Gamelan gong kebyar is a modern style or genre of Balinese gamelan music. Kebyar means "the process of flowering", and refers to the explosive changes in tempo and dynamics characteristic of the style. It is the most popular form of gamelan in Bali, and its best known musical export. Gong kebyar music is based on a five-tone scale called pelog selisir (tones 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the 7-tone pelog scale), and is characterized by brilliant sounds, syncopations, sudden and gradual changes in sound color, dynamics, tempo and articulation, and complex, complementary interlocking melodic and rhythmic patterns called kotekan. Almost every instrument in a kebyar ensemble is paired with a male and female counterpart. Each instrument in a pair is tuned differently from its counterpart, one higher and one lower. Played at the same time, the higher instrument (known as pengisep or "inhaler") and the lower instrument (known as the pengumbang or "exhaler"), produce a beating effect (ombak), creating an overall shimmering, pulsating quality. The female instrument is tuned lower, while the male instrument is tuned higher. For example, one note on a female gangsa pemadé might be tuned to 220 Hz, while the male gansa pemadé might be tuned slightly higher to 228 Hz. A kebyar ensemble is usually tuned so that the number of beats per second stays consistent throughout the range of the ensemble, although sometimes an ensemble is tuned so that the beats are slightly faster for higher frequencies. The Jegog is a key instrument in Gong Kebyar ensembles and there are usually two jegogan in kebyar, one male and one female. These instruments have a range of one octave, and are pitched one octave below the calung. The keys are considerably larger than those of other gangsa, and are played with a rather large, cloth-coated, rubber-padded spherical mallet. Gamelan Gong Kebyar was first documented to exist in North Bali in the early 1900s. The first public performance was in December 1915 at a gamelan gong competition in Jagaraga, North Bali. Ten years later, I Mario of Tabanan is said to have created kebyar dance to accompany the music. |
