Gendér
Encyclopedia
Metallophone
A metallophone is any musical instrument consisting of tuned metal bars which are struck to make sound, usually with a mallet.Metallophones have been used in music for hundreds of years. There are several different types used in Balinese and Javanese gamelan ensembles, including the gendér, gangsa...
used in Balinese
Balinese people
The Balinese population of 3.0 million live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population. There are also significant populations on the island of Lombok, and in the eastern-most regions of Java The Balinese population of 3.0 million (1.5% of Indonesia's population) live...
and Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
nese gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
music. It consists of 10 to 14 tuned metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
bars suspended over a tuned resonator of bamboo or metal, which are tapped with a mallet
Mallet
A mallet is a kind of hammer, usually of rubber,or sometimes wood smaller than a maul or beetle and usually with a relatively large head.-Tools:Tool mallets come in different types, the most common of which are:...
made of wooden disks (Bali) or a padded wooden disk (Java). Each key is a note of a different pitch, often extending a little more than two octaves. There are five notes per octave, so in the seven-note pélog
Pelog
Pelog is one of the two essential scales of gamelan music native to Bali and Java, in Indonesia. The other scale commonly used is called slendro. Pelog has seven notes, but many gamelan ensembles only have keys for five of the pitches...
scale, some pitches are left out according to the pathet
Pathet
The pathet is an organizing concept in gamelan music. It is difficult to explain, but is similar to the melody types, that is, for example, modes, ragas, or maqamat, of other musics....
. Most gamelans include three gendér, one for slendro
Slendro
Slendro is a pentatonic scale, one of the two most common scales used in Indonesian gamelan music, the other being pélog.-Tuning:...
, one for pelog pathet nem and lima, and one for pelog pathet barang.
The gendér is similar to the Balinese gangsa
Gangsa
A gangsa is a type of metallophone which is used mainly in Balinese and Javanese Gamelan music. In Balinese gong kebyar styles, there are two types of gangsa typically used: the smaller, higher pitched kantilan and the larger pemade. Each instrument consists of several tuned metal bars each placed...
, which also has an individual resonator under each key, and the saron
Saron (instrument)
The saron is a musical instrument of Indonesia, which is used in the gamelan. It typically consists of seven bronze bars placed on top of a resonating frame . It is usually about 20 cm high, and is played on the floor by a seated performer...
, which, although trough-resonated, does have a set of tuned metal bars or keys. It is also similar to the Javanese slenthem
Slenthem
The slenthem is a Javanese metallophone which makes up part of a gamelan orchestra.The slenthem is part of the gendér family. It consists of a set of bronze keys comprising a single octave: there are six keys when playing the slendro scale and seven when playing the pelog...
, which is pitched lower and has fewer notes.
In some types of gamelan, two gendérs are used, one (called the gendér panerus) an octave higher than the other. In Gamelan Surakarta
Gamelan Surakarta
A typical large, double gamelan in contemporary Solo will include, in the sléndro set, one saron panerus , two saron barung, one or two saron demung, one gendér panerus, one gender barung, one slenthem , one bonang panerus and one bonang barung , one gambang kayu, one siter or celempung, one...
, the gendér panerus plays a single line of melodic pattern, following a pattern similar to the siter
Siter
The siter and celempung are plucked string instruments used in Javanese gamelan. They are related to the kacapi used in Sundanese gamelan....
. The gendér barung plays a slower, but more complex melodic pattern that includes more separate right and left hand melodic lines that come together in kempyung (approximately a fifth) and gembyang (octave) intervals. The melodies of the two hands sometimes move in parallel motion
Parallel motion
The parallel motion is a mechanical linkage invented by the Scottish engineer James Watt in 1784 for his double-acting steam engine.In previous engines built by Newcomen and Watt, the piston pulled one end of the walking beam downwards during the power stroke using a chain, and the weight of the...
, but often play contrapuntally
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
. When playing gendér barung with two mallets, the technique of dampening, important to most gamelan instruments, becomes more challenging, and the previously hit notes must be dampened by the same hand immediately after the new ones are hit. This is sometimes possible by playing with the mallet at an angle (to dampen one key and play the other), but may require a small pause.
Both types of gendér play semi-improvised patterns called cengkok
Cengkok
Cengkok are patterns played by the elaborating instruments in the Javanese gamelan. Typically they are melodic patterns that lead to the seleh, following the rules of the pathet of the piece....
, which generally elaborate upon the seleh
Seleh
The seleh note or nada seleh is a concept used in Javanese gamelan music. It is the final note of a gatra, or four-beat melodic unit.The main underlying melodic structure of a gamelan piece, called the balungan, is grouped into four-beat units...
. These are relatively fixed patterns, but can be varied in a number of ways to suit the style, pathet
Pathet
The pathet is an organizing concept in gamelan music. It is difficult to explain, but is similar to the melody types, that is, for example, modes, ragas, or maqamat, of other musics....
, irama
Irama
Irama is a concept used in Javanese gamelan music, describing melodic tempo and relationships in density between the balungan, elaborating instruments, and gong structure. It is distinct from tempo , as each irama can be played in different tempi.One way to think of irama is to use the most...
, and mood of the piece, as well as the skill of the performer. The cengkok repertoire for gendér are more developed and specific than those for most other elaborating instruments. Similarly, the gendér barung is likely to give cues for changing parts or irama, especially in the absence of a rebab
Rebab
The rebab , also rebap, rabab, rebeb, rababah, or al-rababa) is a type of string instrument so named no later than the 8th century and spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe, and the Far East...
. It may also play the buka
Buka (music)
The buka is the short introduction to pieces of gamelan. It is also called the bubuka or bubuka opaq-opaq....
of a piece.