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.