AMM3082 Traditional Music of Malaysia 15/05/17

Joget gamelan is a dance tradition

accompanied by gamelan music played by
the Malay gamelan ensemble
JOGET Classical or art tradition performed in the
GAMELAN Malay palace in the 18th century

1. FOUR PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT

A. Pahang Joget Pahang (1811-1913)

B. Terengganu Joget Gamelan is
accompanied by the Malay Gamelan
(1914-1942) A. JOGET PAHANG
C. Inactive period (1946-1969)
D. Modern period (1969-1975) Historical development 1
(1811-1913)

Pahang Pahang
In the 18th century, a dance tradition and
A set of gamelan and dances were
its gamelan music was well-known in the
brought to Pahang during the reign of
Riau-Lingga palace
Bendahara Wan Ali
In 1811, there was a wedding between
Bendahara Wan Ahmad (the son of
between the royal family of Riau-Lingga
Bendahara Wan Ali) who later became
and the high court official family in Pekan,
Sultan Ahmad (1863-1914)(anak
PahangTengku Husain, the eldest son of
Bendahara Wan Ali) inherited the gamelan
Sultan Abdul Rahman from Riau Lingga
set, dancers and musicians from his father
wedded Wan Esah, the younger sister of
Bendahara Wan Ali

Dr. Clare Chan 1

AMM3082 Traditional Music of Malaysia 15/05/17

Sultan Ahmads 3 wives (Tengku Ampuan Joget Pahang, 1933-1936

Fatimah, Che Besar, Che Zubedah) formed their
own gamelan groups
The 3rd wife, Che Zubedah played an important
role in developing and refining the genre Joget
Pahang
Young dancers consists of the Sultans chidlren,
community, the aristocratic community, children
of palace maidens and kings assistants.
The dancers were vigorously trained in intricate
movements of the body, hand, leg and finger.
Performances for palace occasions e.g.
weddings, birthdays, festivals, celebrations or
private performances for the Sultans guest of
honour

JOGET TERENGGANU
(1914-1942)
1913 Marriage betweenTengku Mariam (son of
Sultan Ahmad & Che Zubedah) with Tengku
Sulaiman (Sultan of Terengganu in the year of
1920)
After death of his father, Sultan Ahmad in 1914,
B. JOGET TERENGGANU Tengku Mariam brought a set of gamelan and
dancers belonging to the palace of Che Zubedah to
(JOGET GAMELAN ACCOMPANIED BY Kuala Terengganu
THE MALAY GAMELAN) Sultan Sulaiman had put a set of gamelan at Istana
Maziah in Terengganu in 1920. Tengku Mariam
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT II Sultan formed groups of dancers and musicians
(1914-1942) and Sultan Sulaiman formed a group of court
musicians

The patrons of Joget Gamelan, Joget Gamelan Dancers, Istana

Terengganu Maziah, Terengganu
Sultan Sulaiman Tengku Ampuan Mariam

Dr. Clare Chan 2

AMM3082 Traditional Music of Malaysia
Joget Gamelan Musicians
C. INACTIVE PERIOD
(1946-1969)
C. HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT III
(1946-1969)
In 1969, Mubin Sheppard found Tengku
Mariam, the Joget Gamelan old musicians and
dancers and gamelan musical instruments at
the Istana Kolam
He suggested for Joget Gamelan be be
revived. The director of the broadcasting,
officials from the Ministry of Culture and the
Film came to watch the Joget Gamelan
performances. Radio Malaysia also recorded
the music in cassette tapes and filmed the
dance performance.
In 1973, the state government requested to buy
Tengku Ampuan Mariams set of gamelan with
a down payment of RM 7, 000.
Dr. Clare Chan
15/05/17
Joget Gamelan was given serious attention and
intense training was conducted. Sultan Sulaiman
became patron of the arts.
Dancers who lived in the palace trained with
discipline everyday to acquire the delicate and
gentle movements of the dance
Certain features distinguished this style from Java
style such as: movement, dance, costumes,
musical instruments, tuning systems,
instrumentation, melody which did NOT originate
from the Javanese tradition
New name: Malay or Joget Gamelan
The gamelen repertoire played today derives from
those performed during Tengku Mariams time.
second world war and after
The palace gamelan set was stored in the
the Kolam Palace at Terengganu
Musicians & dancers were brought to
Istana Kolam (Kolam Palace)
Tengku Mariam also resided in the Istana
Kolam (Kolam Palace)
At the same time, the Sultan of Pahang,
Tengku Ampuan Pahang also requested to
purchase gamelan set and return it to the
palace in Pekan, Pahang. Eventually this
original set was returned to Pekan, Pahang.
Before the set was returned, a recording of the
original tuning of the Joget Gamelan musical
instruments was made
In 1974, the state government ordered a new
set of gamelan made from Mang Koko from
Bandung, Indonesia to based on the tuning of
the original set in Pekan. It was priced at RM
14,000 and is used in the state today.
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AMM3082 Traditional Music of Malaysia 15/05/17

D. MODERN PERIOD (1969) 2.0 REPERTOIR

Today
Joget Gamelan is performed outside the
palace for public entertainment, official
celebrations, dance drama or as
instrumental music
Settings, duration of the show, and the story
has been shortened, no more character
plays, only props such as the fan is used
Uses only a few songs and new songs
Java Panji stories & people
Describe activities
Agriculture- hoeing the soil,
planting, harvesting, threshing
War
The maids at the castle playing,
working & beautifying themselves

2.1 AYAK-AYAK TIMANG BURUNG DANCE

Opens the show. The dancers imitate the
palace maiden activities, servants
slaughtering chickens, goats and cows in
preparation of Raden Galohs wedding
2.2 TIMANG BURUNG
Raden Galoh is attracted to the Kepudang
bird and asked his maiden dancers to
imitate the movements of the birds.
The fans held by the maidens represent the
movement of the birds wings.

PROP YANG DIGUNA 3.0 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

3.1 Gong Agung
Knobbed gong, hanged on a wooden frame,
Arrows struck with soft mallets, lower in pitch
Daggers (keris) 3.2 Gong Suwukan
Knobbed gong, hanged on a wooden frame,
Fans struck with soft mallet, higher in pitch.
Shawl (seledang)

Dr. Clare Chan 4

AMM3082 Traditional Music of Malaysia 15/05/17

3.3 KENONG 3.4 1 KEROMONG

3.5 1 SARUN BARUNG 3.6 1 SARUN PEKIN

3.7 1 Gambang Kayu 3.8 1 Gendang

Dr. Clare Chan 5

AMM3082 Traditional Music of Malaysia 15/05/17

4.0 FORM (GONGAN) MELODI AYAK-AYAK

A cycle in time g
Repeated units of time N N
The last beat is marked by the gong . .5 35 6 6 6 3 5
agong
Form & structure is created due to the N N
binary divisions of the gong 6 5 3 2 3 2 3 5
Total beats: 4,8,16,32,64 G
2 beat stress pattern

AYAK-AYAK SONG (16 beat gongan)

TIMANG BURUNG MELODY
G N
N G-Gong Agong
A . 5 5 2 3 2 3 5
g- Gong suwukan N
B . 3 5 6 5 3 2 5
N-Kenong
16 N
14 2 A . 5 5 2 3 2 3 5
N
12 B 3 5 6 5 3 2 3
N 4 N N
C . 3 2 1 1 2 3 1
10 6 N/g
C1 3 2 1 1 5 6 1 2
8 N/g
D . 2 2 3 6 5 3 2
4 Kenongan 1 Gongan N/G
N C2 3 2 1 1 5 5 3 5
g

KETAWANG SONG
TIMANG BURUNG (64 Beat gongan)
(32 beat gongan)
G G- Gong Agong
N
g- Gong suwukan G G-Gong Agong
g
N N
N N- Kenong g- Gong anak
64
56 8 N-Kenong
32
48 16 N
N
40 N 24
c 8
24 N
32
16
N
g N

N N
g
8 Kenongan 1 Gongan
4 Kenongan 1 Gongan

Dr. Clare Chan 6

AMM3082 Traditional Music of Malaysia 15/05/17

5.0 TEXTURE 6.0 MELODI/ LAGU

Polyphony, heterophony Six official joget gamelan structures
Four layers Lagu Perang (Gongan 8 bit)
1. Basic melody: Sarun barung Lagu Selarok (Gongan 16 bit)
2. Ornamented melody: gambang, Lagu Ketawang (Gongan 32 bit)
keromong, sarun pekin Lagu Biasa (Gongan 64 bit)
3. Time markers: Gong agong, gong Lagu Togok (Gongan 64 bit)
suwukan, kenong Lagu Taman Sari (Gongan 96 bit)
4. Rhythms: Drum

References 7.0 TUNING SYSTEM

Matusky, P. A., & Tan, S. B. (2012). Muzik Malaysia: Tradisi klasik, rakyat
dan sinkretik. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Universiti Malaya. The gamelan from Pekan, Pahang (1811) was
Ahmad, O. H. I. (2005). Joget gamelan Terengganu & Pahang: Penerus tuned to the slendro system in Java
tradisi seni persembahan istana kesultanan Melayu Melaka. Kuala Lumpur:
Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan Malaysia. When it arrived in Malaya, its tuning system
D'Cruz, M. F. (1980). Joget gamelan : a study of its contemporary practice. changed according to local tastes
Kuala Lumpur: Chung Ching Jit Pao Ltd.
Sheppard, M. (1967). Joget gamalan Trengganu. Unidentified The tuning systems differ slightly in terms of the
Ahmad, F. J. (2008). Joget Pahang - gamelan Melayu: The classical interval between the notes, so this scale can be
ensemble of the Pahang royal court. Pekan, Pahang: Lembaga Muzium
Negeri Pahang. said is a modified slendro scale (slendro altered
Kelab Seni Budaya SMKPTJ. Retrieved from scale)
http://senibudayasmkptj.blogspot.my/2012/06/gamelan-melayu.html
Gamelan. Retrived from Thus, gamelan scale in Pekan, representing the
http://www.dancemalaysia.com/Dance/Traditional/Court_Dance/Gamelan/
gamelan.htm
Malay gamelan is unique only to Joget Gamelan.

Dr. Clare Chan 7