 5

5 5 5 5notated pitch

interval, in cents

5

7-tone scale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Selisir i o e u a i o e u a

Tembung u a i o e u a i o e

Sunaren u a i o e u a i o e

Baro i o e u a i o e u a

Lebeng i o e eu u a ai i o e eu u a ai

Pengenter o e u a i o e u a i

Slendro Gede e u a i o e u a i o

Slendro Alit (o) e u a i (o) e u a i

Jegog i o e u i o e u


5mm

mm

m

m

EXAMPLE 6: A COMPLETE CHART OF BALINESE PATUTAN


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TRADITIONALMODALUSE

As the preceding description implies, the typical composition for seven-tone ensemble such asgambuhor semar pegulinganremains confined toa particular pentatonic mode throughout, with at most brief appearancesof pamero. However the reality on the ground reveals a more complexpicture. Example 7 offers a preliminary survey of modal use, based on thelarge collection of seven-tone works transcribed by Wayan Rai (1996).

As Example 7 shows, a significant number of works in this sample use acombination of two modes, either in short excursions from apredominant mode into new territory, or in more extended and balanced

combination. In most of these combinations, each mode is clearlydefined, and the manner of switching between them is straightforward, asdescribed below. However in a few cases the other tonal territory is nota 3/2 gapped-scale formation at all, but a collection that includes four, orsometimes five, adjacent tones. These instances are relatively brief, butlong enough so that the extra tones do not seem to be mere pamero.They form areas of striking tonal contrast within the span of the entirework. The internal mechanics of how these unusual tonal collections areintroduced, which tones are emphasized, and how they might relate

motivically or structurally to the surrounding material, remain to beidentified in future analysis. Such analysis may reveal, among other

One mode only

pure with occasional pamero

Tabuh Gari II selisir Gineman Selisir selisir

Tabuh Gari III selisir Bapang Selisir selisir

Godeg Miring tembung Perong Condong selisir

Biakalang baro Gending Lasem selisir

Sekar Gadung baro

Lengker Cenik selisir

Two or more modes

brief excursion(s) from a primary mode extended combination

Gending Subandar selisir / sunaren / 2345 Langsing Tuban selisir / tembung / 1234

Tabuh Gari selisir / 2345 Bapang Selukat sunaren / 2346

Gending Tembung tembung / selisir Sumambang Jawa sunaren / baro (+ pamero)

Bapang Gede tembung / selisir Gending Dagang 2345 / selisir

Bremara sunaren / 67123

EXAMPLE 7: A SURVEY OF SEVEN-TONE WORKS FORGAMELAN SEMAR PEGULINGAN, AND THEIR USE OF MODES


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things, additional facets of Balinese modal and melodic practice relatingto hierarchy withinany single five-tone collectionthe approach clearly

articulated in Javanese conceptions ofpathetbut thus far barely touchedupon in the Balinese musical discourse.18Even in the absence of such theory, certain general principles can be

articulated regarding the way modal combination operates in traditionalcontexts, which will help frame the innovations taking place in newerwork.

1. A single work never utilizes more than two modes in any clearlymanifested fashion. When there is a third tonal area, its appearanceis too brief to establish a new mode, and might instead be con-

sidered the result of a few reiterations of apamerotone.2. Two modes combined within a single work are always closely

related, together comprising a total of six tones (see Example 8).For that reason the combinations selisir-baroor tembung-sunarenare never found. Also, works that use two modes rarely touch uponthe remaining, seventh tone as apamero.19

3. Changes between modes tend to happen before or after stressed

points in the larger metric or formal framework, such as a structuraldownbeat articulated byjegoganand/orgong, or the start of a newsection, rather than coinciding with them.

As an illustration of these three principles, a selection from the semarpegulinganpiece Langsing Tubanis notated in Example 9, which shows atypicaland, according to Ketut Gede Asnawa, archetypalmodalshift.20Note that the solfge, of primary importance in Balinese melodicconception, must shift along with the mode, a phenomenon nowreferred to as modulasi. This reinterpretation is often felt to take placebefore the actual appearance of the foreign tone, at a point where themelodic contour will, in later retrospect, suggest. The combination ofmodes found here, selisirand tembung, is one of the most common, dueboth to selisirs general predominance, and to the fact that a modal shift

& mselisir

mm

5 5 55 5 5

55

sunaren

5 555

sunaren

baro

EXAMPLE 8: TWO CLOSELY RELATED MODES


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can be easily effected through simple melodic toggling between pitch 4,here notated as F(for tembung) and pitch 3, here notated as E (for seli-

sir). Moreover, the shift takes place a few beats beforegong, thereby pre-paring the next section just before the actual structural boundary.21

MEANING OF THE PAT UTA N

Aside from the content and etymology of these modes, what do theymean to a Balinese listener? They are clearly not abstract collections of

EXAMPLE 9: A SHIFT FROM TEMBUNGTO SELISIRIN THEINSTRUMENTAL PIECE LANGSING TUBAN. THE VOWELS

BELOW THE JUBLAGLINE INDICATE THE SOLFGE


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tones used to paint on a tabula rasa musical canvas. In fact, they areimbued with many associations and latent meanings. Certain modes

derive their perceived character from the type of gamelanmost closelyidentified with them, which in turn brings associations to repertoire andritual function. Such a connection is clear, for example, in the two slendromodes, precisely because they made the categorical jump from the otherlarasof Indonesian music and are now encompassed within thepelogsys-tem. Slendro alit, as mentioned above, evokes the sound of a gamelanangklung, one of sweet melancholy and even sadness to the Balinese earsince it traditionally accompanies cremations and other death rituals.

Slendrois also the larasof thegamelan gender wayang, the quartet of

instruments which accompanies the Balinese shadow puppet play and forwhich a distinct and complex musical language has evolved. Wayangmusic already traces an intertwining relationship with that of kebyar inexchange of repertoire and techniques of elaboration, most notably dur-ing in the late 1970s. One section of Geregel further mines these tech-niques and musical vocabulary (see Example 21). Finally, perhaps as acumulative result of the performance contexts of both slendro gamelantypes (or, one might argue, a cause for their use in such contexts), slendroscales are associated with the supernatural. This is exploited in recent dra-

matic accompaniment using seven-tone gamelan, where the appearanceof demonic figures or voices from the unseen world (niskala) arepainted in slendrocolors.

However these may be considered a secondary tier of relationships,due to slendros late assimilation into the pelogsystem. The core of fiveoriginalgambuh-derived modes (selisir, tembung, sunaren, baro, and leb-eng) derive their perceived qualities not through association with ritual orceremony per se, but from the rarefied courtly drama of gambuhplays.Each is closely allied with one or more stock charactersking, princess,

prime minister, retainer, buffoon, warriorthat appear in the course ofthe play. Through study of gambuhpractice, some Balinese composersand scholars have mapped out direct connections between mode andcharacter type, as shown in Example 10.

A quick scan of qualities and characters makes it clear that this is no listof distinct affects, like those associated with the Western medieval modes;all carry connotations of nobility and rank. Rather, this interpretationsuggests that the modes might be placed along a continuum that reflectscharacteristics of strength, refinedness, and, to a lesser degree, gender.

(See Example 11.)This is reflected as well in the widely held conception that tembungislow, (and therefore the strongest in affect) sunarenlies in the middleand selisir is high (and therefore the sweetest and most refined)a


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conception that bears little relationship to the pelogscale as interpretedon modern seven-tone bronze instruments.22

In fact, interviews with musicians in different areas of Bali, and withthose who perform in various genres, reveal that there is no consensusaround either of these characterizations of Balinese modes. While Rais

formulation is shared by several of the most prominent composers inDenpasar and STSI circles and is disseminated to students and colleaguesthrough the musical accompaniments they create to dramatic works, it isnot universal, as they themselves recognize.23Performers ofgambuh, forexample, point out that characterization is the net result of a multitude ofmusical and dramatic aspects, including tempo, drumming pattern, form,voice quality, costume, bearing, and movement vocabulary. A particularmode may be used to accompany a variety of characters and cannot bepegged to a single inherent quality. Thus, the baromode accompanies

the strong prince, Prabu Keras, but also the gentle and wise priest,Begawan Melayuboth high-ranking males, but of decidedly differentcharacter. Selisiris even harder to pin down, since it is the default mode

EXAMPLE 10: MODE/CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS IN THE GAMBUHPLAYACCORDING TO RAI (1996, 7980; 100)

Patutan quality associated character

Selisir sweet, bright, refined, elegant noble refined male or female,

or their attendantsTembung big, sharp, strong, muscular, heroic noble high-ranking male,

e.g., king or prime minister

Sunaren less strong than Tembung noble, gentle, dull-witted,

or eccentric

Baro strong, muscular, heroic noble, male-only

Lebeng refined, regal; same as Selisir noble, high-ranking, central

figures, e.g., Prince Panji

EXAMPLE 11: POSSIBLE CONTINUUM OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEENMODE AND CHARACTER IN THE GAMBUHPLAY

Strong, coarse, male Sweet, refined, female or male

Tembung Baro Sunaren Lebeng Selisir


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of the ubiquitous gamelan gong kebyar. Though relative to other modesit is said to convey sweet or refined qualities, it is used in kebyar

music over a wide range of technical, affective, and dramatic contexts,which have evolved over the many decades of kebyars predominance.Many composers and gamelan tuners maintain that each individualdegree withinthe selisirscale has a unique qualitya concept probablyderiving from the esoteric cosmology of the Prakempa, but also reflectedin actual performance practice:

Heard in relation to specific musical contexts, scale tones are felt tohave individual character and affect. The acoustic reasons for this are

evident from the fact that they are separated by unequal intervals.Beyond this, on the compositional level, the gong tone of a melody(the final scale tone, which coincides with a stroke of the large gong)is an indicator of the musics mood. Ding as gong tone is oftendescribed as heroic or majestic, dong as sensual or demonic, dengchildish (also supernatural or frightening), dungfeminine and grace-ful, and dangmartial and aggressive. Musicians are not rigid or evenin general agreement on these linkages, but most hold opinions onthem. (Tenzer 2000, 36)

Thus, it is evident that the modal affects are themselves affected andshaped by a wide range of factors, some stylistic, some genre-specific, andothers esoteric. Composition in seven-tone contexts is for that reason ahighly subjective art: the rich colors of thepatutanshift, chameleon-like,relative to who is looking and what he or she is trying to find. This fitscomfortably in the Balinese aesthetic of context-dependence, desa-kala-patra(place-time-situation). Far from creating disagreements or diver-gent schools of thought amongst Balinese musicians, such ambiguities

are embraced as a source of freedom and stimulant to creativity:On the one hand many Balinese scholars are interested in developinga more comprehensive modal theory, on the other they are afraidthat more theories and rules would stifle the rich variation amongthe different areas of Bali. As a result, a kind of agreed silence hasbeen established by many of the professors at the conservatoriesregarding this subject. Some Balinese composers and teachers feelthat the lack of comprehensive theories directly contributes to the

vibrant state of Balinese composition today. (McGraw 2000, 76)The fluid nature of modal character makes it a perfect subject for that

most popular pastime of Balinese artists and philosophers, free and poetic


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reinterpretation of source materials. At one moment a ritual gamelan isconjured, at another a musical technique or texture is borrowed, and at

another the association to character-type comes to the fore. Whether thehigh rate of modal change in Geregel(see Example 15) still allows thesemyriad associations to rise to the surface for the Balinese listener, is anopen question. Perhaps this points to a new freedomto simply ignoreall such associations, as Alit admittedly does in several sections of Geregel.With the emergence of the new gamelan semara dana, composers arenow able to play with modal materials in new ways, as if modern paintersre-discovered the startling hues of ancient pigments and began mixingthem freely together.

THEREBIRTH OF THE GAMELANSEMARPEGULINGAN

Other deep resonances of the two extra tones become evident byglancing back over the last hundred years at the intertwining histories ofthe two gamelan types that are the immediate parents of the gamelansemara dana. Beyond their associations to ritual and drama, particulargamelantypes are historical entities which embody a constellation of val-

ues deriving from their original genesis and use. It was not a simple act ofartistic synthesis to fuse the gamelan semar pegulingan saih pitu, theessence of ancient courtly prestige and refinement, with thegong kebyar,the twentieth-century gamelan of sensational popular performance. Itwas akin, rather, to a merging of social lineage, an intermarriage betweenfamilies of differing castes and economic classes.

Born in the Balinese courts of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries,the seven-tone semar pegulingan is considered truly klasik by Balinesemusicians. Unlike kebyar, which first appeared in their grandparents life-

times and is still regarded as the modern ensemble of the masses, semarpegulinganis felt to embody a fully evolved style descended from anothertime and sensibility, a product of the rarefied atmosphere of the Balinesecourts. In fact, it barely survived into our own era: seven-tone semarpegulingan became almost completely extinct in the early twentiethcentury. As Wayan Rai reports, the decline of the feudal system in latenineteenth-century Bali meant that court orchestras declined as well,since the rajas and princes could no longer adequately support them. Forthe semar pegulingan, this was the loss of its native habitat. The oblitera-

tion of royal privilege and power was epitomized in the famed puputan(the suicidal final wars of confrontation with the Dutch colonizers) of19068, during which two of the most famous heirloom court orchestras


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were deliberately burned as part of the self-immolation of the rajas, theirfamilies, and possessions. The heyday of sweet bronze gamelan tones

lulling the raja and his concubines to sweet dreams in his sleeping cham-bers was gone.24The coup-de-gracewas, ironically, the birth of the kebyarstyle in 1914.

As the new music and dance style swept the island, the popular craze cre-ated an immediate demand for new instruments. Whereas older andusablegamelaninstruments are now rarely destroyed for recyclingtheirvalue is better realized by selling them to a wealthy individualin thosedays of scarce wealth it was the norm. Almost all the remaining semarpegulingan were melted down within the next two decades and re-

fashioned into gamelan gong kebyar. So complete was the disappearancethat Colin McPhee mourned, in his famous treatise Music in Bali, thevanished semar pegulingan.

In fact the style and repertoire had not died. The sole surviving courtmusician of Badung, who had barely escaped the slaughter and suicide ofthepuputan, was inspired to recreate the court tradition. He oversaw thecreation of a new gamelan semar pegulingan and resurrection of theseven-tone repertoire. Though this group itself eventually declined in the1940s, again a victim of war, thegamelanand its music survived by being

relocated to the village of Pagan Kelod, where it remainsperformed,studied, and documented. A nearly identical process occurred in thecourt of Klungkung, where a few surviving musicians commissioned agongsmith to make a new set and then revived the stately court com-positions; thisgamelannow survives in the adjacent village of Kamasan.

The extraordinary value and precious museum-like quality of this rep-ertoire, rescued like a treasure from a distant era, no doubt affected musi-cians sensibilities and regard for it. For many decades (until the 1980s),the primary impulse was one of simple restoration, requiring the revival

of thegamelantype itself as well as the collective memory around theseheirloom pieces. To this laudable end, the academies, KOKAR (laterSMKI) and ASTI (later STSI) played an important role, in accord withtheir mission regarding the preservation of Balinese arts. The fact thatthe tonal resources of thegamelan semara danaare only now being fullyexploited may be a reflection of the persistence of this attitude: it tooksome time for feelings of reverence for the seven-tone repertoire andassociated modal techniques to give way to familiarity for the averageyoung musician, which in turn helped open the door to experimentation

with these resources. As ethnomusicologist Marc Perlman points out,SMKI and STSI also played a converse, and perhaps unwitting, role inthis change and in the creation of the gamelan semara dana: by main-taining seven-tonegamelan semar pegulinganin their collections, side byside with many other gamelan types, all have become increasingly de-


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coupled from their native contextsritual, feudal, and social. While theacademys faculty and administration do maintain essential aspects of reli-

gious custom (offerings are made to gamelaninstruments on auspiciousdays) and occasionally use them in traditional contexts on and off-campus, thesegamelanhave become, more than ever before, mere sets ofmusical instruments, demystified, sitting side by side and ready for class-room use. The loosening of intense social and religious constraintshelped make their cross-fertilization possible, awaiting only the rightneeds and circumstances.25

THE

GAMELAN

SEMARA

DANA

Once the various potentialities had converged, the actual creation ofgamelan semara dana happened quickly. As McGraw recounts (2000),the process traced a lively back-and-forth bounce between evolvingneeds, means, and the experimentation to bring them togetherthe typ-ical fuel mix of instrumental development. Originally, the goal in creatingthegamelan semara danawas to tap into a wider stylistic and orchestra-tional palette for the accompaniment of dramatic works, primarily the

large-scale dance dramas known as sendratari(from seni-drama-tari, lit-erally art-drama-dance) born in the 1960s. The first productions weresemi-serialized reenactments of stories from the Ramayanaand Mahab-harataepics, both very much alive in Bali-Hindu culture. Wayan Beratais credited with creating the form, primarily as composer of the music forthe first sendratariproductions. One of his first innovations was to puttwo complete, and contrasting, orchestras on stage. The first such combi-nation was ofpelogensembles: the ponderous and majesticgamelan gonggede (orchestra of the large gongs) with the sweet-toned gamelan

semar pegulingan. Though nominally in the same pentatonic scalar sys-tem, the coloristic contrasts between their tunings (both in interval struc-ture and overall tonal height) and timbre (both in sound color and sheervolume) could be used to heighten or underline dramatic contrasts, par-ticularly along the refined-strong (alus-keras) continuum: the aluschar-acters were accompanied by semar pegulingan, the keras ones by gonggede.

From that jumping-off point, and in light of Beratas stature as a com-poser, teacher, andgamelantuner, the next steps seem almost inevitable.

An initial fascination with stark contrasts gave way to subtler consider-ations as he sought the means to effect a more seamless switch betweengamelan. Since none of the notes of the two gamelan in his firstexperiment were exactly the same, each changeover was readily, and attimes jarringly, apparent. If, on the other hand, a tone of one gamelan


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could be tuned in exact unison to a tone of the other gamelan, it couldact as a musical pivot point or bridge between the two sets of instru-

ments, similar to a modulasibetween modes. Such a bridge was alreadyfamiliar to Javanese musicians working with side-by-sidepelogand slendrogamelan, who name the common tone tumbuk. Since Berata wasworking with twopelogsets, he went even further, completely re-tuningtwo pre-existing gamelanso that all, rather than only one, of their cor-responding keys were identical in pitch. He did this by lowering andadjusting the pitches of a seven-tone semar pegulinganto match those ofa five-tone gong kebyar.26Now, one could end a phrase on any note ofthegong kebyar, allow it to ring, and pick up again on the same note of

the semar pegulinganwithout a tuning shift. Well-trained players couldbridge the gap so smoothly that the changeover was imperceptible to theaudience. The drama of the switch would only become apparent whenthe other notes of the seven-tone scale were brought into play. Also, theJavanese style of side-by-sidegamelancombination, with one rather thantwo sets of musicians, was first tried at about this point.

With the creation of such matchedgamelansets, the possibility to puteverything on a single keyboard was suddenly in the air. Beratasimmediate goal was an orchestra that could function as either semar

pegulinganor gong kebyar, depending on the choice of notes and a fewminor changes in instrumentation, described below. He completed workon this first hybrid orchestra in 1983. It was dubbed gamelan gentapinara pitu (Gamelan of Seven Sounds) by STSIs director at thattime, Made Bandem, who is reported to have found the name in thePrakempa, which he was currently translating.27The new gamelanwasused, to great effect, by Nyoman Windha in the work Kindama, asendratari with choreography by Swasthi Bandem that was premieredtwo years later (see Example 13).

However Berata perceived a shortcoming in the new gamelan: therange of thegangsainstruments was one note less than that of a contem-porarygamelan gong kebyar, since it omitted the lowest tone, dong. Thiswas the result of the precise way in which Berata intermingled the twogamelantypes: he decided to add the two extra tones in the higher regis-ter only (creating the full seven-tone complement in that range), whileleaving the lower register in selisir. But he also removed the lowest tone,dong, so that the total number of keys was eleven (see Example 12). Thiswas the result of circumstances: Berata had adapted the wooden cases

(tatak) of a pre-existing gamelan gong kebyar for his experimental set;eleven keys were the most he could squeeze on the normally ten-keyedgangsacases.28While the omission of that note was not an issue for newmusic composed for this gamelan, Berata felt it would compromise per-formances of pre-existing kebyarworks by forcing players to rearrange


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low-register passages.29His next version of a hybrid gamelan thereforeincluded the low dong, resulting in twelve-keyedgangsa. Similar consid-

erations informed the creation of the new reong(also shown in Example12), which went from a kebyar-like low range to a semar pegulingan-esque high range.

In terms of available keys, the new gamelantherefore had everythingof both its parents. This second-generation hybrid orchestra was dubbedby Beratagamelan semara dana(or smara dana, semaradahana), namedafter a twelfth-century epic poem about Semara, the Hindu god oflove.30 It appears to be in stable or semi-final form considering the

degree to which it has flourishedthere are now about twenty-five setsin use, with an increasing number of new orders being received byBalinese gongsmiths.

There are several other important differences in instrumentationbetween the two source gamelans that must be observed to play theirrespective repertoire on the gamelan semara dana. Most prominently,semar pegulinganmusic uses no reong, with its characteristic repertoire ofmelodic elaboration and agogic ocak-ocakanpatterns allied to the drumcomposition. Instead, a similar instrument, trompong, is played by a

single musician in free melodic elaborations, replacing the more incisiveugalof thegong kebyaras the lead melody instrument. Likewise, smallerdrums, kendang krumpungan, are used for gamelan semar pegulingan,and are played in a style different from kebyars heavier strokes. It features

& 5 5 5

5 5 5 5 5

5 5 5 5notated pitch

5m m

mm m

5m5m5 55

7-tone scale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5

Semar Pegulingan

gangsa i o e eu u a ai

Gong Kebyar

gangsa o e u a i o e u a i

reong e u a i o e u a i o e u

Semara Dana

gangsa o e u a i o e eu u a ai i

reong e u a i o e eu u a ai i o e eu u

m

EXAMPLE 12: THE LAYOUT OF GANGSAAND REONGKEYS OF TWO

SOURCEGAMELAN

(SEMAR PEGULINGAN

ANDGONG KEBYAR

) ANDRESULTING HYBRID (GAMELAN SEMARA DANA)


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the delicate semi-improvised interplay of resonant rim-strokes, as well asa repertoire of characteristic angsel, musical breaks.

Once these few switches are made, Balinese musicians feel that the newgamelan semara dana is entirely capable of delivering the music of thesemar pegulinganas well as that of thegong kebyar, with negligible com-promise on either side.31This is precisely what Berata intendeda multi-purpose gamelan capable of delivering distinct musical styles withoutswitching instruments, not a new instrumental asset that could be themedium for stylistic and modal synthesis.32This orientation helps explainthe approximate fifteen-year delay between the creation of this gamelanand its full exploitation as a vehicle for seven-tone kebyarmusic, apparent

in Geregel.

THECONVERGENCE OFKEBYARANDSEVEN-TONEMUSIC

Despite the various constraints between style, gamelantype, and reper-toire, a glance at new compositions in the late 1970s and 1980s shows aclear trajectory towards the incorporation of modal techniques into themainstream musical language, preparing the way for the freedoms evi-

dent in Geregel. Innovations took place on several levels, from that ofconceptual (the new awareness that contrasting modes could be useddramatically to evoke othergamelans, styles, and extra-musical contexts),to instrumental (the increasing use of seven-tone gamelan, multiplegamelansets, and the semara dana), to the purely musical techniques ofmodal and stylistic manipulation. Seen in retrospect, this was a true con-vergence of kebyarand semar pegulingan saih pitustyles, as each startedto be infused with elements of the other. The actual creation of thehybridgamelantook place not at the beginning of this musical evolution,

but in its midst, and was both an expression of a process already under-way and a vehicle for further change.Eka Dasa Rudra (premiered at the Festival of Young Composers,

Pekan Komponis Muda, in Jakarta in 1979), was one of the earliest andformative works in this development. It opened the door to stylistic com-bination through its new dramatic conception: the composer, KomangAstita, sought to re-create the atmosphere of the religious ceremony forwhich it is named, a once-in-a-lifetime, island-wide ritual purification ofthe cosmos. As in almost all large-scale Balinese ceremonies, several types

ofgamelanaccompanied specific ritual events in various locations. Some-times two or more orchestras play so closely together that their soundsoverlap, intermingle, clash, and collide, creating that desirable state ofbustling, multi-level activity (ram) thought to please humans and


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visiting deities alike. In dramatizing the ceremony, Astita used a seven-tone semar pegulingan to which was added a large array of hanging

gongs, kulkul(slit drums used as ceremonial signals), a bedugdrum, andassorted found instruments. The stage was filled with instruments andplayers, who would alternately or simultaneously sing sacred melodies,beat the kulkul, and play excerpts of music that evoke various sacredensembles and repertoireangklung, lelambatanmusic of the gamelangong (kebyar), and traditional semar pegulingan pieces, among others.Thus the idea of using modal contrast on a single seven-tone gamelanasa means of evoking distinct styles, with associated repertoire and instru-mentation, was introduced. Selected sections of Eka Dasa Rudrawere

later rearranged as a purely instrumental work for gamelan semarpegulingan, entitled Semara Winangun(circa 1981).Several years later, two new sendratariworks were performed during

the 1985 Bali Arts Festival that demonstrated the growing interest inseven-tone music. One was the Satya, with music by Ketut Gede Asnawaand choreography by his classmate Made Wiratini; it was created as theirgraduation piece from ASTI. In its instrumentation Asnawa combinedtwo gamelan sets, the seven-tone semar pegulingan with gong kebyar,inspired no doubt by Pak Beratas concurrent experiments in this direc-

tion. While the overall point of departure and stylistic frame in Satya isthat of semar pegulingan style, kebyar textures emerge as striking dra-matic contrasts. In this way Asnawa moved towards a greater inter-mingling or interpenetration of these two styles, along with theirrespective orchestrational techniques. Each remained, however, essen-tially distinct, since the composers goal was (like Beratas) to use stylisticjuxtaposition for dramatic contrast and/or characterization, and not toattempt to hybridize them. Thus, semar pegulinganstyle sections neveremploy reongor ocak-ocakanpatterns; kebyarsections are always in selisir

mode, and the overall orchestrational texture and structuring of colo-tomic and melodic patterns remain in similar stylistic accordeither oneor the other, briefly overlapping but never completely wedded.

Nyoman Windhas Kindama (also an ASTI graduation work, withchoreography by Swasthi Bandem) went much further. It was the firstand only work to use the newly fashioned gamelan genta pinara pitu,which Windha skillfully exploited. Inspired by Beratas instrumentalmelding, Windha crafted sections that reflected it in corresponding stylis-tic combinations, now true fusions of not only semar pegulingan and

kebyar, but other styles as well including angklung, leluangan, and a quo-tation of Javanese gamelan. The first slow section of the work(pengadeng), for example, combines kebyarorchestration and drumming,syncopated reongelaboration based on leluanganstyle, and modal shifts


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between selisirand tembung. This section of Kindamamay well be thefirst clear expression of seven-tone tonal resources within kebyartextures.

And while the means of effecting the modal shifts in this section remainin accord with traditional principles as outlined above (Example 8), otherpassages in Kindamapush the limits of one in particular, that of formalpositioning. Many modal shifts take place directly at formal boundaries,in alignment with dramatic changes in texture, tempo, melodic contour,and other features. They arrive without preparation, and are not theresult of melodic manipulation in the classical manner. An element offreedom is clearly evident.

One passage in particular concentrates and frames the essence of stylis-

tic and modal contrast in a striking fashion. After a lengthy first section,entirely in tembung mode and semar pegulingan style/orchestration, akebyar-like passage suddenly bursts inthe first full orchestral texture ofthe piecewithin which a phrase is stated first in tembung and thenimmediately restated in selisir(see Example 13). The introduction of anew mode is combined with an extreme ritardando, coming to rest withthe gong stroke that begins the first slow section of the work, thepengadeng with leluangan elaboration described above. This bridgethereby divides the piece, in a concentrated and dramatically effective

manner, between the semar pegulingan-based introduction, and thebroad kebyar-style pengawakthat it prepares. Through passages such asthis, Kindamaset a high water mark for seven-tone, multi-stylistic com-position that would not be surpassed for at least a decade.

A few years after this (1988), a significant collection of works from thetraditional seven-tone repertoire was revived at ASTI, culminating in atwo-volume cassette release on the most popular local recording label,Bali Record. The pieces recorded included both new arrangements ofgambuhand pre-existing semar pegulinganpieces, and included the par-

ticipation of faculty and senior students. (In fact, one of the com-positions, Langsing Tuban, had already been arranged from its gambuhoriginal by Ketut Gede Asnawa as part of his 1985 graduation concert,and was performed together with Satya.)33This recording project had agreat deal to do with further spreading interest in saih pitu repertoire,since by then cassettes had become one of the primary media of musicalexchange in Bali.

From the opposite direction, and during the same period, the main-stream kebyartradition began to reveal musicians increasing familiarity

with seven-tone resources. At first, these occurrences were either quitebrief, transitional, or layered upon a musical core which remainedessentially pentatonic, generated from the selisir tones of kebyarmusic.This is no surprise, since initial experiments in this direction predated the


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creation of the gamelan semara dana, and for that reason kebyarmusicutilized, by definition, gamelan gong kebyar instrumentation. The onlyinstruments capable of exploring unusual scales were the bamboo flutes(suling) or, rarely, voicethe only non-percussion instruments in theorchestra, which lie in a distinct orchestrational stratum and are peri-pheral to the primary musical architecture. Even after the new hybrid

gamelans were created, composers continued to utilize normal gongkebyar instrumentation, assigning seven-tone excursions to flutes andvoice only. The reason for this has to do with performance context: thesingle most important forum for new kebyarworks has been, and contin-ues to be, the island-widegamelancompetitions (Mrdangga Utsawa) ofthe Bali Arts Festival (Pesta Kesenian Bali). Since Festival rules dictatethe type of gamelanusedfive-tone gamelan gong kebyar of explicitlydefined instrumentationalmost all experimentation in the mainstreammusical tradition of kebyar was done on this standardized set. The

gamelan semara dana was still a new and rare beast, unfamiliar andunavailable to most musicians, and in any case regarded as a specializedmedium for dramatic accompaniment as typified in the few new seven-

EXAMPLE 13: EXCERPT FROM KINDAMA, BY NYOMAN WINDHA, IN ITSORIGINAL SENDRATARIARRANGEMENT (1985)


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tone works mentioned above. The overwhelming majority of composerswere born and bred in the pentatonic world of kebyar(some say, ruled

by it); and felt no compositional necessity to break free, in Harry Partch-like fashion, of its scalar limitations. Their imaginations were sufficientlypreoccupied in the many other spheresrhythmic, melodic, orches-trational, stylistic, formalin which development of the contemporarykebyarvernacular was taking place.

In light of the above, it is not surprising that the first excursions of keb-yarmusic into extended scales happened quite unobtrusively, as the tworogue notes, with all their latent powers and meanings, tiptoed into keb-yarspace. One of their first appearances came about through a layering of

distinct traditions, as the normally ametric and unaccompanied vocalmelodies known as kidung, which frequently make use of six or evenseven tones, started to be combined with five-tone gamelan. This wasprimarily the handiwork of Wayan Sinti, who collaborated with the highlyregarded musician and scholar Nyoman Rembang in the goal of re-introducing religious vocal music to secular gamelanperformance. Thefloating and hauntingly beautiful kidungmelodies, originally allied withthe seven-tone gamelan gambang ritual orchestra (in a manner andtradition now apparently lost), were accompanied by five-tone gamelan

gong kebyar. The earliest product of Sinti and Rembangs collaborationwas Gita Suadita, premiered at the 1978 all-Bali gamelancompetitions.Although such works, known collectively as gegitaan, were not immed-iately popular, this thread was later picked up and promoted by the localgovernment. The eventual result was a new choral/gamelanform calledsandhyagita, which appeared in the mid-1980s. In it, seven-tone vocalmelodies are often used, sometimes in two- or three-part textures basedon a Western choral aestheticbut always with normal gamelan gongkebyaraccompaniment (Wallis 1995).

The other, more important, locus of tonal expansion was within theametric and freely ornamented flute solos that typically introduced thefirst major cyclic section of tabuh kreasiin then-current form. This prac-tice was a natural application of a long-established practice. Flute playershave always had the freedom to accompany singers on momentary excur-sions into distant tonal territories as needed, for example in arja, topeng,or other dramatic vocal forms. In the tabuh kreasicontext, inclusion of aflute solo (traceable, perhaps, to the bird-like suling trills of the pieceGambang Suling, a Javanese tune adapted to Balinesegamelan, ca. 1955)

was as much the innovation as the appearance of tones foreign to thekebyarscale. That fact, combined with the contrasting texture and char-acter of these sectionsa single sulingis no more than a delicate fluttercompared to the dense metallic texture of a full bronze gamelangave


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these tones more the character of pamero, simple coloristic or borrowedtones, than signposts of newly established modes.34This remained the

overall impression even after the solo player was replaced by a wholechorus of flutes, as later became the norm.By the late 1980s, familiarity with seven-tone scales had grown, and

the two extra tones started to take on a life of their own even in the over-whelmingly selisirenvironment of kebyar. They started cropping up notonly in flute solos, but in the middle of orchestral textures, in passagesthat effected true shifts into modal territory. This was accomplishedthrough a neat orchestrational trick: the bronze instruments would sim-ply rest at the precise moments the two added pitches (numbers 4 and 7

in the chart) were played by the sulingleaving out a quarter-note here,an eighth-note thereas if keys for those tones existed throughout theorchestra but simply werent struck. With enough sulingplayers, the briefbronze dropouts were relatively unnoticeable, and a pseudo seven-tonegamelan could be conjured into momentary existence. An example ofthis occurs in Windhas work Jagra Parwata, played during the 1991Festival by the kebyargroup from the village of Munduk in the northernBalinese district of Buleleng.35Windha pairs the modal innovation with aformal one: in the middle of the bapangthe fast and showy central sec-

tion of tabuh kreasiwhich typically feature virtuosic drum variations andtuttiorchestral interjectionshe unexpectedly eases back the tempo andushers in a lilting 64-beat tune in sunarenmode, accompanied by drumpatterns deriving from pengecet meters (see Example 14; see also theAppendix for an explanation of notation). The effect of this phrase was sonovel that, during the excitement of its premiere performance in the heatof festival competition, the crowd of six thousand burst into applause.36

More complex use of seven-tone materials was made in the followingyears by Wayan Gede Yudana, whose radical musical innovations have

played an important role in Balinese musical development by encourag-ing a more experimental approach to the composition of kebyar instru-mental music. In several of his mid-1990s tabuh kreasi, Yudanas seven-tone flute lines attained a new level of integration within the total con-ception of the work, a result of their textural complexity, combinationwith other gamelaninstruments, extended length, and novel placement(appearing periodically throughout the piece rather than in the openingsections only). The entire fabric of his pieces was so experimental, thatthe excursion into new tonal territory did not seem an anomaly of estab-

lished kebyar style; it was but one strangely crafted element amongmany.37By the late 1990s, thegamelan semara danahad proliferated not only

throughout Ubud but Denpasar as well, and the momentum of


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EXAMPLE 14: EXCERPT FROM THE BAPANGOF JAGRA PARWATA(KENDANG, CENG-CENG, AND KAJAROMITTED)


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innovation with seven-tone materials started to be felt by many compos-ers. In 1998, Ketut Suandita, a student at STSI, presented as his gradua-

tion piece a highly concentrated work for gamelan semara danaentitledMaha Yuga, performed by the virtuosic musicians from the Denpasar-based club, Sanggar Printing Mas. Here, finally, seven-tone materialswere treated with near-complete freedom, in a stylistic and orches-trational context that was overwhelmingly kebyar-based. Maha Yugamade abundantly clear that the seven-tone colors could now be treatedfreely, as unconstrained but richly associative elements in kebyar instru-mental composition.

THEINNOVATIONS OFGEREGEL

In light of its background, Dewa Alits Geregelcan be seen as a synthesisof innovations, tendencies, and latent possibilities that had been in the airfor several years. Like many pivotal works in the development of musicalstyles, its achievements lie not in any single technical breakthrough (mostof which had already happened in others works) but in the stunning waythat these potentialities are realized.

In terms of modal use, perhaps the most immediate way to demon-strate the degree to which Alit has departed from traditional models is agraph of the entire piece, along a real-time axis, comparing Geregelwithtwo traditional seven-tone semar pegulinganpieces that use more thanone mode (see Example 15). While such a graphic should be read withcare since it distorts the psychological time of musical perception, itmakes the relative use of modal contrast clear. Note that, in contrast evento certain classical models, nowhere in Geregelis there any ambiguity inmode whatsoever. While Alit may occasionally combine more than one

mode vertically, and often switch rapidly between them horizontally, hiscolors always remain pure. On the other hand, one of the most strikingsections of the piece (occurring twice in the pengecet, and described indetail in Example 24) combines selisirwith slendro gedemode, coveringall seven tones and therefore in contrast to the classical principle of com-bining only closely related modes.

Formally, Geregellies in an unusual and particular relationship to theusual tripartite formula gineman/bapang/pengecet of mid-to-latetwentieth-century tabuh kreasistyle (summarized in Example 16), itself a

reinterpretation of the classical kawitan/pengawak/pengecet form thatoriginated ingambuhandgong gederepertoire.38The difficulties arise because Geregeldiverges from this layout on sev-

eral levels affecting fore- to middle-ground structure, rendering this


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archetypal design obscure. The composer himself claims to have thrown

out all normative models of formal construction in this work. Althoughhe uses a tripartite designation of sectionshe mentions kawitan(withkotekan), bapang, and pengecet (with penyuwud)these were for himmere wadah, empty vessels, to be filled with new material. Retainingthese names was, to him, a mere convention and practical convenience,since they offer a means to communicate formal positions to the musi-cians in rehearsal.

Despite this claim, some of the landmarks of tabuh kreasiformal arche-type are still faintly recognizable: the cyclic islands of the kotekan, bapang

andgambangan-like closing section (hispenyuwud) all occur in more orless typical formal positions and retain a generic resemblance to theirmodels. In the most general terms, we still see aspects of the three-partdesign operating in the proportion and relative position of cyclic,

EXAMPLE 15: REAL-TIME GRAPH OF THE PATUTANUSED IN TWOTRADITIONAL PIECES, AND IN GEREGEL

minutes 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

partial

repeat

partial

repeat

overlapping areas = ambiguous modal useLANGSINGTUBAN

tembung

selisir

SUMAMBANG JAWA

sunaren

baro

GEREGEL

selisir

tembung

sunaren

slendro alit

slendro gede

kawitan pemalpal pengawak pengecet pekaad(many repetitions) (3x)

kawitan pengawak pengecet(2x) (2x)

a a' b c d

kawitan/kotekan group bapang pengecet penyuwud(2x)


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regularly metrical material compared to transitional and/or ametric,irregular material. As a result the overall dramatic arch of tabuh kreasiform is still traceable through opening, middle, and closing areas, despitethe many strange detours along the way.

Contextualizating the piece within such a conventional modelrequires, however, some double-edged sword work; it can both revealand distract us from what makes it so special. More than a form to befilled or discarded, the kawitan/bapang/pengecetframework was a famil-iar place for Alit to hang his hat while he peered over a workbench filledwith strange and exciting gizmos, old reliable parts, and new tools; hisfascinated delight in taking things apart and putting them back togetheragain in novel or eccentric rearrangements is apparent throughout. Forexample, the section Alit labels as bapang, while based characteristicallyon a short ostinato and featuring drum variations, is a bizarre assembly:

the ostinato is no single eight-beat line withjublag

andjegogan

abstrac-tion, but a three-voice contrapuntal texture played on the low instrumentgroup, six beats long, in tembung mode. Above this backdrop andaround the drum variations, the gangsas intersperse dry, staccato inter-locking patterns, in selisir, deliberately reminiscent of vocal kecaktexture.

1. Gineman/kotekangroup

a. Gineman: Opening statements for the gangsa, reong, and low instrument groups,

typically ametric and/or fragmented, separated by pauses which highlight the

instruments long sustain. Alternately, a kebyaropening: a dynamic orchestral tuttiof

short ametric phrases.

b. Kotekan: A single, long, regularly pulsed melody with elaborate interlocking

figuration (kotekan) played predominantly or entirely by the gangsagroup; repeated

once or twice.

2. Bapanggroup

a. Peralihan(transition): lead-in to bapangproper

b. Bapang: The next large cyclic island, often consisting of one or more ostinati

(typically 8, 16 or 32 beats in length) in very fast tempi; elaborated with passages

successively highlighting the various instrumental sections (kendang/ceng-ceng,

reong, gangsa), with occasional tuttiorchestral interjections.

3. Pengecet(or gambangan)

a. Peralihan(transition): lead-in topengecetproper

b. Pengecet: A series of full orchestral statements in a medium or medium-fast

tempo, often in a balanced phrase structure (e.g. 8 + 8 or 16 + 16 beats). The overall

atmosphere is that of relaxed and regular tunefulness, in contrast to the dynamic

material of previous sections.

c. Short codetta (penyuwud)

EXAMPLE 16: TYPICAL FORMAL LAYOUT OF ALATE-TWENTIETH-CENTURY TABUH KREASI


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The extended section that Alit refers to as a pengecet(it occupies, inreal time, about half the pieces total length) has even less kinship to tra-

ditional models. Here, instead of the preceding, so-called bapangsection,is found some of the material we might expect in a bapangfast tempi,boldly drawn full orchestra textures with rhythmic ocak-ocakan, and keb-yaroutbursts. But strange things happen in the wake of these kebyarout-bursts: several seem to become unraveled and peter out, almostquestioningly, into nowhere: long silences for the entire orchestra. Acouple of the phrases are then restarted in further kebyarepisodes, as ifthe music had just lost its way temporarily. At another point, the longsilence following one such phrase is dotted by pointillist gineman-type

fragments, only to gallop onward to a fake finish. And twice these kebyarsections suddenly veer off into slow sections of completely alien charac-ter, orchestration, and metric design. Taken together, the net result is acollage-like conglomeration of vividly contrasting stuff that has little todo with the squarely assertive character of most bapang. For that reasonit is difficult to dismiss Alits designation as a simple misnomer. On theother hand, none of this material, either separately and certainly not inthis unique amalgam, reveals the regular, balanced phrase structure andrelaxed character of most contemporary pengecetsections, as glossed in

Example 16. Clearly Alits goal lies in exploring new dramatic designsand (as he would say) atmospheres, by playing with the sequence andassembly of recognizable materials, almost in a cubist fashion, in the sec-tion in which composers are usually content to coast along on stylisticautopilot.

The grand pauses of this pengecetrests of astonishing duration forany tabuh kreasi, which riddle the latter half of the work like the holes inSwiss cheesealso merit special note in contextualizing Geregel. Asidefrom the dramatic value of these rests on a local level, they create unprec-

edented textural openings in the sonic world of the tabuh kreasi. Noother tabuh kreasihas them. They are breaches in the monolithic wall ofmetallic gamelansound, allowing air and light inside. Although youngcomposers understand breath quite well, having been well trained bytheir teachers to appreciate its power in classical forms, they find it diffi-cult in their own compositions to resist filling every possible space withornate detail. Alit seems to know this, since he plays with our surprise:following a series of such long rests, an assertive tutti kebyarstatementbreaks in and drives relentlessly towards a conclusive gong, seeming to

end it all. Here, in live performance, the musicians put their heads downon their instruments as if to say, Sorry, its all over. But a moment laterthey pop upright again as a melodic fragment sneaks back in on the twojublag, and the piece is again re-started (to inevitable applause at thefalse-ending effect).39 In the immediate drama of seeing Geregel

Documents

Perspectives of NewMusic-Kebyar