The Tufts Gamelan Ensemble will enchant Alumnae Hall when they are joined by the Boston Village Gamelan for their fall concert this Sunday.
But what is "g??-ma-lan," ("gah-mah-lan") you ask? Gamelan is the name for both the traditional Indonesian orchestra and the music that such an orchestra plays, which are indigenous to the islands of Java and Bali.
Gamelan instruments range from large, hanging bronze gongs nearly a yard in width (called gong ageng) to rebabs (a bowed string instrument) and keyed percussion instruments, such as wooden xylophones. Vocals, usually male, occasionally accompany the instrumentals.
Though the Tufts Gamelan Ensemble is currently celebrating its 10th season, gamelan music itself predates the Tufts ensemble by roughly half a millennium. The Boston group, which has been based out of Tufts since 1994, promotes itself as the first community gamelan group in the United States since its founding in 1979.
The Tufts Gamelan Ensemble is a regular course within the music department, taught by Professor Barry Drummond. Students learn various instruments in the gamelan repertoire, and regular rehearsals take place twice a week in the basement of the music department.
This weekend, the Tufts Ensemble will perform music from a Central Javanese repertoire. This tradition dates from an age when court musicians performed songs for Javanese royalty.
"It can be a nearly transcendental experience," Tufts Gamelan member and junior Joshua Cohen said. "For those who have never heard this music before, it is really worth coming down on Sunday. You'll hear music unlike anything you've ever heard before."
The Tufts Gamelan Ensemble and Boston Village Gamelan will also be joined by guest director and gamelan master I.M. Harjito for their Sunday afternoon performance.
Harjito is highly respected as a Javanese gamelan musician, teacher, and composer. He has taught and performed throughout Indonesia, the United States, Canada and Australia.
Since 1984, Harjito has served as an artist-in-residence at Wesleyan University. He also directs gamelan ensembles at Brown University and the New York Indonesian consulate.
Now in her second year with the Tufts group, senior Jennifer Baldwin is enthusiastic about the group's November performance.
"Rarely is there such an opportunity to experience this music in person, and the way the gongs and other instruments cause air to vibrate is really amazing," Baldwin said. "The whole combination of 20 or so instruments is incredible."
The group anticipates performing pieces that range from several hundreds of years old to more contemporary Javanese compositions.
"We will be playing pieces that represent a variety of styles of Javanese Gamelan," director Drummond said.
Gamelan songs typically last 15 minutes and feature elaborate set-ups. Not only are the large bronze gongs impressive, but the water buffalo horns used to strike the keyed percussion and the mallets carved from rainforest wood emphasize the traditional materials that are used for the instruments.
Most students in the ensemble happened upon a performance or a rehearsal and instantly became captivated by the gamelan tradition.
"I randomly showed up to a show a year ago and was so enchanted I joined the ensemble," Baldwin said.
Cohen was similarly intrigued.
"I went into it last year not knowing anything about it, like most students on campus here, but I was still thrown in right away," he said. "It is completely different from any Western music that I was used to, including every genre I ever listened to rock, jazz, classical, hip-hop, or any offshoots of these.
"The music itself is absolutely amazing," Cohen said. "There is so much happening, so much interplay between the different instruments, but all working together to produce a truly unique sound."
