Tuesday, January 29, 2008

 

Javanese gamelan teaching resources

Take this link to a beautifully clear photo of the University of Wisconsin's Central Javanese gamelan. Hold cursor over any instrument and it will bring up the instrument's name. Click on any instrument and it will link you to close-up photos and instrument descriptions. Beyond the photo, the website as a whole is excellent. A very nice resource for teaching!

http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~jjordan/gamelan/instrum-photo.html

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

 

Great beleganjur video clips for Chapter 7 (Bali)

It's very hard to find good video examples of Balinese gamelan beleganjur performances (the main focus of Chapter 7), but having access to same will do wonders for your lectures. Posted below are excerpts from my field videos of cremation procession and beleganjur contest performances, with accompanying notes. Another great resource is this youtube example, which I am quite certain is from a melis procession, in which effigies of deities (arca, pratima) are carried in procession to a ritual bathing to the accompaniment of multiple beleganjur ensembles (see p. 80-81 of my book Music of Death and New Creation for more on melis). Close-up of a marching beleganjur group at the end of the clip is very useful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Z3ldREM8k

And here's some footage from a grand royal cremation in Ubud in summer 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jgerstin

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

 

Videos of gamelan beleganjur (Ch. 7)

video

This example features a contest performance by the famous beleganjur group from Banjar Meranggi (Denpasar), Bali. The group won the 1992 championship in the most prestigious belganjur competition (lomba) with this performance. This clip features an excerpt of the same composition, Suandita's "Wira Ghorava Cakti," that is featured on CD 2, tr. 7 of the WMTT 3-CD set (see also pp. 109-110 of the text).


video

This example features the opening portion of a small cremation (ngaben) procession in Wanasari, Bali. You will see the beleganjur group positioned right behind the cremation tower and the spinning of the tower at the first crossroads of the procession route. A great supplement to the discussion on pp. 99-103 of the text (and to CD exs. #2-4 and 2-5).

video

Conclusion of the same cremation procession in Wanasari. The tower is carried and spun with great energy with the arrival at the cremation grounds (kuburan).


Monday, January 7, 2008

 

More new youtubes for Chapter 7

More cool youtubes for enhancing your Chapter 7 (Bali/Indonesia) lectures, including some fun "surprises."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiz83vNXGZc (Balawan--Bali guitar rock meets beleganjur)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs7i8j48EJ4 (Beleganjur and beyond Dance Dance Revolution)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS-ojK6yGSw (Mr. Bungle--Goodbye Sober Day w. "kecak")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IShF-NB-5Ig (Hanuman animated film w. kecak)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3eeaufzBSo(George Bush plays Javanese gamelan)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwisQkmpqmQ (George Bush plays African drums and dances--[couldn't resist throwing this one in, too!])
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9sn2D5JY28(Gamelan Shokbrek, high octane Sundanese gamelan-jazz fusion)

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