Pem
mbarua an Mussik Gammelan d
 di Daerrah 
Sunda
a Ditinjau darri Eksperimen
n Bunyyi dan 
Perluuasan G
 Gramatika Musik 
 
Oleh 
Iwan
n Gunaw wan 
 
 
 
 
Makalah in
ni telah disaampaikan paada acara koonferensi 
Intern
national Gam melan Festiival Amsterd
dam 
 
 

13
3 – 14 June
e 2007, Tro
opentheate
er

  Based on an
n idea by
 
 PEMBARUAN MUSIK GAMELAN DI DAERAH SUNDA
DITINJAU DARI
EKSPERIMENTASI BUNYI DAN PERLUASAN GRAMATIKA MUSIK
Oleh
Iwan Gunawan

ABSTRAK

The paradigm of gamelan music as an art form of a special ethnic or society

group is currently changing. Various innovations that have been done by Indonesian
and non-Indonesian composers prove it. Finally the art of gamelan music seems not
to be owned anymore by a certain ethnic but is rather “owned” by individual
persons. Beside keeping on with the tradition, what has been already done by
Indonesian and also non-Indonesian composers? How have they developed gamelan
music in terms of sound experiments and extending the musical grammar? What do I
think about these renewals and where is my personal position in my Sundanese
culture as an artist?

PENDAHULUAN
Berbagai upaya untuk melakukan pembaruan musik khususnya karya musik
yang berhubungan dengan instrumen gamelan, telah banyak dilakukan oleh para
pelakunya di berbagai belahan dunia ini.  Sebagaimana alat musik lainnya, gamelan
memiliki potensi untuk digunakan serta dikembangkan oleh siapa saja dan dengan
cara apa saja. Sebuah gambaran tentang eksistensi musik gamelan saat ini komponis
Indonesia I Wayan Sadra pernah mengemukakan sebagai berikut.
... kiprah gamelan kontemporer sudah jauh untuk berusaha mencari dan
membentuk ruang publik yang diharapkan dapat menunjang konsistensi untuk
secara tetap menggeluti dunianya. Orientasnya yang jauh ke depan, bahkan
melewati batas negara, sudah barang tentu membentuk horizon yang luas, dan
dengan lapang dada menerima dan melakukan pembaruan-pembaruan.
Apakah itu transmedium dari aspek musikal di luar tradisinya, apakah
penggunaan instrumen asing, apakah sistem computerized, semuanya menjadi
 claim gamelan kontemporer. Dengan kata lain, untuk menyebut gamelan
kontemporer tidak lagi dibatasi apakah komponis memakai gamelan atau
tidak.1
Dalam sebuah festival gamelan di Yogyakarta, Sapto Rahardjo pernah
mengatakan bahwa gamelan itu bukan hanya sekedar instrumen yang memiliki asal-
usul dari kebudayaan tertentu, namun lebih daripada itu gamelan adalah spirit, bukan
obyek, instrumen hanyalah medium.2 Bagi sebagian masyarakat gamelan di Indonesia
dua pernyataan di atas sebenarnya telah dipahami serta disepakati, namun jika dilihat
dari karya-karya baru musik gamelan sebagai perwujudan dari pernyataan itu,
terdapat suatu fenomena dengan berbagai permasalahan yang cukup kompleks.
Permasalahannya bukan lagi terfokus pada gamelan sebagai spirit atau medium saja,
tetapi permasalahannya menyangkut pada persoalan kualitas karya-karyanya. Suka
Hardjana3 pernah mengkritik tentang musik gamelan di Indonesia, menurut beliau
gamelan sebenarnya memiliki potensi untuk berkembang lebih jauh melewati batas-
batas persemaian budayanya sendiri. Tetapi untuk melakukan pembaruan musiknya,
gamelan harus dibebaskan dari rasa mindernya sebagai sekadar budaya etnis. Oleh
karenanya, gamelan harus dinetralisir dari bayang-bayang sugesti rasa kedaerahannya
yang secara geokultural sangat sempit.

Pandangan di atas bisa saja ditolak oleh sebagian pihak yang meyakini bahwa
perkembangan musik yang terjadi pada suatu budaya tertentu memiliki urusan
sendiri-sendiri. Namun demikian, jika kita amati berbagai karya baru musik gamelan
sampai saat ini khususnya di Indonesia, aspek bayang-bayang sugesti rasa kedaerahan
seperti yang dikemukakan di atas masih sangat nampak dan terasa, bahkan hal itulah
yang seringkali dieksploitasikan, dipertahankan atau dilestarikan untuk menunjukan
identitas ciri budayanya.

                                                            
1
Sadra, I Wayan: Gamelan Kontemporer Antara Ada dan Tiada, Mencermati Seni Pertunjuksn I, 2003.
2
Raharjo, Sapto: Mendaki Samudra Bunyi, 2005.
3
Hardjana, Suka: Musik Antara Kritik dan Apresiasi, 2004. 
 Sementara di beberapa negara lain, perkembangan musik gamelan tampaknya
pesat sekali. Dari beberapa karya yang penulis amati, pembaruan musik gamelan di
luar Indonesia sebenarnya memiliki fenomena tersendiri. Tetapi sebenarnya
pengamatan ini hanyalah merupakan kesan saja yang berdasar pada pengalaman
mendengar beberapa karya yang telah diciptakan. Batasan serta tolak ukur
kebaruannya tentu saja sangat berbeda dengan apa yang terjadi di lingkungan penulis
sendiri. Namun demikian, ada hal yang perlu disampaikan sehubungan dengan
beberapa kesan tadi. Secara jujur penulis merasa agak “aneh” sekaligus kagum atas
upaya yang telah dilakukan oleh beberapa komponis barat (Eropa dan Amerika), baik
komposisi itu menggunakan gamelan maupun tanpa gamelan.4 Perasaan “aneh” ini
(sekaligus lucu), timbul ketika mendengar karya Gilles Tremblay yaitu L’arbre de
Borobudur. Pada suatu bagian dalam karya itu, terdapat suatu materi yang
menggunakan idiom-idiom berdasarkan gramatik musik gamelan Sunda yaitu degung
klasik, yang mana gramatik musik tersebut sangat akrab sekali dengan penulis.
Bagaimana kesan atau perasaan itu, tidak usah dijelaskan di sini. Yang menjadi
pertanyaan penulis adalah apakah kesan ini dirasakan juga oleh orang Jawa ketika
mendengar karya Jody Diamond dalam karya In The Bright World?, atau bagi orang
Bali mendengarkan beberapa karya Michael Tenzer terutama yang menggunakan
seperangkat gamelan Bali?. Pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini mengingatkan penulis kepada
sebuah perselisihan antara tokoh musikolog, etnomusikolog, komponis Indonesia
yaitu Franki Raden dengan Dieter Mack yang mengkritisi tentang karya yang secara
garis besar kurang lebih sama kasusnya dengan karya Gilles Tremblay.5 Tanpa
berpihak pada siapapun, terdapat suatu penegasan menarik yang telah dikemukakan
Dieter Mack, antara lain.

...setiap materi tidak bisa dilihat terlepas dari latar belakang serta konotasinya,
walaupun buat berbagai pihak barangkali pendapat ini berbau etnosentrisme seorang

                                                            
4
 Seperti apa yang telah dibuat oleh Philip Corner, Ton de Leeuw , Colin Mc Phee, Lou Harrison, Larry Polansky,
Michael Tenzer, Jody Diamond, John Cage dan masih banyak yang lainnya. 
5
 Setidaknya menurut interpretasi penulis. 
eropa. Jika tidak demikian, maka dunia musik pada umumnya bisa saja dianggap
sebagai suatu “super market aneka sumber” yang dapat diterapkan seenaknya saja.
Menurut kami, permasalahan ini tidak hanya menyangkut orientasi pihak barat. Di
Indonesia pun masing-masing materi musik memiliki makna dan konotasi tertentu.6
Tetapi di samping itu, bagi penulis “gamelan barat” itu (kalau boleh dibilang
begitu) juga sangat mengagumkan. Terutama ketika penulis pertama kali mendengar
karya John Cage (Haikai), James Tenney (The Road to Ubud) atau karya Dieter Mack
(Crosscurents). Ketiga-tiganya menggunakan gamelan degung,7 akan tetapi apa yang
mereka buat dalam hal eksperimentasi bunyi serta perluasan gramatik musik, banyak
hal yang tidak pernah terpikir oleh penulis.

Dari beberapa persoalan di atas, hal yang paling penting dan perlu diakui oleh
penulis adalah apa yang telah diciptakan mereka setidaknya membuka wacana akan
berbagai kemungkinan untuk pengembangan musik gamelan yang terjadi di
lingkungan budaya penulis sendiri, sekalipun hal itu datang dari budaya barat.
Namun berdasarkan pengamatan penulis, peran serta fungsi gamelan kontemporer
yang berkembang di daerah Sunda situasinya agak lain. Oleh karena itu untuk melihat
persoalan musik gamelan di daerah Sunda, terutama tentang beberapa upaya dalam
rangka pembaruan musiknya, perlu dijelaskan tersendiri.

UPAYA PEMBARUAN MUSIK GAMELAN DI DAERAH SUNDA

Bagi umumnya masyarakat Sunda, pandangan bahwa gamelan sebagai sebuah
instrumen yang memiliki fungsi untuk mengiringi lagu, tarian, upacara, atau menuju
pada bentuk-bentuk seni hiburan (baik secara positif maupun negatif) sangat
menonjol. Selain itu, sikap masyarakat dalam mengapresiasi antara musik sebagai
sebuah komposisi dengan berbagai kompleksitasnya, dengan musik yang hanya
dibangun dari sebuah lagu, sepertinya sama saja. Sebagai kesimpulan bahwa apapun

                                                            
6
Mack, Dieter: Sejarah Musik Jilid IV, 2004.
7
 Peralatannya, kurang lebih seperti yang digunakan oleh Giles Tremblay. 
bentuk kreatifitas komponis sunda saat ini, yang penting musiknya bisa menghibur,
enak untuk didengar dan dapat digunakan untuk kepentingan tertentu. Sedangkan
komposisi musik yang dapat dipandang sebagai sesuatu yang bersifat otonom,
keberadaannya agak sulit diterima di masyarakat sunda. Karena dalam konteks
tradisi, kecenderungan fungsi musik sebagai sesuatu yang “berguna”, seperti untuk
hiburan, upacara, iringan tari dan seterusnya sampai saat ini masih berperan. Dengan
demikian sebagian besar komponis Sunda orientasinya lebih cenderung ke arah itu,
ketimbang berpikir ke arah perluasan gramatika musiknya yang lebih otonom. Hal itu
dapat terlihat dari pernyataan Nano S (Tokoh Seniman, Komponis/pencipta lagu
Sunda) tentang eksistensi Mang Koko sebagai seorang seniman yang dianggap
sebagai tokoh pembaruan musik Sunda, sebagai berikut.

...Mang Koko pun mengakui bahwa lagu "Saha" (Siapa) terilhami oleh
lagu Belanda yang berjudul "Wie Was't Earst In Paradijs". Lagu "Sekar catur"
(Nyanyian dialog) dari lagu "Cerry Pink", yang beliau dengar dari
gramopoon. Lagu "Ka Abdi" (Kepada saya) dari lagu "To Me".
Mang Koko mentrapkan tabuhan bukan pada alat Kacapi saja, tetapi juga
pada alat Gamelan. Seperti halnya lagu "Hidup Baru" dan "Caringcing"
(Waspada) yang menerapkan irama calipso. Karena ulahnya yang banyak
mengolah pembaharuan dalam iringan lagu Sunda perkembangan yang
diciptakannya begitu cepat dan diterima. Mang Koko pernah diberi julukan
Komponis Gamelan Beatles.8

Kutipan di atas menjelaskan bahwa dari dulu (jaman Mang Koko) dan
sebenarnya hingga saat ini, kreatifitas komponis sunda dalam upaya pembaruan
musik gamelan, cenderung dipengaruhi oleh gejala musik pop komersial, termasuk
Nano S sendiri. Kata “Pembaharuan dalam iringan lagu Sunda” perlu digaris bawahi.
Hal itu sangat memberi petunjuk tentang suatu sikap para seniman di Sunda yang
memandang bahwa instrumen gamelan memiliki fungsi hanya sebagai iringan.
Pandangan kedua tokoh seniman ini ternyata sangat mempengaruhi para komponis
selanjutnya terutama terlihat dari cara pandang serta teknik garapnya dalam upaya
pembaruan musik. Untuk itu, ada dua contoh karya yang menurut penulis perlu
                                                            
8
Suratno, Nano: Gelitik Dalam Karawitan Sunda, Pikiran Rakyat, 09 Maret 2004.
untuk dibahas berdasarkan fenomena serta iklim kesenian sunda seperti yang
dikemukakan di atas. Dua karya ini memiliki karakter tersendiri karena sikap serta
motivasinya dalam penggunaan gramatika musiknya sangat berbeda.
Contoh pertama, penulis ingin membahas tentang salah satu karya yaitu karya
dari Ismet Ruchimat (Group Samba Sunda) berjudul “Jaleuleu”. Karya ini
menggunakan beberapa instrumen antara lain, Kendang Sunda, Jembe, timbales,
Suling Sunda, Piul (Violin Sunda), Torompet, vokal, serta gamelan bambu berlaras
“diatonis”9 ditambah dengan bass elektrik. Perlu diketahui bahwa karya ini seringkali
diisukan oleh masyarakat Sunda sebagai musik baru atau musik kontemporer Sunda.
Terlepas dari hal itu, penulis ingin lebih menyoroti tentang bagaimana penggunaan
gramatika musiknya, serta aspek-aspek apa yang dikembangkan ditinjau dari segi
kompositorisnya. 10
Dilihat dari penggunaan materi musiknya, bahwa karya ini dibangun dari
materi-materi yang hampir secara keseluruhan telah menjadi “rahasia umum”.11
Berbagai materi yang dibangun itu memiliki konotasi atau makna yang sebenarnya
telah jelas, sehingga kesan mengimitasi dari suatu musik tertentu sangat dirasakan.
Beberapa motifis berikut ini,

1.

2.

telah menjelaskan bahwa materi-materi itu diadopsi dari genre musik populer (Pop,
Rock, Jazz dll). Bagaimana pola-pola itu diterapkan dalam karya ini, bagi penulis

                                                            
9
 Dalam masyarakat sunda, pengertian diatonis sering dikaitkan dengan tangga nada dari musik barat.
10
 Sebaiknya contoh audionya didengar dulu. 
11
 Setidaknya bagi orang sunda yang mengetahui kapasitas musik tradisinya.
 
sama saja, antara lain sebagai landasan iringan. Kemudian pola-pola ritme kendang
pun sebenarnya diadopsi dari pola-pola kendang jaipong konvensional.

Namun di samping itu terdapat hal yang menarik juga, terutama adalah
penggunaan melodi tutti yang dimainkan oleh gamelan bambu, suling dan piul.
Dalam tradisi musik gamelan sunda, tekstur bunyi semacam ini memang belum
pernah ada. Walaupun demikian ditinjau dari karakter melodinya, sumber-sumber
materi itu sebenarnya dapat ditemukan, seperti misalnya pada bagian melodi berikut
ini.

Selain melodi ini dapat dipastikan menggunakan laras madenda, melodi ini
sebenarnya berangkat dari varian-varian melodi yang sering digunakan pada
instrumen solist, seperti vokal, suling, rebab dan torompet. Perbedaannya adalah,
dalam musik tradisi, bentuk-bentuk melodi ini dimainkan dengan ritme “bebas”,
banyak alternative, yang penting nada-nada pokoknya dapat tercapai. Namun pada
karya ini, varian-varian melodi ini seolah-olah dibakukan menjadi bentuk melodi
seperti di atas agar dapat dimainkan secara bersamaan. Konsep penciptaan melodi
seperti itu merupakan hal yang mendasar pada keseluruhan materi karya “Jaleuleu”.

Bentuk-bentuk melodi itu sebenarnya dapat dijadikan sebagai tema atau bibit
yang selanjutnya dapat dikembangkan seluas-luasnya. Akan tetapi orientasinya
ternyata bukan ke arah sana. Melodi-melodi itu hanya dicipta saja, seperti halnya
membuat lagu yang sederhana12. Dari kesederhanaan itu tampaknya sulit sekali
mencari hal-hal apa yang dikembangkan atau diperluas. Gramatika musik yang
                                                            
12
 Sikap ini pun kurang lebih sama seperti apa yang dilakukan oleh Nano S dalam membuat karya “Anjeun”
(Pernah dimainkan oleh group Evergreen Club). 
digunakan dalam komposisi ini pun sangat standar. Semua elemen-elemen materi itu
telah dipahami serta mudah ditebak arahnya.

Akhirnya, bagian demi bagian pada karya ini, sepertinya berjalan begitu saja
tanpa ada kaitan sebab akibat antara bagian itu. Jika kita urutkan bagian-bagian itu
antara lain.

I. “Pembukaan” oleh beberapa perkusi

II. Masuk “melodi gamelan bambu” dengan motif yang diulang-ulang (4X)
III. “Melodi Tutti dengan landasan Bass”. Form: A + A’ (2X) – B + B’ (2X)
IV. “Lagu Utama”. Form: A + A – B + B’ (Form ini diulang persis 1X)
V. Dari bag I sampai bag IV diulang (pada bag I hanya ditambah Improvisasi
Torompet dan kendang serta diakhiri oleh suling).
VI. Penutup
Sementara materi-materi lain, seperti gaya vokal, senggakan serta permainan
improvisasi torompet, merupakan bentuk materi yang “seadanya”, baik dilihat dari
gramatika musiknya maupun gaya pembawaannya sangat menjelaskan akan ciri
tradisinya. Materi-materi itu sepertinya diambil begitu saja, atau dipindahkan,
dibuatkan konteks serta kepentingan yang berbeda.

Contoh kedua adalah karya dari Lili Suparli yaitu “Komposisi Musik
Dramatik Yudha Bajra”.13 Sesuai dengan judulnya bahwa karya musik ini sangat
dramatis terutama bagi orang yang memahami bahasa verbal yang digunakan serta
mengetahui latar belakang cerita dalam karya ini. Ide komposisi ini berangkat dari
cerita pewayangan tentang “perang kurusetra”, kemudian cerita itu dituangkan
melalui bentuk-bentuk musikal. Mengenai ceritanya penulis tidak akan
membahasnya, namun bagaimana ide ini diterjemahkan dalam konsep musikal,
merupakan persoalan yang penting untuk dikemukakan.

Karya ini menggunakan dua perangkat gamelan pelog salendro, enam

penyanyi wanita (sinden), satu orang dalang dan ditambah beberapa instrumen buatan

                                                            
13
Sebaiknya ditonton dulu dokumen video pertunjukannya.
sendiri untuk membuat efek-efek bunyi tertentu. Total pemain kurang lebih 32 orang.
Dilihat dari aspek kuantitasnya, tentu saja hal ini setidaknya memberi petunjuk akan
upaya pembaruan. Kebaruannya adalah, belum pernah ada karya musik gamelan
sunda yang menggunakan instrumen serta pemain sebanyak itu.

Melihat pada persoalan musiknya, bahwa materi yang digunakan pada karya
ini berangkat dari idiom musik tradisi, terutama gamelan wayang golek. materi-
materi itu ternyata “dimanfaatkan” sedemikian rupa untuk kepentingan suasana yang
dapat memperkuat isi cerita itu. Materi-materi yang dipakai sebenarnya merupakan
materi konvensional, akan tetapi materi itu dikembangkan melalui variasi motifisnya
(ritmis atau melodis), dikombinasikan sehingga materi itu memiliki konteks yang
berbeda. Untuk membuktikan pernyataan itu perlu dilakukan analisis yang mendalam,
tetapi tampaknya terlalu kompleks untuk dikemukakan di sini. Untuk itu penulis ingin
membuat kesimpulan secara umum dari suatu analisa yang berkaitan dengan aspek
perluasan gramatika musiknya.

Dilihat dari satu sisi bahwa pengembangan struktur gramatika yang dilakukan
oleh Lili terutama dari sisi perluasan “perasaan ritme” dan “perasaan harmoni”
sebenarnya tidak begitu luas. Berbagai ulangan dari motif-motif nada yang “ditahan”
sebagai landasan melodi (seperti pada gramatika musik tradisi) masih sangat terasa.
Walaupun pengolahan melodi sendiri diolah dari varian-varian laras atau surupan
yang sangat kaya akan tetapi gaya serta ciri pembawaannya masih bertahan pada
idiom tradisi. Kemudian eksperimentasi dalam hal mencari kemungkinan lain dari
warna bunyi atau tekstur bunyi gamelan yang digunakan, kurang tersentuh.
Penggunaan instrumen buatan sendiri pun hanya berfungsi sebagai “efek” saja
(seperti suara angin) atau hanya untuk memperkuat aksen dan suasana. Tetapi di sisi
lain, pengembangan teknik orkestrasi/instrumentasi, penciptaan motif-motif bersifat
tutti, dialog antara instrumen, perbedaan dinamika yang kontras, perubahan-
perubahan tempo secara signifikan adalah merupakan hal-hal yang penting untuk
dipertimbangkan sebagai suatu pembaruan jika dibandingkan dengan musik gamelan
sebelumnya (tradisi).

Sebagai kesimpulan dapat dinyatakan bahwa, beberapa pengembangan

musikal yang dilakukan oleh Lili pada karya “Yudha Bajra”, terjebak oleh suatu
drama atau cerita. Akhirnya karya musik ini lebih cocok untuk sebuah illustrasi atau
semacam musik program, karena berbagai materi-materi yang diciptakan orientasinya
selalu berdasar pada sebuah peristiwa atau cerita. Intinya adalah, karya “Komposisi
Musik Dramatik Yudha Bajra” adalah merupakan bentuk kesenian pertunjukan
wayang tanpa wayang. Tampaknya, inilah aspek pembaruannya.

Di samping pembaruan musik gamelan yang orientasinya pada aspek iringan

atau illustrasi, terdapat beberapa komponis lain yang membuat karya gamelan
berdasarkan pada materi yang lebih otonom. Karya-karya mereka sebenarnya tidak
lepas dari tradisi, akan tetapi memperluas berbagai kemungkinan lain dari suatu
esensi yang terdapat pada tradisi. Terlepas dari kualitasnya, beberapa karya yang
telah diciptakan oleh Yudi Sukmayadi (Opat Lima Tujuh), Dody Satya EG (Bala
Katunda), Dedy Hernawan (Boyong), Oya Yukarya (komposisi untuk gamelan Bali)
dan komponis lainnya, sangat menegaskan upaya pembaruan yang memiliki sikap
serta motivasi berbeda dengan dua contoh tadi. Apa yang dilakukan para komponis
ini, setidaknya memiliki sikap serta ideologi yang kurang lebih sama dengan penulis.

EKSPERIMENTASI BUNYI DAN PERLUASAN GRAMATIKA MUSIK

GAMELAN PADA KARYA “FONEM”

Menurut penulis, titik tolak dalam upaya melakukan eksperimentasi bunyi

serta perluasan gramatik musik gamelan, berawal dari kepekaan melihat kapasitas
musikal yang berdasar pada latar belakang tradisinya sendiri. Untuk lebih mengetahui
serta memahami tradisi musik sendiri, kadang-kadang penulis mesti mencoba keluar
dari tradisi itu (menjadi seorang outsider) agar segalanya bisa tampak hingga dapat
menilai secara objektif tentang kapasitas tradisi yang merasa penulis miliki itu. Dari
hal itu penulis dapat merasakan bahwa terdapat potensi-potensi yang harus
dikembangkan serta diperluas tentang hal-hal yang menurut pandangan penulis masih
terlalu sempit.
Melalui karya “Fonem”, penulis ingin sedikit memberi gambaran tentang
upaya apa yang telah dilakukan penulis sendiri dalam memperluas gramatika musik
serta upaya melakukan eksperimen tentang pengolahan berbagai warna bunyi pada
instrumen gamelan. Berdasarkan pada apa yang dikemukakan penulis tentang iklim
kesenian di daerah sunda, penulis berusaha untuk tidak menggunakan gramatika
musik yang telah baku, tidak membuat bentuk-bentuk iringan atau menggambarkan
sesuatu. Akan tetapi dalam karya “fonem” ini, penulis berangkat dari pengolahan
materi melalui suatu pemikiran serta cita rasa secara personal.

Karya “fonem” terinspirasi oleh suatu peristiwa musik yang terdapat pada seni
wayang golek, terutama hubungan musikal antara gamelan, nayaga dan dalang pada
saat kakawen atau nyandra. Berbagai esensi yang terdapat dalam peristiwa itu, seperti
aksen-aksen gamelan yang mempertegas suasana, alur melodi yang berfungsi
memberi surupan pada dalang, reaksi atau respon nayaga terhadap cerita yang
dibawakan, menjadi sumber materi dalam karya ini. Untuk menjelaskan esensi di
atas dan hubungannya dengan karya “fonem” tidak bisa diuraikan secara detail pada
makalah ini, namun sekedar contoh dapat penulis uraikan salah satu kasus tentang
bagaimana penulis mengembangkan esensi itu.

Dalam musik gamelan wayang, nada 1 (barang) dan 4 (bem) adalah nada
patokan sebagai surupan untuk seorang dalang ketika kakawen atau nyandra, ketika
pemain gamelan membunyikan nada itu sebenarnya apa yang dimainkan bukan
bagian dari suatu gending akan tetapi hanya sekedar memberi surupan. Tetapi hampir
setiap saat dalang kakawen/nyandra, nada itu selalu dibunyikan sehingga jika tanpa
membunyikan nada itu seperti ada sesuatu yang hilang. Bagi penulis fenomena ini
sangat menarik. Untuk memperluas persoalan itu di dalam karya “fonem” penulis
mengolah aspek ritmis dari satu nada yaitu nada 1 (barang). Seperti contoh berikut
ini.

Dari notasi di atas dapat dilihat bahwa karena hanya satu nada yang
dibunyikan sehingga baik aspek warna suara maupun intensitasnya pada setiap
instrumen lebih dapat dirasakan perbedaannya. Kemudian struktur ritme gambang
serta ritme yang bersifat “pooling” (pada tempat-tempat tertentu) yang dimainkan
oleh beberapa instrumen lainnya memberi aksen-aksen tertentu sehingga bentuk-
bentuk motifisnya secara auditif sulit diprediksi secara persis. Dari pengolahan seperti
ini akhirnya, secara musikal tak ada lagi hubungan antara fenomena musik wayang
seperti yang dikemukakan di atas dengan karya “fonem”.
 Selaiin contoh peerluasan gram
matika seperrti di atas, paada karya “fo
fonem” penuulis
m
mencoba meelakukan suaatu eksperim
men dengan tujuan
t agar terdapat
t suattu warna bunnyi
s
serta bentuk
k-bentuk mellodi yang laiin dari bentuuk melodi paada tradisi gaamelan Sundda.
E
Eksperimen itu antara lain merekayasa uruttan atau peenempatan penclon paada

i
instrumen bo
onang dan riincik. Penem
mpatannya seeperti di baw
wah ini.

Pencclon-penclonn itu merupakkan kombinaasi dari larass pelog dan laras salendrro.
K
Kombinasi itu tidak beertujuan meembuat tanggga nada baaru, akan teetapi pencloon-
p
penclon itu ditempatkann hanya sebbagai saranaa agar dapatt memainkaan alur meloodi
t
tertentu den
ngan tempo yang cepaat. Dan jikaa alur meloddi itu dimaainkan denggan
p
penempatan mainkannyaa.14
secara normal, tampaknya akann sangat keesulitan mem
D
Dengan peenempatan seperti itu, secara teknis
t pem
main akan lebih muddah
m
memainkann
nya seperti ketika Ia memainkan
m bentuk-benntuk melodi pada tradiisi,
s
sedangkan hasil
h melodinnya di luar bayangan
b peemainnya. Lihat
L contoh notasi berikkut
i
ini.

A
Alur melodii ini tentu saja tidak seesuai dengann hasil bunyyinya. Pada notasi di ataas,
m
misalnya nada itu turun sedangkan hasilnya
h munngkin nada itu
i naik. Selain itu, benttuk
                                                            
1
14
 Konsep ini sebbenarnya memilliki esensi yang kurang
k lebih sam
ma seperti yang pernah
p dilakukann oleh John Cagge
pada Prepared
d Piano. 
melodi yang dimainkan pada penclon yang diletakan secara normal dan penclon yang
diletakan terbalik akan dengan sendirinya menghasilkan warna bunyi yang berbeda.
Hal ini setidaknya menghindari kesan melodi konvensional, sebab jika tidak
dilakukan penempatan seperti ini kesan melodi konvensional itu akan sangat terasa,
karena struktur penempatan pada bonang tradisi sendiri secara teknis sangat
mengikat.

Perluasan warna bunyi lainnya antara lain, Gong besar diletakan di bawah
agar bunyinya tidak terlalu panjang, beberapa instrumen wilah dibunyikan dengan
bantuan mulut agar terjadi vibrasi, alat untuk menabuhnya sedikit divariasikan seperti
gong yang dipukul oleh tangan, beberapa penclon yang ditabuh dengan pemukul yang
keras, dan lain sebagainya. Untuk mengimbangi berbagai warna bunyi itu dilibatkan
satu perangkat komputer yang dapat memproduksi berbagai warna suara yang diolah
secara elektronis. Bunyi-bunyi yang diproduksi oleh komputer itu digunakan
seperlunya agar tekstur bunyi secara keseluruhan menjadi satu kesatuan yang
melebur.

Demikian sekilas gambaran upaya pembaruan musik gamelan yang pernah

penulis lakukan. Mudah-mudahan melalui analisis singkat ini dapat memberi
gambaran juga tentang pembaruan musik yang berkembang di daerah Sunda.
 International Gamelan Festival Amsterdam IGFA
Conference – Schedule and Abstracts
13 – 14 June 2007, Tropentheater

Wednesday 13 June 2007

Location: KIT Tropentheater, Kleine Zaal, Theater Entrance Linneausstraat 2, Amsterdam
Desk open from 09.00h, phone 020 – 5688500; cell phone Henrice Vonck 06 47818687
Cell Phone Dieter Mack: +49-171-526 91 27

Indonesian Contemporary Gamelan: Developing the Tradition or Separated from

the Tradition?

09:30 – 09:35 Welcome by Emiel Barendsen, programme manager Tropentheater

Opening by the chairman Dieter Mack

09:35 – 10:00 Keynote by Prof. Dr. Waridi, ISI Surakarta

“Musik Gamelan: Sebuah Catatan Tentang Pendidikan,
Kehidupan, dan Kekaryaan”
“Gamelan Music: Remarks About Education, Life and Work”

10:00 – 10:45 Dr. Rustopo, ISI Surakarta

„Metamorfosis Gending Undur-Undur Kajongan"

10:45 – 11.30 Iwan Gunawan, UPI Bandung

“Pembaruan Musik Gamelan di Jawa Barat Ditinjau dari Eksperimen
Bunyi dan Perluasan Gramatika Musik“
“Renewal of Gamelan Music in Westjava: Sound Experimentation and
Extension of Musical Grammatics”

11.30 – 12:15 Prof. Dr. I Wayan Dibia, ISI Denpasar

“Changes of Gong Kebyar Composition During the Last
two Decades”

12:15– 13.30 Lunch and Javanese Lunch Concert

13:30 – 14:15 I Madé Arnawa, ISI Denpasar

“Pendro – A somewhat Hybrid Gamelan”

14:15 – 15:00 AL Suwardi, ISI Surakarta

“Gamelan Gentha” , workshop with group ISI Surakarta

15:00 – 15:15 Tea Break

15:15 – 16:00 Wayne Vitale, “Sekar Jaya”, California

“Modal Revolution in Kebyar Music:
The Music of Dewa Ketut Alit

16:00 – 16:45 I Wayan Sadra, ISI Surakarta

“Apa Perlunya Identitas”/ “For What Do We Need Identity?”

16:45 – 17:30 Jonas Bisquert, Utrecht

“Tradition, Innovation, Gamelan and Attention Span”
 2

Thursday 14 June 2007

Contemporary Gamelan Music Outside Indonesia

09:30 – 10:15 Sinta Wullur, Amsterdam

“Amalgam: About the Gamelan Music of Sinta Wullur”

10.15 – 11:00 Prof. Dr. Henry Spiller, Univ. of California, Davis

“Even More Western Than it Sounds: Lou Harrison’s Music for
Gamelan and Western Instruments”,

11:00 – 11:15 Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:00 Andrew Timar, Evergreen Club Gamelan, Toronto

“…not just a tribute band to another culture.”
An examination of the repertoire and twenty-three-year career of
Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, Canada’s first performing
gamelan, with particular focus on its Intermedia and cross-cultural
works, and how the group negotiates its place in an increasingly
multivalent and multi-cultural musical marketplace.

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch and Javanese Lunch Concert

Location: KIT Tropenmuseum, Lichthal, Museum Entrance Linneausstraat 2, Amsterdam

14.00 – 14:45 Jurrien Sligter

“On the topicality of Ton de Leeuw’s concept of
‘Acculturation’”.

14.45 – 15.30 Klaus Kuiper and “Ensemble Gending”, Amsterdam

presents young composers of Utrecht Conservatory

15:30 – 15:45 Tea Break

15:45– 16:30 Jody Diamond, Dartmouth College of Music, N.H.

“Interaction: compositional processes in new music for
gamelan”

16:30 – 17:15 Joko Susilo, University of Otago, Dunedin/New Zealand

"Contemporary and Innovative Wayang (shadow puppet)
outside Indonesia"

17:15 Closing

20.00 Concert Gamelan NOW (register tickets via www.kit.nl/igfa)

All lecture presentations are supposed to last about 30 minutes and have 15 minutes of
discussion.
 3

Abstracts and Curriculum Vitae

Prof. Dr. Waridi, ISI Surakarta
“Musik Gamelan: Sebuah Catatan Tentang Pendidikan,
Kehidupan, dan Kekaryaan”
“Gamelan Music: Remarks About Education, Life and Work”

For centuries, gamelan music lives and is embedded as a culture and tradition in the
socico-cultural realm of its supporting society. Gamelan music is also signified by
aesthetical considerations and theoretical concepts, besides its peculiar functions for the
cultural life of its society. Therefore the continuity of gamelan music must be seen
strongly connected with: the transfer of the ability of playing gamelan, the contribution
of gamelan music to the cultural life of its society, the development of its compositions
and its accomodational character.
In the hands of a maestro the knowledge and ability of playing the music (including the
cultural context) is always transfered to the next younger generation. Our maestros have
their own way in ensuring that transfer and the onging gamelan activities in various
ways. One possibility is the composing of new works for gamelan of different nature but
with the breath of the contemporary. Another is a systematic approach to playing and
notation, and the third one is providing written documents on playing techniques and
theoretical concepts.
Until the middle of the 1980s, gamelan music was also taught in the formal schools
(Grammar school, middle school, high school). There had been competitions and the
music existied actively in the middle of its society. During the further development of
music education in Indonesia, those formal schools tended more to Western music. It
was a result of a growing alienation of the young generation towards their own cultural
heritage.
In that moment the term ”contemporary gamelan” (gamelan kontemporer”) came up,
but with very different and even contrasting interpretations by the Indonesians
themselves. There had been people declaring ”contemporary gamelan” as something
completely cut off from the tradtion, and there had been others who declared that
contemporary gamelan is always the spear head of the ongoing development of the
traditional gamelan.
As a matter of fact, it may be stated that gamelan music developed without any certain
limits. This attitude ”gamelan without limits and borders” may be seen in pieces that
have been created but are not clearly rooted in the gamelan tradition. Seen from another
point of view, the extension of the meaning and significance of gamelan music tended to
impede the development of real gamelan music. As a matter of fact, gamelan music may
include elements of other ethnic musical forms, but it seems to be obvious that such
tendencies are not in favour of the musics from those other ethnics as well as for
gamelan music itself. Therefore it is my strong opinion that contemporary gamelan music
has to give priority to an approach that is emerging directly from the gamelan music
tradition. Then the new works will have an important signficance for the compositorical
world of gamelan music and its related activities. This may only continue if the
composers focus on compositions for the gamelan itself, and therefore we need skilled
and responsible composers.

Waridi was born in Boyolali in 1959. Since his childhood he loved to attend
performances of traditional arts, especially Javanese gamelan. In 1970 he finished his
basic education and 1976 his education at the School for Religion Teachers. Since 1978
he learned gamelan music seriously at ASKI Surakarta and in 1984 he finished his
studies there with the title of “karawitan artist”. In 1998 he finished his MA in Human
Sciences at UGM Yogyakarta. Since April 2006 he became Professor for Karawitan
Sciences and is currently teaching at ISI Surakarta He has already finsihed 13 books
both as a writer as well as an editor. As a karawitan composer he has already composed
more than 30 gamelan compositions for various functions. He often visits seminars in and
outside Indonesia and has visited many countries. Currently he is working on two books
 4

about a) the philosophy of Karawitan Sciences and b) the Methodology of Research in

Performing Arts.

Dr. Rustopo, ISI Surakarta

„Metamorfosis Gending Undur-Undur Kajongan"/“Metamorphose of Gending
Undur-Undur Kajongan“

Until now, gending“ Undur-Undur Kajongan“ is a main repertoire piece of the Kasunan
court in Surakarta. At the same time it has inspired a lot of contemporary composers like
Balcius Subopno, Rahayu Supanggah, Wayan Sadra and others. Similar to the
metamorphosis of a larva becoming a butterfly, the composers have created
compositions that still have the spirit of gending “Undur-Undur Kajongan”, but the form
and the function has been changed according to the imagination of each composer.
(Dr. Rustopo is a composer and ethnomusicologist. He has studied at ISI Surakarta and
is currently teaching composition)

Dr. Rustopo, S.Kar., M.S. was born on 30 November 1952 in Central Jawa Tengah; he
is teacher at ISI Surakarta since 1978. His main works in contemporary gamelan are:
“Duradasih” (1980), “Ngalor-Ngidul” (1982), “Jaidul” (1990), “Gerondang” (1995),
“Gatra Mahakarya” (1996), “Rajamusuweo” (1997), “Istighfar” (1997). As an
ethnomusicologist he has published various writings, for example: “Karawitan Zaman
Pakubuwana X” (1987), “Sang Gladiator, Biografi Gendon Humardani” (1990), “Gamelan
Kontemporer di Surakarta” (1992), “Sadra dan Waljinah” (1999), “Menjadi Jawa” (2006).

Iwan Gunawan, UPI Bandung

“Pembaruan Musik Gamelan di Jawa Barat Ditinjau dari Eksperimen Bunyi dan
Perluasan Gramatika Musik“
“Renewal of Gamelan Music in Westjava: Sound Experimentation and
Extension of Musical Grammatics”

The paradigm of gamelan music as an art form of a special ethnic or society group is
currently changing. Various innovations that have been done by Indonesian and non-
Indonesian composers prove it. Finally the art of gamelan music seems not to be owned
anymore by a certain ethnic but is rather “owned” by individual persons. Beside keeping
on with the tradition, what has been already done by Indonesian and also non-
Indonesian composers? How have they developed gamelan music in terms of sound
experiments and extending the musical grammar? What do I think about these renewals
and where is my personal position in my Sundanese culture as an artist?

Iwan Gunawan, born in 1974, is considered one of the most important contemporary
composers in the West Javanese cultural sphere today. He began to play traditional
gamelan music as early as the age of six. After finishing the SLTP in 1989, Iwan
Gunawan continued his studies at SMKI Bandung and has already started to compose his
first works, mainly in the field of dance music. Between 1992 and 1994 he was also a
member of the ensemble “Gentra Madya” (led by Nano S.) that has recorded various
albums. During his study of composition and music for schools at UPI (Universitas
Pendidikan Indonesia) in Bandung from 1993 - 1999, he concentrated in particular on his
own musical tradition, but also on Western conventions (piano with Iswargia Sudarno,
composition with Dieter Mack). Since 1999 he also started to use electro acoustic
instruments and computers in his music. From 1998 until 2003 he also taught piano at
DKSB Band of Harry Roesli. In 2005 he continued his studies at the post-graduate
program composition of ISI Surakarta, beside teaching piano, kecapi tembang, gamelan
Bali and composition at UPI Bandung.
Iwan Gunawan is one of those rare artists who has been able to preserve his own roots
while at the same time gaining a professional status in Western musical cultures (he is a
dedicated pianist). Contemporary techniques of composition, the use of live electronics
 5

and computers, are a part of Iwan Gunawan’s everyday repertoire.

His works are usually succinct and highly concentrated, shaped primarily by rhythmic
processes stemming not only from his own musical tradition, but also from Balinese
music. The key elements in his music are additive and subtractive rhythmic sequences,
similar to those used by the Minimalists Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Nevertheless, Iwan
Gunawan has found his own form of musical expression and his music does not belong to
this style. Gamelan instruments and piano are his preferred instruments.

Prof. Dr. I Wayan Dibia, ISI Denpasar

“The Changes of Gong Kebyar Composition”

Gong Kebyar is a modern Balinese performing art genre charged with feeling of
momentous change. This article examines the principal changes and development of
Gong Kebyar composition during the last thirty years.
A form of living tradition, Gong Kebyar provides composers, both Balinese and outsiders,
endless of space to creatively integrate their innovative musical concepts and ideas.
While keeping some fundamental concepts and ideas of traditional Balinese music,
nowadays many composers have enriched their new Gong Kebyar composition with
musical ideas their adopted from other cultures including that of the West. Such a
creativity has gradually turned Gong Kebyar composition into a complex multiculturalistic
gamelan music embodying aesthetic values of global cultures.
The conclusion of this article suggests that the change in Gong Kebyar composition is
stimulated by the changes of artistic taste of Balinese composers and audience as a
result of their interaction with outside and global cultures.

I Wayan Dibia, born in Singapadu village of Gianyar, is an artists and scholar

specializing in Balinese performing arts. Trained in a family of artists, he has studied
various forms of classical Balinese dances from different masters on the island. From
1970, Dibia started to experiment with elements of traditional Balinese performing arts to
create new works for a contemporary audience. He has choreographed numerous new
dances and drama, and his innovative art works have gained high recognition and have
been featured in many important events and art festivals in Indonesia as well as
overseas.
Holding an MA in Dance and a Ph.D. in Southeast Asian Performing Arts, both from the
University of California, Los Angeles, Dibia has written a number of books and articles,
both in English and Bahasa Indonesia. Among his new books are: Kecak Balinese Vocal
Chant, and Balinese Dance, Music and Drama he wrote with Rucina Ballinger. As a
performing artist he has toured internationally. From 1997 to 2002 he served as Director
of STSI Denpasar. While teaching at STSI or now ISI Denpasar, Mr. Dibia has recently
opened a house for performing art creativity, GEOKS, in his home village. From Fall
2005 through Spring 2007, he was visiting fellow of Balinese performing arts at The
College of Holy Cross, Massachusetts, to teach Balinese music and dance.

I Madé Arnawa, ISI Denpasar

“Pendro – A somewhat Hybrid Gamelan”

“Pendro” is a short form of the combination of the two terms “pelog” and “slendro”, the
two basic scale systems. It refers to a composition of mine where I combined two
different sets of gamelan, namely the gamelan gong kebyar (pelog) and and the four-
tone gamelan angklung (slendro). Therefore the new word “pendro” symbolizes a new
identity which is more than a mere combination of both. I did that in remembrance of the
old “Prakempa” lontar, where it is written that the combination of both scales will have a
great emotional impact on someone listening to such music. A second reason is to
contribute something unique to our newest developments in Balinese gamelan music.
(I Madé Arnawa is teacher at ISI Denpasar)
 6

I Madé Arnawa was born in 1961 in Tunjuk/Tabanan. After his studies at SMKI in
Batubulan, he joined the art academy STSI Denpasar (now ISI) to receive his S 1
degree, and later became stuff member for teaching karawitan and composition. In 2000
he continued his studies in composition at STSI Surakarta (with Rahayu Supanggah and
Dieter Mack) and finished his MA degree in 2002. He was often invited by “Sekar Jaya”
group, California to be their guest artist and also presented his music in Germany at the
Gamelan Festival at the House of World Cultures in Berlin (2005) and the Gamelan
Festival in Rotterdam in 2006.

Al. Suwardi, ISI Surakarta

Aloysius Suwardi (born 1951 in Sukoharjo, Central Java) studied gamelan music at
high school conservatory (Kokar) then at the Akademi Seni Karawitan Indonesia (ASKI,
college conservatory) in Surakarta and completed his M.A. in ethnomusicology at
Wesleyan University, U.S.A. in 1997.
In 1985 – 87 he was a Fulbright visiting scholar to the US; teaching at Oberlin College,
Ohio; Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Wisconsin University, Madison,
Wisconsin.
He developed a fine reputation as a composer, gamelan teacher, gamelan player (both
traditionally and contemporarily), gamelan tuner and restorer, experimental-instrument
maker, so it is not surprisingly that he obtains an appellation of “a man of many talents.”
. His compositions were performed in many different cities in the world to participate in
new music festival such as: Indonesian-American Cultural Exhibition in the U.S. and
Canada; The First International Music Festival in Samarkand, Uzbekistan; Asean-
Composer League in Bangkok, Thailand; Island to Island Festival in London, U.K;
National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and Cape Town, South Africa and many others.

His recent works entitled “Swara-Gentha” (the sound of gentha: ‘cow-bell like’), and
“Tumbuk” (‘coincidences’) were performed with great success in the “Art Summit
Indonesia III”, the most prestigious performing-arts festival in Indonesia in 2001.

Wayne Vitale, “Sekar Jaya”, California

“Modal Revolution in Kebyar Music:The Music of Dewa Ketut Alit”

The paper will examine a ground-breaking piece in the development of Balinese kebyar
music -- the work "Geregel" by Dewa Ketut Alit of Pengosekan, composed in 2000 for
Çudamani's gamelan semaradana. Modal techniques in traditional pieces for other
gamelan genres, and those in previous music for this hybrid gamelan will be examined,
to understand the nature of Alit's innovations and their implications for future
composition in Bali.

Wayne Vitale is a composer, performer, scholar, author, teacher, recording engineer,

and instrument conservator in the field of Balinese gamelan music. He is the director of
Gamelan Sekar Jaya, a fifty-member California-based ensemble with an unparalleled
world-wide reputation for its cross-cultural and collaborative work. In 2000 Sekar Jaya
was the recipient of the Dharma Kusuma, Bali's highest award for artistic achievement,
never before given to a foreign group. As a composer and performer, Vitale has created
numerous works for Balinese gamelan, played both by Sekar Jaya and several of the
finest gamelan ensembles in Bali. He owns a recording company, Vital Records
(www.vitalrecords.ws), that has released critically acclaimed CDs of Balinese music. He
has also devoted himself to the metallic art of gamelan tuning, frequently travelling
throughout the United States and Europe to tune and restore Balinese instruments.
 7

I Wayan Sadra, ISI Surakarta

“Apa Perlunya Identitas”/ “For What Do We Need Identity?”

The paper deals with the experiences of a composer who since more than 30 years has
left his birthplace Bali that is well-known for its highly charged musical culture. In his
new world this composer has found himself without any identity except his personal one
as an individual that does not refer to any special tradition at all. Various musical aspects
from many traditions have had an influence on the artistic creativity of that composer.
These aspects have been regarded as musical material, free from any cultural burdens or
meanings. Having made such experiences, the composer asks again about the
significance and value of those traditions. Until today more people just create arbitrary
classifications concerning the music itself. But at the same moment they completely
neglect the spirit and the soul of that music.

I Wayan Sadra was born in 1952 in Kaliungu Kaja/Denpasar, Bali. He started to play
gamelan with the age of five and in 1974 he finished his studies at KOKAR Bali. He then
went to Jakarta to study fine arts at LPKJ (now IKJ) for two semesters. In 1984 he
changed to ASKI (now ISI) Surakarta as a teacher and karawitan student. 1987 he
finished his S 1 and 2002 his S 2 degree. Since 1978 I Wayan Sadra has composed a lot
of music pieces in different genres (dance music, musicalisation of poems, installations,
theatre music, autonomous concerts) that have been presented in numerous concerts in
and outside Indonesia. 1991 he received the “New Horizon Award” from the Society for
Art, Science and Technology (ISAST) in the US. Besides composing, he also writes about
music in various media. He also was the planner and curator of music festivals . Until
today he is teaching at ISI Surakarta and is the leader of the karawitan dpt.

Jonas Bisquert, Utrecht

"Tradition, innovation, gamelan and attention span".

The way sensory attention is devoted to gamelan repertoire varies substantially

depending on the subject and his/her background: from the traditional player all the way
to the occasional foreign listener. The very purpose of gamelan music-making
also differs, ranging from the neighbourly weekly karawitan latihan to a contemporary
gamelan festival.
Let's analyse some colours of the rainbow of gamelan repertoire from the perspective of
the listening ear. Changes in the perceivers, as well as the environment in which
gamelan music is produced, certainly have consequences for the contents of its making.
Especially attention span, being an important element of perception, could be crucial
to influence musical aspects such us timbre, character and form.

Jonas Bisquert was born in Madrid, Spain in 1978 and started his musical studies with
the age of 8. After receiving his degrees for piano in Spain, he finshed his BA in
composition at the Conservatory in Utrecht. Since 2005 he intensified his ethnic music
studies in Carnatic and Indonesian gamelan music (especially at the Conservatory in
Amsterdam with Rafael Reina and Jos Zwanenburg). Acoustics and micro tonality are his
special interests.
During his carrier as a composer he has already worked in master classes with such well-
known composers as George Crumb, Györgi Ligeti and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He has
written works for various genres, including also works for the “Ensemble Gending” and
“Gamelan Ensemble Multifoon”.
 8

Sinta Wullur, Amsterdam

"Amalgam - About the Gamelan Music Concept of Sinta Wullur”

Since the first composition Sinta Wullur made for a gamelan orchestra in 1988 she
developed a musical language which has the mixture of the traditions from both the
gamelan and the western music. First the mixture appears in the structure of the
composition which is played on traditional gamelan instruments. In “Ganantara” for
example, instruments which usual play ornaments get a function as carrier of the nuclear
melody, ornaments are transformed into independent objects like birdcalls and nuclear
melodies are played in a canon instead of being the cantus firmus part of the
heterophonic structure. After having ordered the chromatically tuned gamelan
instruments it becomes possible to involve a mixture in the pitch class of the
composition. A frequently used idiom in her compositions are the pentachords, chords
that consist of five tones derived from the pentatonic gamelan modes.
These chords are possible in all transpositions and all permutations. They are applied in
her compositions as such that the music (based on gamelan structures) can modulate
like the music from Bach.

Sinta Wullur was born in Indonesia and emigrated to Holland in 1968.

After she got her piano degree at the Sweelinck Conservatory she started her activities
as a composer and gamelan musician. She studied composition with Ton de Leeuw, Theo
Loevendie and Louis Andriessen and got her degree in composition in 1991. Interested in
non-Western music and determined to integrate this music in her own works, she
participated in international workshops and conferences on traditional non-western music
and modern composition techniques whenever she got the opportunity. A couple of
months in a year she studied gamelan and singing with several teachers in Bali and Java.
In 1995 she ordered a set of chromatically tuned gamelan instruments to use in her
compositions and her own gamelan ensemble “Multifoon”. As a composer she receives
commissions to write for Dutch ensembles and soloists. Integration of the east and the
west forms an important issue in her work, which can be discerned in her compositions
for western music ensembles as well as in her works for gamelan ensembles with or
without western instruments.

Prof. Dr. Henry Spiller, University of California, Davis

“Even More Western Than it Sounds: Lou Harrison’s Music for Gamelan and
Western Instruments”

Composer Lou Harrison (1917-2003) is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in forging

successful musical fusions between Eastern and Western musics. Among his most highly
regarded fusion works are various pieces that combine Javanese or Sundanese gamelan
(Indonesian percussion orchestras) and Western instruments. In this paper I
demonstrate how Western musical sensibilities--in particular, Western rhythmic
sensibilities--permeate even those aspects of these works that seem "authentically"
Indonesian. I suggest that it is this covert Westernization--which seems to accede to the
untamed exotic but in fact quite surreptitiously domesticates it--that makes Harrison's
hybrids so palatable to Western audiences.

First I explore how Indonesians organize their perceptions of pulse, meter, and phrase in
a way that is foreign to Western sensibilities. I draw on Lerdahl and Jackendoff's
convenient concepts of durationless "beats" separated by (beatless) "time-spans"
(1983:18) to characterize the difference: a Western sensibility associates a beat with the
time-span that follows it (an approach which I call "front-weighted"), while an Indonesian
sensibility associates a beat with the time-span that precedes it ("end-weighted").
Although many of the larger formal structures of Western music are arguably end-
weighted, Westerners conceive beats (and perhaps even measures) as inherently front-
weighted. In contrast, all the basic formal structures of gamelan music, as well as
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virtually all of the beat-level details of its performance practice, depend on an end-
weighted approach.

At first glance, many of Harrison's pieces for gamelan and Western instruments appear to
present the essence of "traditional" gamelan music into which Western instruments and
melodic sensibilities have somehow somehow been seamlessly integrated. In some
cases, Harrison achieves this integration by problematizing and overcoming some glaring
point of musical difference, such as tuning; for instance, in "Main Bersama-sama" for
horn and Sundanese gamelan degung (1978), the horn player is instructed to use
alternate fingerings to match the gamelan's intonation. It appears that the significant
compromises have been made for/by the Western instrument/instrumentalist, while the
gamelan music remains little affected by the fusion. Tuning and formal issues aside, in
both pieces most of the gamelan musicians perform melodic figurations that would be
appropriate in more traditional gamelan music. For many listeners, the effect is a
successful, egalitarian blending of musical sensibilities.

I will demonstrate, however, how "Main Bersama-sama" in fact relies on the subversion
of the usual Indonesian end-weighted rhythmic sensibility to achieve its apparent
rapprochement between East and West. Harrison's use of front-weighted approaches to
rhythm, I argue, neutralizes much of the foreignness of the gamelan without its listeners
even realizing it, because it leaves intact the evocative exoticism that the tunings,
timbres, and melodic idioms of the gamelan instruments provide. Harrison's music is, in
other words, even more Western than it sounds.
(Prof. Dr. Henry Spiller is a gamelan specialist currently assistant professor at the
Universtiy of California, Davis).

Henry Spiller received his BA in music at UC, Santa Cruz in 1978, his M.M. in harp
performance at Holy Names College in 1994, his MA in ethnomusicology at UC Berkeley
in 1996 and his Ph.D. in Music (Ethnomusicology) at UC, Berkeley in 2001 on
improvisational male dance in West Java. Besides various publications his book
“Gamelan: The Traditional Sounds of Indonesia” (Santa Barbara 2004) has received
outstanding reviews.
His professional carrier started with various lectureships on ethnomusicology and world
music in 1979. At Kenyon College, Gambier/Ohio he was Luce Assistant Professor of
Asian Music and Culture and he taught courses in anthropology and ethnomusicology.
Currently he is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of California, Davis. Here he
is also the director of the gamelan ensemble, playing as well in various other American
gamelan groups since 1986. As a harpist he regularly performs with various orchestras
and other Central California ensemble.

Andrew Timar, Toronto

“…not just a tribute band to another culture.”
An examination of the repertoire and twenty-three-year career of Evergreen Club
Contemporary Gamelan, Canada’s first performing gamelan, with particular focus on its
Intermedia and cross-cultural works, and how the group negotiates its place in an
increasingly multivalent and multi-cultural musical marketplace.

With a large majority of its population composed of immigrants, Toronto, Canada’s

largest city is generally thought of, within the Canadian social context, as one of the
world’s most multi-cultural of urban areas. Within this vibrant urban cultural environment
and in a country which has developed its own both praised and contested national multi-
cultural policies, including government-allocated arts funding targeted to various arts
communities, a gamelan group was established in 1983. Initially constituted to serve as a
performance vehicle for a mixed membership of young career musicians and composers,
Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan has in the intervening years developed into a
rarity - a professional gamelan performing group playing, commissioning, recording and
touring its music based on the instruments of its own extended Degung, a type of
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gamelan originally from West Java. Such a group is without musical precedent in Canada.
How has this group of non-Indonesians which has built its career on a culturally-specific
orchestra (gamelan Degung), been able to plant its roots and stake out its own
particular patch of musical ground in the increasingly multivalent and multi-cultural
music markets of the country of its member-players?

This paper explores ways in which the group has done just that. Evergreen Club
Contemporary Gamelan’s extensive 200-plus item repertoire will be examined via audio
and video recordings, scores, promotional and concert documentation, with particular
reference to its works in Intermedia or inter-disciplinary performance forms (opera,
puppet theatre, dance, film, electronic media) and cross-cultural explorations (with the
inclusion of S. Asian, African, Caribbean and western instruments, including orchestra). A
representative sample of its repertoire of works by leading avant-guard composers (i.e.
Cage, Harrison, Tenney, Trembley, Ziporyn, Mack, etc), as well as its arrangements of
works by Sundanese composers (Nano S., B. Sukarma), plus its work in feature film (Ang
Lee, Denzel Washington), short film (Mettler) and video (Manfred Becker) sound tracks
will be assayed.

How does Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan dynamically negotiate its place in an
increasingly multi-cultural Toronto and Canadian musical marketplace? We investigate
how its responses to its various patrons, including concert producers and funding arts
councils mediate the make-up of its performance repertoire and direction of future
projects.

Andrew Timar has been active since finishing his undergraduate music studies at York
University, Toronto (1975), as a musician, composer, editor (founder of Musicworks
magazine), writer, performing arts animator and administrator (New Music Concerts,
New Music Co-op, and Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan). He has served since
1992 as a gamelan music educator for independent schools, the Toronto District School
Board, Royal Ontario Museum, as well as part-time music faculty teaching Gamelan
Studio, York University; Gamelan Studio, and the Royal Conservatory of Music. For two
years, he served as gamelan instructor to members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

He is a co-founder of Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan (1983); Gamelan Toronto

(1995); Sunda Duo (1996, suling, with Bill Parsons, kacapi), and Nada Rasa (1994) with
mrdangam master and York University prof., Trichy Sankaran. Timar has directed the
Gamelan Program for the Toronto District School Board since 2000. That successful
program has put gamelan and its music into the hands of tens of thousands of students
in over 70 Toronto schools thus far.

Jurrien Sligter, Utrecht School of Arts

“On the topicality of Ton de Leeuw’s concept of ‘Acculturation’”.

Starting with Ton de Leeuw’s concept of ‘acculturation’ we will discuss its tenability in
today’s Musics of the World. The search in the structuralist tradition for musical
universals as basic principles that can unite western- and non-western music and
musicians seems to privilege the so-called deep structures, the structural elements in
music, neglecting the surface futures as being accidental. Recent developments in the
study of language competence show however the importance of direct interaction with
the environment in acquiring a language, by doing speech-acts rather than by
elaborating deep-structures. We will discuss the social, cultural and esthetical
consequences of this view for music. We will see a recent example of a composition that
tries to translate deep structures of ‘karawitan’ into a western composition for gamelan
and we will see an example of a composer who is approaching the gamelan as a pure
sound-source.
 11

Finally some attention will be given to a composition by Slamet Sjukur written recently
for Ensemble Gending in which notational problems were encountered in adapting his
score for western use.

Jurrien Sligter is lector music theory and performance practice at the Faculty of Music
of the Utrecht School of the Arts; furthermore, he is coach of ensembles of contemporary
music at the same institute. He is the artistic leader of the gamelan group Ensemble
Gending and the BASHO-Ensemble. With Ensemble Gending he was three times on tour
in Indonesia and he lectured in in Indonesia and in different countries in Europe on
contemporary music and on composing for gamelan.

Jody Diamond, Dartmouth

“Interaction: compositional processes in new music for gamelan”

Sapto Raharjo likes to say “Gamelan is a spirit, not an object.” The corollary for the
creation of music for gamelan might be “Composition is a process, not a product.” And
that might be further expanded to: “Composition is a group process, not an individual
product.” This paper on the “group-process-led-by-a-composer” approach to creating
new music for gamelan will show how this combines both tradition and innovation to
regenerate the former and give life to the latter.
In many gamelan groups, whether in Indonesia or in the over 20 countries in the world
that have gamelan, composition of new pieces is a collaborative process, sometimes led
by an identified composer, and sometimes not. The model for this might be seen as
arising from classical Javanese gamelan music, where a combination of fixed and flexible
elements means essentially that each performance of a piece is in some way a
collaboration between composer and musicians.
As experimental music for gamelan arose and flourished in the second half of the last
century, the way of creating this music was addressed in different contexts both in
Indonesia and abroad: academies and conservatories, villages and communities, groups
with institutional affiliations and independent artists and organizations. Examples of
audio, video, and variations of written scores will illuminate the elements of these
processes in the works of both Indonesian and American composers, including Nyoman
Windha, A.L. Suwardi, Pande Made Sukerta, I Wayan Sadra, Jody Diamond, Daniel
Goode, and Lou Harrison.

Jody Diamond is a composer, scholar, and educator. She is an international expert on

contemporary music for Indonesian and international gamelan, and has received a
Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Fellowship (Indonesia 1988-89) and two National
Endowment of the Humanities Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent
Scholars (1991, 2007). She is the editor and publisher of Balungan, an international
journal devoted to Southeast Asian performing arts and their international counterparts.
Her compositions for gamelan, voice and other instruments have been performed
internationally. Ms. Diamond is the director of the American Gamelan Institute, and a
Senior Lecturer at Dartmouth College. Beginning September 2007 she will be an Artist-
in-Residence at Harvard University to inaugurate a composers’ gamelan program with
Gamelan Si Betty, built by Lou Harrison and William Colvig.

Dr. Joko Susilo, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

"Contemporary and Innovative Wayang (shadow puppet) outside Indonesia"
 12

Dr. Joko Susilo was born in Central Java in 1963. He graduated from ASKI Surakarta
(now ISI) in 1986 with a bachelor for puppetry. He received his MA from the University of
Otago, Dunedin/New Zealand in 1995 and his Ph.D. in 2000.
Since 1974 he already performed as a freelance puppeteer and since 1986 he became
lecturer at STSI Surakarta. From 1994 – 95 he taught Javanese Gamelan at Victoria
University, Wellington New Zealand and since 1995 at the University of Otago, Dunedin.
Between 1999 and 2005 he was two time research assistant of Dr. Erich Kohlig from the
Dpt. of Anthropology. Various short-time lectureships have brought him around the
world, especially to America and Great Britain. Currently he is still teaching Gamelan at
the University of Otago and also Indonesian language. Beside his extensive teaching and
performing, Dr. Joko Susilo has also written many books and articles on puppet playing.

A full reader of the conference – in English and Indonesian - will be sent afterwards.