Everything about Gamelan Angklung totally explained
Angklung is a musical instrument made out of two
bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved so that they've a resonant pitch when struck. The two tubes are tuned to
octaves. The base of the frame is held with one hand while the other hand shakes the instrument rapidly from side to side. This causes a rapidly repeating note to sound. Thus each of three or more angklung performers in an ensemble will play just one note and together complete melodies are produced.
Angklung is popular throughout
Southeast Asia, but originated from
Indonesia (used and played by the
Sundanese since the ancient times).
History
The Angklung got more international attention when Daeng Soetigna, from
Bandung,
West Java, expanded the angklung notations not only to play traditional
pélog or
sléndro scales, but also
diatonic scale in
1938. Since then, angklung is often played together with other western music instruments in an
orchestra. One of the first well-known performances of angklung in an orchestra was during the
Bandung Conference in
1955. A few years later,
Udjo Ngalagena, a student of
Daeng Soetigna, opened his "Saung Angklung" (House of Angklung) in
1966 as centre of its development.
In
Hindu period and
Padjajaran kingdom era, Sundanese people used the angklung to sign the time for prayer. Later, Padjajaran kingdom use this instrument as corps music in Bubat War (Perang Bubat).
Angklung functioned as building the peoples community spirit. It was still used by the Sundanese until the colonial era (
Dutch East Indies,
V.O.C). Because of the colonial times, the Dutch East Indies government tried to forbid people playing the angklung instrument.
Because it was forbidden to play angkung during this time, the popularity of the instrument decreased and it came to be played only by children in this era.
Gamelan Angklung
In
Bali, an ensemble of angklung is called
gamelan angklung (
anklung). While the ensemble gets its name from the bamboo shakers, these days most compositions for Gamelan Angklung don't use them. An ensemble of mostly bronze
metallophones is used instead.
While the instrumentation of gamelan angklung is similar to
gamelan gong kebyar, it has several critical differences. First, the instruments are tuned to a 5-tone
slendro scale, though actually most ensembles use a four-tone mode of the five-tone scale (an exception would be five-tone angklung from the north of Bali.) Secondly, whereas many of the instruments in gong kebyar span multiple octaves of its pentatonic scale, gamelan angklung instruments only contain one octave, though some five-tone ensembles have roughly an octave and a half. The instruments are often considerably smaller, and hence more portable when used in cremation rituals. The musicians often play in a procession as the funeral bier is carried from the cemetery to the cremation site, in addition to playing music to accompany the ceremony.
The structure of the music is similar to gong kebyar. Jublag and jegog carry the basic melody, which is elaborated by gangsa, reyong, ceng-ceng, drum, and flute. A medium sized gong, called kempur, is generally used to punctuate a song's major sections. And although most older compositions generally don't employ gong kebyar's more ostentatious virtuosity and showmanship, many Balinese composers have created kebyar-style works for gamelan angklung, often featuring dance.
Outside Indonesia
In the early
20th century, the
angklung was adopted in
Thailand, where it's called
angkalung (อังกะลุง). The Thai
angklung are typically tuned in the Thai tuning system of seven equidistant steps per octave, and each angklung has three bamboo tubes tuned in three separate octaves rather than two, as is typical in Indonesia.
Angklung had also been adopted by its
Austronesian neighbours, inparticularly
Malaysia and the
Philippines, where they're rather played as part of bamboo xylophone orchestras. Formally introduced into Malaysia sometime after the end of confrontation, it found immediate popularity. They are generally played using a
pentatonic scale similar to the Indonesian
slendro, although in the Philippines, sets also come in the
diatric and
minor scales used to perform various
Spanish-influenced
folk music.
At least one Sundanese angklung buncis ensemble exists in the United States. Angklung Buncis Sukahejo is an ensemble at
The Evergreen State College, and includes eighteen double rattles (nine tuned pairs) and four dog-dog drums.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gamelan Angklung'.
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