Today, we had our tenth day of instruction. It was a very full and rewarding day of music. In the morning session, we learned the beginning of a new song, continued a song originating from North Bali and which featured the rayan, practiced a processional march piece, and ended with the first song we learned. We definitely got a lot done. Dewa and the instructors were very helpful and patient with us. During our break, we had coconut water and more Balinese parties and coffee.
During our afternoon session, we continued our break out sessions. During my first session, I played an instrument that was believed to have existed in Bali before the Javanese gamelan set was adopted. I was playing the nuclear melody and Dewa later came up to me and showed me how to add improvisation to a melody without losing the core structure. This was a new learning experience for me and differed from my classical solo piano training. I really enjoyed this creative aspect of gamelan. Lastly, we ended with learning more complex variations of the Kecak. It is interesting to experience the flow and movement aspect of this practice. There is a huge community aspect to Kecak and it was nice to end rehearsal with this practice.
I rested after our session and then attended a Çudamani rehearsal and listened to three university students’ exam piece. It was incredible and the highest level of gamelan I have ever seen. The exam piece was very modern and used the gamelan’s sounds and instruments in a way I have never heard before.
Leave a Reply