The Saron

As promised, im back with another introduction of a Gamelan instrument.

The Saron is a metallophone used in Malay Gamelan. It Comes in various sizes and is tuned an octave apart from each other. (Matusky, 1985)From the smallest to the largest are

1. Saron Pekin
2. Saron Barong
3. Saron Demong

The Saron Pekin is the smallest and has the highest pitch among all from the saron family. It also doubles as the melody. it produces louder and clearer sound compared to the others. Being the one with the smallest bars, it also has the thickest. Even thicker than of the Barong. The mallet used is shaped like a hammer and is made from a buffalo's horn.

Saron Barong is a slab-shaped instrument and is made from bronze. In the Malay Gamelan, it carries the middle range octave sound. Saron Barong also carries the main melody. Physically the Barong is smaller than the Demong and produces a louder sound. This instrument is struck using something that looks like a hammer that is made out of soft wood.(Nik Mustapha, 1998)

Saron Demong is also a slab-shaped instrument and is made from bronze. It carries the basic melody in the Malay Gamelan and is an octave lower than the Saron Barong. Just like the Barong, this instrument is struck using something that looks like a hammer that is made out of soft wood.(Nik Mustapha, 1998)

All instruments under the saron family contains slabs that are arranged on a base of wood and supported with a stand which serves as a resonator. (Nik Mustapha, 1998)

However, while Saron Baron and Saron Pekin stand for initial instruments in Malay Gamelan, Saron Demong is not in the list.

The perdam (hand dampening) technique is a technique where the player prevents the sound from resonating and running into each other when playing together with other instruments that plays different melodies in the ensemble. This can be done by simply touching the blades with your other hand after hitting it.

sources:

1. Nik Mustapha Nik Mohd. Salleh (1998). Alat Muzik Tradisional Dalam Masyarakat Melayu Di Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Kementerian kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Pelancongan Malaysia.
2. Matusky, P. (1985). "An Introduction the the Major Instruments and Forms of Traditional Malay Music." Asian Music. XVI(2): 121-182.

we'll meet again next week!

The Bonang

A little introductory course here on one of the main instruments in gamelan.

The bonang is a musical instrument used in the Javanese and Malay gamelan. It is a collection of small gongs (sometimes called "kettles" or "pots") placed horizontally onto strings in a wooden frame (rancak), either one or two rows wide.

All of the kettles have a central boss, but around it the lower-pitched ones have a flattened head, while the higher ones have an arched one. Each is tuned to a specific pitch in the appropriate scale; thus there are different bonang for pelog in and slendro. While in Javanese Gamelan they use both, in Malay Gamelan only slendro is used.

They are typically hit with padded sticks (tabuh). This is similar to the other cradled gongs in the gamelan, the kethuk, kempyang, and kenong.

Bonang may be made of forged bronze, welded and cold-hammered iron, or a combination of metals, mainly considered to be the most difficult instrument in gamelan, but is the main contributor to the melody tothe songs in gamelan music.

So that is basically what a bonang is. Will come again next week with another introduction to another instrument.

Raya Aidilfitri

Saya mewakili ahli-ahli Asuhan Seni-Muzik Tradisional di sini ingin mengucapkan Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

Semoga raya tahun ini dirai dengan penuh keceriaan dan barakah. Aminn..

p/s: Aktiviti seterusnya; BBQ Raya. Insya Allah :)

New Intake Interview

Sunday, 9th August 2009

New Intake Interview-10a.m-Istana Budaya:

The members of Asuhan Seni/committees arrived at Istana Budaya as early as 9am to prepare for the New Intake Interview which is scheduled to start at 10am. We were briefed by Sensei on our tasks and at 10am, the interview started.

There are 14/15 interviewees of various musical backgrounds came for the interview. There are parts of the interview; The first is the 'Provoking Interview' and the second is the 'Practical'. The first part of the interview was handled by Wahida and Wahyun whereby their tasks would be to 'provoke' the newbies, to test their level of commitment (buat kecut perut). The 'Practical' part was handled by Cikgu and Azwa as to test on their skills handling musical instruments given.

Before we departed for a picnic, Cikgu briefed us on our tasks teaching the new members.

Jalan2 and 'camping' at Lubuk Manggis-1p.m:

After the interview, its time for "Makan-Makan". Setelah 'berpenat lelah' meng'Interview' the newbies, we all went to Lubuk Manggis for a picnic, our first Asuhan Seni gathering. We arrived at the chosen spot after about 1/2 hour journey from IB. We ate the delicious food (prepared by the catering committees dgn jayanye) silently (not all of us though) as we were all hungry and kebuluq. Then we all had fun "mandi manda" di dalam sungai 'berair karat' and enjoying the scenery.
At around 3.30pm, we ended our little gathering and went home.


NOTE:

1. Class Asuhan Seni for the senior members: 12pm - 2pm every Sunday.
2. Class Asuhan Seni for the junior members: 10am - 12pm every Sunday.

1st August 2009-Saturday

News Feed!!!

At last after quite 'a while', we finally have class. The two-hour class seems so short and there were only few of us that came. As usuall, the class started with music theories and proceeded to playing traditional gamelan songs. We were also assigned to learn other gamelan instruments as prescribed by Cikgu; Rashid, Fandi and Abang will concentrate on bonang while others will concentrate on instruments other than the one we usually played. Before the end of the class, Cikgu assigned us tasks for the new intake interviews which will be held on Sunday 9th August '09.

Though the two-hour seems short, it was fun and we had the chance to catch things up with gossips and the most important thing is the knowledge that we received from our beloved Cikgu Ku Zahir. May Allah bless him always.


NOTE:

1. Sunday 9th August 2009: Interview for the new intake for Asuhan Seni. (The 'seniors' will be teaching them)
2. Class will only be on Sunday. Time will be posted later.

Update.....

News Feed:

The members of Asuhan Seni have learn various traditional Gamelan songs. So far, Cikgu Ku Zahir has trained us with 15 traditional songs; Ayak-Ayak, Timang Burong, Antawada, Lambang Sari, Topeng, Togok, Seri Rama Balik, etc which were performed for the first time on 27th and 28th June '09. In addition, Cikgu Ku Zahir also trained us with a contemporary song written by Cikgu Ku Zahir himself titled "Cak Doh Gong".

This month, other than polishing our gamelan skills, we will learn a few other traditional songs; Muleh, Kendong Gajah Mati and Kalis Dayung. Other than that, Cikgu Ku Zahir and 3 members of Asuhan Seni will be busy rehearsing for Malaysian Traditional Orchestra (OTM).

P/S: Sape2 yang belom salin lagi lagu2 tradisional tu, sila salin ye... Jangan malas2...

Persembahan bulan Jun 2009

Pada 27 Jun baru-baru ini, para pelajar Asuhan Seni telah dijemput untuk memeriahkan lagi majlis akad nikah Norliza Che Hassan di Kuala Sepetang, Perak.
Membawa lagu-lagu tradisional seperti Timang Burong, Ayak-Ayak, Gambuh Nyanyi dan sebagainya, para pelajar diberi peluang untuk menghiburkan para tetamu yang hadir ke majlis tersebut.
Selain dari itu, tetamu juga disajikan dengan lagu-lagu klasik yang dimainkan oleh pelatih grup Asuhan Seni tersebut, diringi dengan paluan rebana dan jidor.

Juga pada 28 Jun para pelajar telah membuat persembahan untuk majlis kenduri kahwin di Ampang Tasik, Kuala Lumpur.

Pengenalan

Asuhan Seni merupakan satu program di bawah anjuran Istana Budaya yang dinaung oleh 20 orang ahli yang terpilih. Di bawah tunjuk ajar oleh pemain muzik Istana Budaya sendiri, iaitu Ku Zahir Ku Ahmad, kumpulan ini akan dibawa mempelajari pelbagai alatan muzik melayu, termasuklah gamelan melayu, alat-alat perkusi melayu dan lain-lain.

Objektif penubuhan Asuhan Seni ini termasuklah untuk menyebarkan dan merakyatkan seni muzik tradisional kepada generasi baru juga sebagai pelapis kumpulan Orkestra Tradisional Malaysia yang juga baru ditubuhkan baru-baru ini.

Misi Asuhan Seni adalah untuk menyebarkan seni muzik tradisional yang semakin pupus di kalangan para belia dan juga remaja. Asuhan Seni juga menjadi peranan untuk mempromosi seni muzik tradisional negara ke peringkat yang lebih tinggi.

Diharap agar melalui penubuhan ini grup Asuhan Seni berupaya untuk menghidupkan kembali kemeriahan seni muzik tradisional yang suatu masa dahulu gah di persada nusantara.