Influences on the orchestration

Instrument We can suppose that the gamelans' precursors were ensembles of "reduced" formation, with a limited number of instruments and instrument types. To get to today's gamelans, these ensembles have had to undergo an evolution in which we observe three changes : Increase of the number of instruments in an ensemble Diversification : Some instruments become specialized and fulfill thus new roles in the ensemble's orchestration. Division / multiplication : Some instruments covering at least two octaves are not played by a single player anymore but by two players at least. The instrument can even be "cut" into several instruments, each covering one octave. An instrument can also be multiplied as to obtain a different sound or to fulfill several roles. High sound volumes, and especially certain timbres can be produced only from combinations of instruments and not from a single instrument. The result is a large ensemble made up mostly of keyboards (metallophones, xylophones) and gongs. These two types of instrument serve as basic models on which two things depend : series of identical copies and variations in the dimensions. The gamelans thus seem to be a development that hasn't modified the fundamental format of the gong and the keyboard. These ensembles always bear today the mark of archaic instruments that have evolved only in dimensions and quality of making. The linear arrangement of gongs in instruments like rénténg, bonang, trompong, réyong and kulintang, may have as inspirational origin the keys' layout of the keyboard. The more we go east, the more we find gamelans formed of keyboards only.

Social organization The orchestration of today's gamelans is remarkably accomplished and shows coherence. The preparation of numerous and elaborate ceremonies already required from the participants a certain organization that had to take root in the social structure. It is natural that a music ensemble played by many participants, and having to offer a rich music, be a gamelan. The Javano-Balinese people's ability to develop well-ordered collective activities is seen in their music ensembles and is heard in their music.

Players' character trait The elaborate orchestration of gamelans testifies to a thorough coordination between the players. While they are playing a gamelan, they are in complete musical agreement. All is mutual harmony, complementarity of parts, instinctive distribution of tasks. Looking at them playing, listening to their music, we feel a pleasant absence of conflict, of tension or dispute. We even guess now and then their easy-going nature in the softness of sounds or their joie de vivre in the energy of rhythms. We can wonder whether this coordination, this agreement of rhythms, is an inborn or acquired aptitude among the Javanese and Balinese. It seems in any case to be a natural inclination of their character, and they get pleasure out of it. Their natural, economic and social environments have most probably played a role in the forming of their distinctive character. The music of the gamelan would then not simply be a direct consequence of their character but would have been formed at the same time, under the environment's influence, and would have acquired a character similar to that of the people. This correlation would already be anchored and well formed under the hinduized kingdoms of Java's center. The orchestral organization of the gamelans we hear today inherit a beautiful tradition where arts, anchored in their cultural context, were a collective expression based on artistic canons.

Use, esthetic quality, music Unlike a chamber music, the fact of playing outdoors demands a high sound volume from the instruments. The more instruments the gamelan comprises, greater is its expressiveness and louder it can sound. To give a beautiful, rich music, a gamelan must be able to sound all the melodic, agogic, colotomic, rhythmical levels at the same time. All these levels demand a real orchestration.