Author Description

Never heard outside of the country until seventy years ago, the gamelan music of Central Java is now being widely taught in America, the Netherlands, and Australia, and interest in other countries is increasing all the time. More and more non-Southeast Asians are coming into contact with gamelan music through travel or through recordings or performances in their home countries. Yet, while valuable research material on gamelan music is available, this is the only short book available for non-Southeast Asians coming into contact with gamelan for the first time. The book outlines some of the basic concepts of Javanese gamelan, and provides a listening framework so that the exotic sounds can be given musical and cultural sense. Included in the text is an explanation of the historical background, the instruments and their making, tuning and notation, the structure of the music, and the place of gamelan music in Javanese society. For those who are traveling in Java, there is a list of places to go to hear gamelan music, and for those who are interested in further study, there is a list of suggested reading and recordings.