INDONESIA

In 21st century, Indonesia is the most popular country in the Southeast Asia and 4th in the whole
world. Indonesia has divided into four ethnic groups. The first and the largest is called the
Javanese. The second largest is the Sundanese. Third is the Madurese. And the lastly, the
Balinese.
Based on Java mythology, there was a god conquered the whole java island and his palace is in
lawu mountain in central java. To call the gods, he invented gong, and finally it formed a set of a
complete one.

COUNTRY PROFILE

The Indonesian flag is a horizontal bicolor with two equal horizontal

bars (red [top] and white). The height of this flag is two-thirds the width.
In Indonesian, this flag is called "Sang Saka Merah Putih" (meaning
"lofty bicolor red and white"). The red symbolizes human blood and the
white represents the human spirit.

Their National Anthem is Indonesia Raya meaning Great Indonesia.

The song was composed in 1928.

The colonial policy of the day was "divide and rule". It was a policy that deliberately aggravated
language, ethnic, cultural and religious differences amongst the people.

The birth of Indonesia Raya marked the beginning of Indonesian nationalist movements. The
song was first introduced by its composer, Wage Rudolf Supratman, at the second All
Indonesian Youth Congress on October 28, 1928 in Batavia, now Jakarta. It was the moment
when Indonesian youth of different ethnic, language, religious and cultural backgrounds
resolutely pledged allegiance to:

One native land, Indonesia;

One nation, the Indonesian nation;

One unifying language, the Indonesian language.

Soon the national song, which called for the unity of Indonesia, became popular. It was echoed
at Indonesian political rallies, where people stood in solemn observance. The song seriously
aroused national consciousness among the people throughout the archipelago.

National Flower Jasminum sambac (Indonesian: melati putih) is one of the three national
flowers in Indonesia, the other two being the moon orchid and the giant padma. Since the
formation of Indonesian republic during the reign of Sukarno, melati putih is always unofficially
recognized as the national flower of Indonesia. The reverence and its elevated status mostly due
to the importance of this flower in Indonesian tradition since ancient times.

It has long been considered a sacred flower in Indonesian tradition, as it symbolizes purity,
sacredness, graceful simplicity and sincerity. It also represents the beauty of modesty; a small
and simple white flower that can produce such sweet fragrance. It is also the most important
flower in wedding ceremonies for ethnic Indonesians, especially in the island of Java.

The jasmine has wide spectrums in Indonesian traditions; it is the flower of life, beauty and
festive wedding, yet it is also often associated with spirit and death. In Indonesian patriotic songs
and poems, the fallen melati often hailed as the representation of fallen heroes that sacrificed
their life and died for the country, the very similar concept with fallen sakura that represent
fallen heroes in Japanese tradition. The Ismail Marzuki’s patriotic song “Melati di Tapal Batas”
(jasmine on the border) (1947) and Guruh Sukarnoputra’s “Melati Suci” (sacred jasmine) (1974)
clearly refer jasmine as the representation of fallen heroes

MUSIC PROFILE: GAMELAN

Gamelan comes from Javanese words, gamel, means to hit/to play. This verb is added with
suffix –an and changed into noun, gamelan. Gamelan is the one who accompanies the puppet
dramas but it is also used to performed in the royal ceremonies like weddings and others.
Gamelan music in Java is called karawitan. Karawitan is a term to title a soft gamelan music
song.
Gamelan is an oral tradition where its compositions are created for the community and where such
compositions and musical techniques are transmitted orally, learned and internalised aurally and
performed from memory. Despite the diversity of styles across the islands, gamelan encompasses
a unitary system of musical aesthetics with common structural principles for composition and
performance. These complex aesthetics principles (with terms as they appear in Central Javanese
tradition) include slendro and pelong tuning, pathet modality, balungang melody,
and colotomic structure. (The colotomic relationship refers to the way in whichgamelan can be
conceptualised in terms of cyclical metrical (and melodic and rhythmic)

SLENDRO
the octave is divided into five equidistant intervals (each one approximately 1.25 tones) that are
not meant to be exactly equivalent and vary slightly between each gamelan.

PELOG
The pelog system divides the octave into seven intervals of varying sizes

Gamelan is made of wood and gangsa (a kind of metal mixed with copper or tin). A set of
gamelan usually consist of kendang, bonang, gender, gambang, suling, siter, clempung,
slenthem, demung, saron, kenong, kethuk, japan, kempyang, kempul, peking and gong.
Gamelan is an orchestra found in Java Island, Madurs, Bali, and Lombok Island Pesinden are
the female singers while gerong is for the male singers.
Sampe’ and kacapi is the plucked lute traditions. Gondang is a tuned drum ensemble.
Kalimantan is a xylophone based dance music by the kenya communities.
Instruments Description Hornbostel-sachs
classification
1. Kendang A two-headed drum Membranophone
with skin membrane
instrument.

2. Gongs Large metal disk that Idiophone

makes a resounding
sound.

● Gong Ageng ⮚ Lowest sound.

⮚ Can last up to
10 seconds.

⮚ Intermediate
gongs
● Gong Suwuok / Suwukan
⮚ Smallest gong
● Kempul
 3. Gambang ⮚ Xylophone Idiophone
⮚ Made of 20
taekwando
long bars.
⮚ Wings carved
with two nagas
(dragons) on
each side.
⮚ Elaborating
instrument
⮚ Filled with
ornate patterns
based on
melody
4. Suling A ring flute made Aerophone
from Tamiang
bamboo.

5. Bonang ⮚ A collection of Idiophone

small gongs.
⮚ Kettles or pots
is placed
horizontally
onto strings in
Two types: a wooden frame
⮚ Bonang Barung (rancak).
 ⮚ Bonang Panerus (octave higher) ⮚ Hit with a
padded sticks
(tabuh).
⮚ Lowest
instruments of
gamelan.
⮚ Compared
with brass
instruments in
the orchestra.

6. Kecapi ⮚ It is a zither in Chordophone

West Java. The
smaller version
of it is called
siter. It
became
famous
because of the
kacapi suling
Two parts: of Sundanese.
⮚ Kecapi Parent ⮚ Similar to
- providing intro, bridges, interlude, piano.
and tempo.
⮚ Kecapi Rincik
- Filling the space with very high
frequencies.

7. Gender ⮚ It has 12 to 14 Idiophone

thin, bevel-edged
bronze bars, each
suspended on two
cords that pass
through a pair of
hooks between
each bar, over
individual tube
resonators.
⮚ Similar to
xylophone.
 ⮚ Tuned bronze
bars.
⮚ Holding a mallet
in each hands,
stopping it with
hands.
⮚ Has 2-3 octaves.

8. Clempung/celempung ⮚ Plucked zithers Chordophone

with four legs.
Twenty-six
strings in groups
of two held in
place by metal
pins in an S-
shaped wrest
plank. Teakwood
body decorated
with flower and
leaf pattern
covered in gold
leaf.
9. Saron Has 7 large bronze bars. Idiophone

3 types of Saron: ⮚ The largest of the

⮚ Saron Demung group of the
saron.
⮚ Melody of the
music.

⮚ Saron Barung ⮚ Mid-sized

member of saron
groups.
⮚ Limited parts

⮚ Saron Panerus
 ⮚ Smallest of the
group.

10. Kenong ⮚ Six bronze pots Idiophone

suspended on
three separate
teakwood frames.
Pots suspended
on red cord
attached to the
frame. Frames
decorated with
flower and leaf
patterns covered
in gold leaf.
⮚ Played with
mallets (tabuh).
⮚ Structure
instrument.
⮚ Depending on the
structure
(lancaran,
ketawang,
ladrang,gendhing,
srepeng, and
sampak)
⮚ Anticipates the
movements of the
melody.

11. Kethuk and Kempyang The Ketuk is similar in Idiophone

shape to the hanging
gongs, however, it has a
flat surface from the
knob to the edge.
 12. Peking Metallophone with Idiophone
seven bronze bars
placed over teakwood
frame. Keys held in
place by two pins
inserted through holes
in the bars and
embedded in the frame.
Decorated with flower
and leaf pattern covered
in gold leaf.

Javanese and Balinese Gamelan

Javanese gamelan is more traditional and suited to palaces and temples, it is a gentler and lower
pitched style of gamelan that accommodates vocalists and rhythmic patterns.

The music of the Javanese court gamelan is divided into two basic styles: soft and strong.

Soft – a “misty” quality that is mellow and tranquil, reminiscent of an early morning fog lifting
as the sun rises from the ocean

Strong – bold and loud; more reflective of the midday sun watching over hard-working rice
farmers during a harvest

Style: Javanese music is based on a colotomic structure, meaning that its music is organized into
cycles defined by periodic punctuation played by a specific instrument–in this case, hanging
gongs.

Ensemble: The principal melody of Javanese music is typically provided by either voices and/or
melodic instruments, such as rack gongs, metal-keyed instruments called metallophones,
wooden-keyed instruments called xylophones, or non-idiophones called the fiddle or bamboo
flute. Other rack gongs, metallophones, and xylophones embellish this melody by filling in the
aural space, giving its “misty” quality

Bali is a source for more contemporary genres of gamelan. Western influences into Bali have
created a gamelan fusion genre that encourages many different types of composition.

The music of the Balinese is filled with dynamic energy. A feeling of continual agitation
pervades the music as it accelerates, slows, crescendos, and relaxes. Just when you think you
may have figured it out, it takes another unexpected direction.

Style: Balinese music is also based on a colotomic structure, but it is not always as evident.
Many compositions are through-composed, meaning that the melody does not repeat in a series
of
continuous cycles.

Elements: In Balinese gamelan music, similar instruments are used, including bronze gongs,
metallophones, flutes, and drums, but the character of the music continually shifts, with sudden
bursts of brilliant virtuosity contrasting with airy melodic phrases.

A musical concept called the “shimmer effect”. This shimmering sound is most evident in the
wavering tones of the small metallophones on long sustained pitches. The effect is produced by
the use of pairs of identical instruments tuned slightly apart. When the instruments are played
simultaneously on the same pitch, the slight tuning difference in frequency produces a
perceptible pulsation due to minimal increase in volume as the pitch frequencies overlap.
Therefore, a complete Balinese gamelan must include identical pairs of metallophones, with
separate players on each instrument playing the same notes but with slightly different tuning.

MUSIC PROFILE: THEATER AND DANCE

Indonesia has many types of theater and dances.

3 types of theater

1. Traditional theater
2. Classical theater
3. Modern theater

- existed along with the cultures of ethnic groups.

- performed in ceremonies like circumcision, weddings, and benedictions when moving to new
homes.

- there should be a host that will pay all the expenses. Can be a rich family.

- settings can be at the front yard, gardens, village meeting halls, terrains.

Traditional Theater

1. Wayang Orang or Wayang Wong

- adaptation of the Ramayana and Mahabharata
- other term is “Teater Paken”, a theater which has a strict stories and cannot be changed.

2. Ketoprak
- story is about the life of Keraton (Yogyakarta Palace) and noblemen love stories.
- more free and more on improvisations such as speech, jokes, popular language, and
dances.
- performed in wedding, circumcision, and Independence day
- they sleep in tobong (caravan)

3. Ludruk (East Java)

- all performers were male and the female roles was also portrayed by the male
performers.
 - it is about the common life of people and economic struggles
- dialogues are comedic
- performed at the weddings, circumcision, and Independence day.

4. Lenong (Jakarta)
- performed with comedy dramas
- used Betawi language
- Panjak (actor), Ronggeng (actresses)
- two divisions of Lenong
⮚ Lenong Denes
● folk heroes (Si Pitung)
⮚ Lenong Preman
● nobility, rich, and powerful people)
- no scipt, everything should be remembered and improvise.

5. Randai (West Sumatra)

- Has episodes every night.
- About the folklores and legends
- Male also played the role of the female but in 1960 females were also permitted.
6. Barong (Balinese)
- uses masks and costumes
 - it is a sacred fine art
- performed in pura (Balinese Temple)

1. Wayang golek
- It is a wooden rod puppet play form Sundanese and Javanese.
- can be compared to European and North America
- most performances revolve around kings, queens, princes, and princesses who fight against evil
and will end up happy.
- performed in weddings, religious ceremonies, and cultural days.
- starts at 9:00pm-4:30am
- consists of 30 people and the Dalang, the dalang is the narrator, director, and choreographer of
the show. Catrik, the apprentice of the dalang. Catrik means disciple.
5 types of characters
1. Refined characters
- White faces
- Low voices
- Pure
- Heroes and the heroines
2. Strong Characters
- Deep pink, blue or any dark colored faces
- Large and bulging eyes
- Voices are deep
- When there are battles to fight, forest to be cut, and bridges to build
3. Emotionally uncontrolled characters
- Has red or dark colored faces
- Slightly out eyes
- Piercing voices
- Antagonist
 4. Special characters
- High god
- Clown

2. Wayang kulit
- A leather shadow puppet performance from the Javanese and Balinese, also present to
the Muslim’s stories called menak.
- puppets are made from water buffalo
- oldest freestanding puppetry
- repertoire is based on Ramayana and Mahabharata

There are also two epic poems entitled Ramayana and Mahabharata of India. The theatre usually
starts at night, 8pm. Dalang is the narrator, puppeteer, and the principal artist of the show. It uses
vocal qualities, speech styles, and colloquial language.

Types of dances
1. Srimpi or Serimpi
- It is classical dance originating from the royal palace of Yogyakarta in 12th century. It
is performed during the king replacement candidate (srimpi sangopati). It is
performed with 4-5 women. Srimpi derived from the word four and it symbolizes the
four elements of the world; fire, water, wind, earth.
2. Bedaya or Bedhaya
- It is sacred dance and it consist of 9 dancers. It is performed to the royal palace and is
consumed by general entertainment. It is about the romanticism of love. The 9
dancers symbolize their lust. Balancing their lust and senses. The women also have to
be virgin in order to perform this dance. Their movements are similar but it’s
different. It may look messy but somehow unified.

3. Golek
- It is a solo dance portraying a young girl growing into womanhood. It requires wayang
golek puppets. It is performed in festive receptions and it is rarely performed today.
 4. Wireng dance
- The dance is about war game. Men can only dance this with motion of pencak silat.
The dance has three parts, the opening, content, and the closing.

SOURCES:
American Gamelan Institute [Online Resource], <www.gamelan.org>.

Gamelan Music of Java [Documentary Film] (East West Center, 1983).

Gamelan of Java and Bali [Online Resource], <www.gamelan.gs>.

Jasminum Sambac [Online Resource], <https://vikascollege.com/jasminum-sambac/>