(1) GLOSSARY:
anklung (also spelled angklung): tuned wooden rattles.
jegogan, gangsa, kantil, chiring: tuned mettallo/xylophones; listed here from
lowest to highest in register
saron : a metallic xylophone or lombek
cheng-cheng: a bunch of little cymbals.
klenang, tawa-tawa: tiny gongs, traditionally used as timekeepers
for the ensemble.
kendang: a drum
reongs: little tuned button gongs, laid flat and played with a wooden mallet
suling: small flute/recorder
(2) PITCHES:
Most of the gamelan is theoretically tuned to one four-tone "scale," consisting,
of scale degrees 1, 2, 3, and 5 of a diatonic major scale. However, the actual
pitch may vary from, say, A major in the low register, to Bb in high registers,
with all sorts of microtones along the way. Hence I have labeled the tuned
instruments from 1 to 4, indicating only their place in the 4-note scale.
If you need to know the actual pitch of a particular instrument, a list follows:
Note also that on many of the instruments the pitch has a beautiful, but possibly
annoying, habit of slowly rising a bit, so take this list of pitches with
a grain of salt.
The 16 shorter angk (angklung) soundfiles include a complete diatonic major scale of single shakes from df5 to df6 and also a short roll on each of these notes.
chiring.1 a6 [1/6 sharp] High metaalo/xylophones
chiring.2 b6 [1/6 sharp]
chiring.3 c7 [3/4 sharp] (or d7, 1/4 toneflat)
chiring.4 e7 [1/4 sharp]
gangsa.1 a4 [1/4 sharp] Medium low pitched metallo/xylophones
gangsa.2 b4 [1/4 sharp]
gangsa.3 cs5
gangsa.4 e5 [1/6 sharp]
gong.hi a4 [1/4 flat]
gong.lo e2
gong.md gs3
jegogan.1 a3Low pitched metallo/xylophones
jegogan.2 b3 [1/6 sharp]
jegogan.3 c4 [1/6 sharp]
jegogan.4 e4 [1/6 sharp]
kantil.1 a5 [1/4 sharp]Medium high pitched metallo/xylophones
kantil.2 b5 [1/4 sharp]
kantil.3 c6 [4/6 sharp]
kantil.4 e6 [1/6 sharp]
A total of twenty one short saron (metal xylophone) soundfiles, in two timbral groups (saron1 and saron2) are pitched between cs5 and fs6.
klenang a6 [4/6 sharp] small gongs
reong.1lo bf4 Button gongs
reong.2lo b4 [1/4 sharp]
reong.3lo c5 [3/4 sharp]
reong.4lo e5 [1/4 sharp]
reong.1hi a6 [1/4-sharp]
reong.2hi b6 [1/4-sharp]
reong.3hi c7 [3/4-sharp]
reong.4hi d7 [3/4-sharp] (This particular reong was not in good shape)
reongs.all All four in a register smacked at once.
suling : The names of these bamboo flute soundfiles indicate their approximate pitches, which often deviate from Western tuning.
tawa.tawa d4 [1/4-sharp] Small gong.