Javanese Gamelan Practice
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 8:20
Javanese Gamelan Practice
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included.
The term refers more to the set of instruments than to the players of those instruments. A gamelan is a set of instruments as a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together — instruments from different gamelan are generally not interchangeable.
The word “gamelan” comes from the Javanese word “gamels”, meaning to strike or hammer, and the suffix “an”, which makes the root a collective noun. Real hammers are not used to play these instruments as heavy iron hammers would break the delicate instruments.
