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SUPPLEMENTARY
NOTES ON BALINESE MUSIC AND The melodies of the gong gede have an even, loud stateliness, without the delicate modulations of the kebiyar. In the old-fashioned gong the drums are beaten energetically with a stick and the hand while large cymbals clash loudly throughout the piece. The trompong, which does not appear in the kebiyar, plays the leading melody. r1 forerunner of the gong gede is the gong luang or berong, an almost forgotten, archaic orchestra using a scale of seven notes. The only one which to my knowledge still exists is in the village of Krobokan in Badung, where it plays occasionally. The pelegongan, the accompaniment for the famous Icgong, the archetype of the delicate, feminine dances, is a large ensemble playing music regarded as fine and classical by the Balinese. The style of the pelegongan is basic for a great deal of the music, and some of the finest standard compositions belong to it. It is used also in the tjalonarang, djauk, barong, and other dances of a similar character There is another type of orchestra, the pejogedan, which has the same tonal style as the pelegongan, but much simpler, in which all the sounding keys are made of bamboo slats placed over bamboo resonators. A large, deep-toned bamboo key replaces the gong (kumpur). (It is used to accompany the light djoged and gandrung dances, described elsewhere.) This orchestra and the archaic gambang are the only ones in which every sounding key is not made of metal. An ancestor of the pclegongan type of orchestra is the ancient semar pegulingan, which appears sometimes at temple feasts. The scale of this orchestra resembles that of the pelegongan, but it may have seven as well as five notes. The gender wayang is an orchestra composed of four gender (two in North Bali) to accompany the semi-ritual shadow-plays (wayang kulit). The gender is of great importance not only for the fine quality of its music but because it is prescribed for practically all home ceremonials, even in tile daytime and without the marionette performance. It appears to be simple, but it is supposed to be the most difficult to master. Its music is perhaps the most refined and delicate, with liquid shades and suspended tempos. The gender is played something like a piano; that is, the themes and harmonies are executed on one instrument with both hands. Its scale is different from the others. The angklung, the most frequently played, is a very ancient portable orchestra used to create excitement and for marching. It has no dancing accompaniment of any sort. The fact that its scale is restricted to four notes is a sign of its antiquity. The angklung takes its name from a curious instrument still played in West Java that consists of lengths of bamboo arranged loosely on a frame so that when shaken they produce a certain chord. Colin McPhee located an angklung orchestra with a complete set of these strange instruments in the old village of Tjulik in East Bali, where it is still played. Ancient Javanese records mention that the angklung was used in war and to precede the ruler to announce his arrival. Other archaic orchestras still in existence in Bali are the selunding, which has great iron keys, and the gambang, already mentioned, played only at cremations in Badung and in Bangli. The keys of the gambang are all made of bamboo with the exception of one instrument that has metal keys. A stately melody is played on the metal instrument against an exciting, warlike background played on the bamboos. The Balinese say that it is very difficult to learn the gambang because the performer must think of poetical texts (kidung) to learn the themes. The poems suggest the melody, and the measure and punctuation serve as guide to the rhythm and pauses, so the player thinks of words as he plays. That the gambang is not exclusively Balinese is shown by the fact that there are reliefs in the East Javanese ruin of Tjandi Panataran depicting gambangs.
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