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.
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.
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