The gamelan is a traditional Indonesian percussion ensemble that originated in Bali and Java. It consists of metallophonic instruments such as xylophones, gongs, drums, and cymbals that produce a layered musical texture when played together. Some key instruments include the bonang, gender, gambang, gongs like the gong ageng, kenong and ketuk, and rebab. Other important Indonesian instruments are the angklung made of bamboo tubes, calung bamboo xylophone, frame drum rebana, and stringed bamboo instrument sasando.

1. INDONESIAN MUSICAL
INSTRUMENT

2. THE GAMELAN ENSEMBLE
• Gamelan is the traditional Indonesian
instrumental ensemble made up mainly of
percussive instruments.
• There are two main styles: Balinese (from
Bali) and Javanese (from Java)
• The term gamelan refers to the
instrument/tool, which is a unified whole
that is realized and sounded together.

3. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
BONANG
• Instruments with
two row of gongs
resting on cords
across a wooden
frame.
• One of the
instrument that
elaborate the main
melody in Javanese
Gamelan Music.

4. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
GENDER
• Are narrow keys made of
bronze. Below the keys are
bamboo pipes which
resonate, making sound
richer.
• Consist of 10-14 tuned metal
bars with mallet of wooden
disks (Bali) or a padded
wooden disk (Java).

5. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
GAMBANG
• Also called as “gambbang kayu”
• A xylophone-like instrument with wooden bars.

6. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
GONGS
• Made of bronze or iron. They are
struck on the ventral bump, called
peñcu.

7. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
GONG AGENG
• The biggest hanging gong.
• It usually plays on the last beat
of the rhythmic cycle.

8. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
KEMPUL
• Is a set of pitched,
hanging, knob gongs,
often made of bronze,
wood and chords.

9. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
KENONG AND KETUK
• The kenong is a set of 6
gongs that resemble
the bonang
• Rest horizontally on cords
stretched across a wooden
box.

10. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
KENDANG GENDING AND KETIPUNG
• They are cone-shaped, with two drum
skins, one larger and one smaller.
They’re played resting sideways, so the
drummer can play one skin with each
hand.

11. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
BEDHUG OR BEDUK
• is one of the drums used in the gamelan.
• It is also used among Muslims in Java in religious
purposes.
• the bedug is suspended from a rack and played with
a padded mallet. It is similar in size or larger to the
largest kendang.
• It is not adjustable like the kendang, but has pegs
holding the two identical heads in place, similar to
the Japanese taiko. Its sound is generally deeper and
duller than that of the kendang.
• Bedug is made as a big double-barreled drum
with water buffalo leather on both sides.

12. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
CENG CENG
• Consist of set of four small
cymbals mounted inverted on a
wooden frame which are struck
with a pair of small cymbals held
by the musician to create crashing
and shimmering effect.

13. INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAMELAN
REBAB
• Javanese bowed spike-lute
chordophone used in the gamelan
orchestra of the Javanese people
of Java, Indonesia.

14. OTHER SIGNIFICANT INSTRUMENTS OF
INDONESIA

15. ANGKLUNG
• The Angklung is a musical instrument from
Indonesia that’s made of 2 or more bamboo
tubes attached to a bamboo frame.
• Each tube is tuned to a specific octave.
• The instrument is held with one hand at the
top of the frame, while the other hand near
the bottom shakes it to make the sound.
• Three or more performers create an angklung
ensemble. Each person plays a different note
to make a song.

16. CALUNG
• A Calung can either refer to a
bamboo xylophone instrument or
an ensemble.
• The Calung (instrument) consists of multiple
bamboo tubes which are struck at the base to
produce a woody sound.
• In Balinese culture, the Calung is actually
a metallophonic instrument that has a one-
octave range, and is generally utilized to play
mid-range melodies.

17. REBANA
• The rebana is a single-head frame
membranophone from the coastal
region or the islands of Riau province,
east central Sumatra, in the Indonesian
archipelago.
• Frame drums such as this
large rebana are used to
accompany ronggèng, dancing which
in the past was associated with
weddings, circumcisions, and other
celebrations and included professional
dancers with whom male celebrants
could dance.

18. SASANDO
• The main part of the sasando is a bamboo tube that serves as the
frame of the instrument.
• Surrounding the tube are several wooden pieces serving as wedges
where the strings are stretched from the top to the bottom.
• The function of the wedges is to hold the strings higher than the
tube surface as well as to produce various length of strings to create
different musical notations.
• The stringed bamboo tube is surrounded by a bag-like fan of
dried lontar or palmyra leaves , which functions as the resonator of
the instrument.
• The sasando is played with both hands reaching into the stings of
the bamboo tube through opening on the front. The player's fingers
then pluck the strings in a fashion similar to playing a harp
or kacapi.

20. Prepared By:
Ma. Victoria Besa
MaMusEd 214