Cool Stuff #4: East and Southeast Asia

Indonesia is a large cluster of islands between the Indian and South Pacific Oceans. With its immense scope in terms of peoples and languages, it is perhaps unsurprising that Indonesia is deeply culturally and musically diverse. Given that its fragmented islands only became a cohesive territory during the last century, unified notions of traditional ‘Indonesian culture’ or ‘Indonesian music’ are themselves somewhat contentious and are clouded further by the array of different extraneous influences on the islands that derive from its longstanding position as a large global trade center. Because of the amount of these vast music traditions we will examine them selectively by focusing in on a certain traditional form, albeit with recognition of how this fits into regional cultural trends (principally, Bali, Central Java, East Java, West Java, Lombok, Sumatra, and Outer Islands). In line with this approach, this article will focus mainly on the tradition of gamelan and I specifically wanted to talk about how they are made.

Most people refer to iron when talking about gamelan manufacture. Whilst this is true in some cases, most gamelan instruments in Bali are made of bronze – a mix of copper (tembaga) and tin (Timah) that gong smiths refer to as ‘kerawang’. Ratios vary, but the standard is said to be around thirty parts copper to ten parts tin. Kerawang is considered superior to iron due to its louder and crisper sound when hit and because it is more resonant and therefore can be heard farther away. This latter point is important because at ceremonies gamelan often compete to be heard over the sound of loudspeakers, people, other gamelan ensembles and, in some cases, traffic noise. Bronze is also more expensive, therefore more prestigious. Unlike iron, however, the tuning of a new bronze key is not stable and changes in pitch over the first ten or so years of its life. Bronze keys or gongs of poorer quality also have a tendency to crack or snap in half. Whilst being a bronzesmith can promise a lucrative trade, the cost of bronze and its upkeep ensures that the iron gong smiths keep themselves in business. This culture has had the gamelan for centuries and has no plans to change from this amazing style of orchestra. Below is a short film on how it is made.

Moving from Indonesia to a little further north into China, I want to take a further look at an instrument called the Erhu. Sometimes referred to as the Chinese violin, the erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument and it is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. The Erhu consists of a long vertical stick-like neck, at the top of which are two big tuning pegs, and at the bottom is a small resonator body (sound box) that is covered with python skin on the front (playing) end. Two strings are attached from the pegs to the base, and a small loop of string (Qian Jin) placed around the neck and strings acting as a nut pulls the strings towards the skin, holding a minute wooden bridge in place. Here is a short video comparing the "Chinese Violin" with the "Western Violin."

Another stringed instrument from China is the pipa, sometimes called the Chinese lute, this instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 30 to 36 with 6 on the neck and the rest on the body. he four strings run from a fastener on the belly to conical tuning pegs in the sides of the bent-back pegbox. Once made of silk, they are today usually made of nylon-wrapped steel. While the artist performs a song, the instrument is held vertically on the player’s thigh. Here is an example of how the flute is played in a traditional song.