Ombak and octave stretching in Balinese gamelan (original) (raw)
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Ombak and octave stretching in Balinese gamelan
Journal of Mathematics and Music, 2020
A primary esthetic in the performance practice of Balinese gamelan is the ombak (Indonesian for wave), which is manifest in musical form, performance, and tuning. The ombak arises in a paired tuning system in which corresponding unisons of two instruments (or instrumental groups) are tuned to slightly different frequencies, one higher and one lower, to produce beats. Pitch classes are not necessarily tuned to octaves in an exact 2:1 frequency ratio; instead, octaves are often stretched or compressed. This paper discusses the relationship between the ombak rate and octave tempering, and demonstrates that the beating rate, combined with the octave tuning strategy chosen, can be modeled using a tempering parameter that determines the amount of stretching or compression. This model is then used to analyze tuning data of nine complete gamelan.
Perceptually Based Theory for World Music Tunings
The larger research program, of which the present report is a part, involves approaching the analysis of world music from the vantage point of perception. With regard to tuning and scales, there have been three main approaches: via abstract numbers, via empirical measurements, and via perceptual responses. Since the pioneering work of Alexander Ellis in the 1880s, comparative musicologists, ethnomusicologists, acousticians, and music psychologists have measured fundamental frequencies and other partials in sonic spectra to characterize tunings empirically. Since at least as early as ca. 425 BCE, music theorists have employed abstract numbers to prescribe and describe tunings and scales. And since at least as early as ca. 1850 BCE, tunings have been prescribed and described in terms of perceptual responses. Whereas each of these three main approaches can be helpful in making sense of music, they are quite distinct. Nonetheless, these three distinct approaches have often been conflated and an aim of the present study is to disentangle them with a view to analyzing music perceptually. The present report illustrates this approach by focusing on equipentatonic tunings in general and Central Javanese sléndro in particular.
Bali in Indonesia is known as an island of gods and entertainment. For the Balinese people, Gamelan music is a part of living and is indispensable to the everyday soundscape. In this study, changes of Balinese Gamelan in Indonesia are discussed and described with acoustical analysis. Approximately 90 sets of Gamelan, mainly Gamelan Gong Kebyar commonly used in Bali, Indonesia, were measured and analyzed in Japan and Bali. As a result, it has definitely been shown that their interference beat frequencies were tuned between 5 Hz and 10 Hz and their pitches and intervals were different depending on the regions and periods in Bali. Gamelan Gong Kebyar is a new Gamelan with a pentatonic scale created in the early 20th Century and is now the most popular Gamelan in Bali. In this paper, 11 sets of Gamelan Gong Kebyar were measured and their pitches calculated from frequency analysis of keyboard instruments (Jegogan, Jublag, Pemade and Kantilan) were compared and examined. Four sets were made by I Wayan Beratha and two sets of them are owned by Balinese educational institutions – KOKAR ( Konservatori Karawitan Indonesia) and ASTI (Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia). The other two older sets were made in the early 20th Century and one of the two was tuned by I Made Regog, Beratha’s father. The remaining five sets were made by I Nyoman Sudarna and I Wayan Sukarta. For the 11 sets of Gamelan Gong Kebyar, the pitch of the lowest tone, pitch name ‘ding’, in a pentatonic scale was either C# or D of western pitch. Especially, all sets newer than ASTI’s had C#.
Journal of Engineering and Technological Sciences, 2016
On-stage sound field analysis of a traditional performance of the Javanese gamelan at Pendopo ISI Surakarta, Indonesia was conducted by analyzing the effective decay time of a normalized autocorrelation function called tau-e, τ e , during a performance of the Gambyong Pare Anom dance. The parameter tau-e is used to describe the richness of the frequency content, tempo, and types of gamelan instruments being played at a certain time and position on stage. The tau-e parameter is important for musicians in order to maintain communication between each other such that they can keep the performance in harmony. In order to determine the acoustic parameters heard by gamelan musicians on stage, sound measurements were conducted at 4 points on stage during a performance. Each position represents a specific group of gamelan instruments, which have different characteristics of loudness and frequency, different functions and different ways the instruments are played. The analysis showed that each of the four positions had a different value of τ e , which fluctuated throughout the performance. Overall, the dominant τ e at position 1 was 20 ms; at position 2 it was 50 ms; at position 3 it was 20 ms; and at position 4 it was 40 ms. The distribution of τ e on the stage shows that positions 1 and 3 had more frequency richness compared to positions 2 and 4.
Implicit Register: Re-evaluating Pitch Height Perception in Central Javanese Gamelan Music
Starting with Roger Shepard’s (1964) sequences of computer-generated tones that appear to endlessly rise or fall, it has been convincingly demonstrated that perception of pitch height is malleable. In other words, the circularity of pitch – the fact that we hear the same note ‘repeated’ at the octave – can in some situations override our sense of actual vertical pitch relationships. While most convincing in artificial settings like those designed by Shepard, auditory illusions based on pitch circularity do appear in some forms of traditional music. In a broader sense, the subjectivity of pitch height has important implications for the perception of register – whether a musical passage is heard as being higher or lower in overall height. Despite other aspects of the music being explored in great detail, register in the context of Central Javanese gamelan remains an unresolved issue. Octave cycling or displacement certainly plays a role, but falls short as an explanation for a number of commonplace musical events. I argue that perception of register in the composite sound of the gamelan is both more complex but also more logically consistent than current theory suggests.
Timbre spectrum of gamelan instruments from four Malay gamelan ensembles
pertanika journal of science and technology, 2020
Gamelan in general is categorized as a group of gongs. This traditional Malay gamelan ensemble is in a slendro scale i.e. five notes per octave. The rhythms, pitch, duration and loudness classify the various groups of gongs such as bonang, kenong, gender, peking and gambang. The cast bronze peking, kenong and bonang were chosen from a range of
Acoustic parameter for Javanese Gamelan Performance in Pendopo Mangkunegaran Surakarta
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015
Pendopo Mangkunegaran Surakarta is a building that has a volume of 3000 m3, a pyramid form of roof, and no walls. The objective of the research in this paper is to explore the condition of Listening Level (LL), a sub-sequence Reverberation Time (T sub), Clarity (C80, D50) and Inter-Aural Cross Correlation (IACC) at Pendopo Mangkunegaran Surakarta. To quantify the acoustic parameters of the Pendopo, microphones were located in the area of the King, distinguished guests, dancers, and audience. The source of sound is located at the corner of where the Gamelan is played. The sound of Gamelan at the corner of the Pendopo produces a diverse distribution of sound and reverberation time in the room, especially in the center of the room. It is concluded that the acoustic quality of Pendopo building is appropriate for Javanese Gamelan performances with a well-developed spatial effect.
The textures of Central Javanese gamelan music: Pre-notation and its discontents
Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 2008
This study is an attempt to elucidate what kind of melody the texture of gamelan music is made up of. Through the reconstruction of the melodic texture of the pre-notation era and the examination of the impact of notation on performance practice, it is made clear that the monogenetic texture of the pre-notation era has developed into the diversified and enriched texture of current practice in response to the use of notation. The notion of an inner melody present in the performer’s mind as a basis for his performance is shown to be less than probable.