GSJ Ensembles
Gamelan Gong Kebyar
The music of the gamelan gong kebyar exploits the particular capabilities of the instruments in the ensemble. The 10-key range of the 4 pemades, 4 kantilans and the ugal make broad and adventurous melodies possible. The reyong, composed of twelve small gongs, or “pots” and played by four musicians, is used in a number of ways which make a salient contribution to the music. Sometimes it bursts free from the texture to play dazzling “solos” (quartets, actually, since there are four musicians involved) on its own. Another characteristic reyong sound is ocak-ocakan, a combination of 8 pots sounded together in a brassy chord and combined with the kendang and cengceng. The pots are also played on the lower rim, which results in a sound similar to that of the cengceng. And of course it also plays along melodically, fitting in with the rest of the ensemble in a more conventional manner.
At the time of its inception, kebyar music was largely a hodgepodge of borrowed material and pastiches clothed in musical modernisms. It began to accumulate its own repertoire after the 1920s, when a dancer from Tabanan village named Maria (Mah-ree-yhe) took the Balinese scene by storm. His creations interpreted the capricious nature of the new music with free form choreographies that featured intricate movements of the upper body and a wide range of facial expressions. The Kebyar Duduk, or sitting kebyar, and Kebyar Trompong, in which the dancer performs upon the trompong amid great histrionics, swept the island, and Maria was instantly in demand everywhere as a teacher of the new style.
Maria’s creations helped to coin an entire genre known as tari lepas – free dances. Free in this context refers not to the choreography, as most tari lepas music and dance are meticulously planned down to the last angsel, but rather to the brevity of the performance and its independence from any larger theatrical form. Kebyar Duduk, Kebyar Trompong, and dozens of others that subsequently joined the repertoire now form the substance of an evening\‘s kebyar performance, augmented with some more classical dances – Baris, for example, and perhaps even Legong. Other important tari lepas include Oleg Tambulilingan (created by Maria in 1951 for the Peliatan gamelan\‘s world tour), which portrays two bumblebees in courtship, and the powerful Teruna Jaya (Victorious Youth) from North Bali, a long and difficult dance of great subtlety and beauty that has become a true Balinese classic. Teruna Jaya is a virtuosic effort for both musicians and dancers and is considered to be the quintessential kebyar-style piece. One reliable test of a drummer\‘s mettle is the ease with which he can negotiate a performance of it.
Rounding out tari lepas performances are the new instrumental compositions, the real medium for musical experimentation. From the early days such pieces featured, among other revolutionary musical devices, the occasional abandonment of colotomic principles, the substitution of free rhythm for steady pulse, abrupt stops and starts, and musical forms based around a series of melodic snippets rather than a substantial main movement. Melodies of breadth and scope gave way to a musical language that aimed for virtuosity, speed and special effects. The novelty could not last, of course, but the most gifted musicians were ultimately able to transcend the limits of music based on such superficial notions to create works of great elegance and integrity.
The more or less standard form for kebyar instrumental compositions (kreasi baru, as they are usually called) that emerged during the middle of the century consists of five sections separated by transition passages. There are generally two ways to begin a piece. One is the “kebyar” proper – a jagged, irregular and forceful melody played in perfect unison by the entire ensemble. Only the kempli is silent, as no regular beat is intended. The amount of practice needed to perfect the coordination of such unstable rhythms is evident, and the effect in performance is electric. Another kind of opening is the gineman – a series of short phrases separated by pauses. Each of the phrases may involve a different combination of instruments, but the predominant sound is that of little bursts of kotekan and melody played by the gangsas, calungs and jegogans. Three internal sections, connected to each other by freely composed links, succeed to the opening. They showcase, in any order, interlocking rhythmic variations for the drums, gangsas, and the reyong. A finale for the whole gamelan closes the piece in a boisterous and flamboyant fashion.
Most kreasi baru have shown themselves to be pretty ephemeral; only some pieces have demonstrated staying power. The reason for this is not necessarily connected to any notions of quality, rather it is a function of the great quantity of compositions that have appeared. Groups tiring of a given piece simply request new ones from their resident director or from an outside composer. A few have become standards in the repertoire, though. Gambang Suling, composed in the 1960s and based partly on a popular Javanese melody of the period, is one such piece. Kapi Raja and Jaya Semara are two nearly identical kebyar-style compositions that have also proven very durable.
The short history of kebyar has already borne witness to the rise and fall of a pantheon of musical giants. In the beginning the Singaraja area monopolized the scene with famous groups in the neighboring villages of Jagaraga and Sawan. The former was the birthplace of the influential drummer and teacher Gede Manik. These villages (and many others in North Bali) still have active gamelan associations, but their island-wide fame has diminished. From the 30s to the 60s the crown was passed between a number of villages around Denpasar – Belaluan, Sadmertha, and Sibang, to name a few – and the village of Peliatan some 20-odd kilometers to the north. Pressure to innovate was fierce in those days, and intergroup competition was cutthroat. Tales of spies sent to observe rival groups\’ rehearsals and enormous fees paid to secure exclusive rights to a teacher for a new piece (plans often frustrated by sabotage and shady dealing) illustrate the ruthless zeal with which the new music was propagated.
Two groups that emerged in the 1960s are still very famous today, although they are more or less dormant unless fulfilling obligations to perform sacred music in the temple or playing for some other special occasion. These are in the villages of Geladag, south of Denpasar, and Pindha, near Blahbatuh in Gianyar district. Each is situated in an area that has been musically fertile since long before the advent of kebyar. Mention of either group will kindle flames of near-nationalistic fervor in the eyes of Balinese who live anywhere around either of those places. Both maintain expansive repertoires of lelambatan for use in the temple as well as an array of modern dance and music pieces, which in many cases were given their first and definitive performances by these groups. To hear the best of kebyar while in Bali, it is well worth inquiring as to whether or not either the Pindha or Geladag group is engaged for a temple or recreational performance. If not, it is not difficult to commission something, even on short notice (details on how to do this will be given in the last chapter). These are phenomenally proficient orchestras, among the tightest and most polished musical organizations in the world. Hearing them on their home turf can be one of the best reasons to get off the beaten track in Bali.
No gamelan in the past quarter century or so (save for the conservatory groups) has achieved enough fame to challenge the supremacy of Pindha and Geladag. One close contender emerged in the 1970s in the village of Perean, Tabanan district. A recording of their ensemble from that period displays the absolute summit of gamelan speed and virtuosity: kotekan played at a rate of 200 beats per minute. At four subdivisions per beat that breaks down to 800 notes per minute, or an average of 400 notes each for polos and sangsih parts, which in turn translates to almost 7 notes per player per second! Can one conceive of 25 people doing anything together that fast? All of this was executed with crystalline clarity and accompanied, one might surmise, by facial expressions of utter nonchalance and boredom during performance. Regrettably, Perean\‘s group disbanded soon after those recordings were made. Some of the musicians and their families subsequently transmigrated to Sumatra on an Indonesian government resettlement and land development program. In the spring of 1989, however, a revival organized by some of those who remained behind led to some very strong comeback performances.
Today the kebyar scene is dominated by music made at the conservatories, and by the groups that participate in the yearly Festival Gong. For the latter, each spring two different groups – one male and one female – from each of Bali\‘s 8 districts are chosen to represent their area with a number of standard and newly created works. The rotation ensures that over a period of years as many villages as possible participate and, for better or worse, keeps the public eye from focusing on any particular one for too long. The competing groups are judged each June by an island-wide panel of experts and winners are chosen.
Mention should be made of some prominent individuals active currently. By far the single most revered older musician in all of Balinese music today is I Wayan Beratha, whose father Made Regog was the head of the gamelan from Belaluan in the 1930s. Beratha\‘s influence as a drummer and composer is felt everywhere. He is also active as a tuner and gamelan merchant. Other important senior figures are I Nyoman Rembang of Sesetan, Badung (also a scholar and prominent music historian), I Wayan Begeg of Pangkung, Tabanan, I Putu Sumiasa of Kedis, Buleleng, and I Wayan Tembres of Blangsinga, Gianyar, who will be profiled in Chapter 8. One of the most outstanding young performers is I Wayan Suweca of Denpasar, whose prowess as a drummer is well-known. Suweca is a lecturer at the conservatory, and his colleagues both in and out of school comprise the finest talents of his generation. There are too many to note here individually, but there are enough of them to guarantee the vitality of gamelan gong kebyar for some time to come.