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The gamelan was bought in summer 1998 in Dénpasar at a gamelan shop called Gema Kencana. Some people working in this shop are from Tihingan, village where gamelans are forged. At the lower floor of the shop, instrument frames are carved, bamboo tubes fitted in the frames. The gamelan has been active in a bañjar of Tabanan before arriving to this shop.
According to Wayan Gedé Yudana, a Balinese musician who had a look at the gamelan in Geneva in September 2000, the general pitch is slightly low and the acoustic beating (ombak) is slower than on other kebyar gamelans. He said that both these characteristics are typical of the gamelans forged in Tihingan. He also observed that the metal bars and gongs are old but of the new type. He doesn’t know how old but the pitches have already stabilized. By the new type, we understand the mode of forging, in which the bars have sharp-cut lines. Still from Wayan’s information, the two large hanging gongs are of Javanese make, but the kempur might be of genuine Balinese make, which is more and more rare !
None of the instruments' wood parts are the original ones. The original set was of simpler make and seemed to be not carved. The shop has replaced it with a carved set but that isn't of good artistic quality, except for the trompong and réyong which show a more competent make. Like many decorated gamelans, imitated prada has been painted on the carvings.
The sound is a different matter altogether and has been the acquisition’s decisive factor. The metal keys give a satisfactory tone, the timbre is not dead. The two large gongs have a fairly good sound. The sound of the whole ensemble is a wonder, of a soothing beauty. A melodious, warm, sweet, clear sound. Unlike some gong kebyar, the musical scale doesn't sound pretentious. It might rather render more faithfully a romantic or comic repertoire linked to fairy tales. In that sense, the gamelan’s sound comes closer to pelègongan and bebarongan gamelans than to standardized kebyar music.
The gamelan originally had two ugal. We took one only. The shop did a sketchy retuning of it. Here near Geneva we have tuned further the ugal and partly retuned both jègogan.
The gamelan's pitch accuracy is satisfactory except the note ndung of both jègogan. The five upper notes of the four kantilan are slightly under-pitched. Like many kebyar gamelans today, the nine gangsa start on ndong, the calung and jègogan start on nding, the réyong on ndèng and the trompong on ndang. (See ranges of the instruments in the diagram below.)
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