A Friend is a Treasure

8/2/2019 A Friend is a Treasure

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A FRIEND IS A TREASURE A Friend is a Treasure A friend is someone we turn to,when our spirits need a lift.A friend is someone we treasure,for our friendship is a gift.A friend is someone who fills our lives,with beauty, joy and grace.And make the world we live in,a better and happier place.

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

True friends are for lifeUntil the endThey're more than specialThey're your bestest friends.

They're the ones you can go toWhen you're in despairThe ones that'll help youEven when you got gum in your hair!

They're the ones who'll laughAnd go laughing with you all through the nightThe ones who'll help youHelp you with all their might

To have a good friendYou have to be oneSo be nice to one anotherSo you can be friends foreverAnd that\'s how to be the best friend you can be.

A BEST FRIEND

A best friendis always there,whether you need advice,or a pep talk,or even a shoulder to cry on.A best friendlistens with her heartand is always honest with you,even though the truthmay not bewhat you want to hear.A best friendknows all your secrets,understands your fearsshares your dreams.A best friendnever stops believing in youeven if you give upon yourself.you arethat kind of friendto me.

And no matter what happens,you always will be.You are my best friend....my forever friend.

FRIEND

A friend is a personto laugh and cry with,

An inspiration,Someone who lends a helping hand,though friends may not be forever,And they may not end up together,the memories of a true friendship willlast forever.A friend is not a shadow nor a servantBut someone who holda piece of a person in his heart.Someone who shares a smile,Someone who brightens up your dayWhat makes a person a friend?

Is by saying your Love will stay.

About Gamelan

A gamelan is an Indonesian percussion orchestra. The word gamelan(pronounced gah-meh-lan) comes from the Javanese word ³ gambel ,´meaning ³to strike´ or ³to play´ and most often refers to the sets of

percussion orchestras of Bali and Java. The instruments consistmainly of bronze gongs of varying sizes and pitches, keyedmetallophones, often suspended over bamboo resonators, double-headed drums, cymbals, vocals, bamboo flutes, and spiked fiddles.

Gamelan music is known for its extensive use of polyphony. Musicalcompositions are often constructed so that lower pitched instruments,such as the larger gongs, play at a relatively slow pace to givestructure to the musical composition, while the higher pitchedinstruments play much faster melodic passages to create a rich andentrancing musical texture. Balinese gamelan , the style whichGamelan Mitra Kusuma studies and performs, is known for its use of tightly interlocking polyphonic melodies, called kotekan , wherein onemusician or group of musicians play one portion of a melody,whileanother musician or musicians play the other portion. Kotekan areoften performed at very high speeds, requiring intensive rehearsal andgroup coordination.

In Bali, music and dance are essential components of almost anyactivity, and a wide variety of ensembles has developed toaccompany both religious and secular events. One might see gamelan

performances at Balinese-Hindu temple ceremonies, weddings, toothfiling ceremonies, and cremations, as well as secular concerts, musiccompetitions, and school and governmental functions. There aredozens of different types of gamelan s in Bali to fulfill thesefunctions, ranging from large metal orchestras to bamboo ensembles,vocal groups, and even groups dedicated to the imitation of frogsounds. Gamelan Mitra Kusuma studies and performs upon a number of these different ensembles, and they are briefly described below.

Gong Kebyar

Gamelan Gong Kebyar is often the first style of Balinese gamelan that a Westerner is exposed to, and it is by far the most popular



ensemble in Bali. Gong kebyar developed in the early 20th-century,and its rise in popularity is believed to be tied to the loss of power of the Balinese royal courts during Bali's brief period of Dutchcolonization. At this time, many traditional court-owned gamelan instruments were passed down to village authorities who, realizing anopportunity to create an entirely new style of music, modified theseold ensembles to fulfill their creative ambitions.

Because of its early association with the royal court gamelantraditions, gong kebyar is often viewed as a direct descendant of the

grand gong gede , which played a slow, stately, and very loud style of gamelan called lelambatan for royal ceremonies. Thus, gong kebyar groups are often called upon to play a somewhat updated version of this court music to accompany certain rituals and festivals. However,

gong kebyar 's earliest composers, wishing to make an unforgettableimpact on their audience, also developed new compositions withunexpected and explosive changes in tempo and dynamics, andextremely fast and dazzlingly syncopated melodies, requiringvirtuosic musicians and tightly coordinated ensemble playing. Theword kebyar , in fact, means "a sudden burst", as in the sudden

blooming of a flower, and also describes the arrhythmic andunpredictable introductions, transitions and conclusions of most gong kebyar compositions.

The core melody of most gong kebyar compositions is played bylarge five-keyed xylophone-like instruments called jegog and jublag (or calung ). This melody is subdivided by a seven-keyed instrumentcalled penyacah . The jegog , jublag and penyacah are accompanied

by a set of ten-keyed instruments called gangsa, played by ninemusicians, and a set of 12 small horizontally suspended gongs, calledreyong , played by four musicians. These instruments play kotekan ,which in gong kebyar can be quite difficult and elaborate, as well asmany other elaborations on the core melody. Two drummers act asthe ³conductor,´ cueing the many changes in tempo and dynamics. Aset of small cymbals, called ceng-ceng , accompany the drummer, andquite often the reyong , ceng-ceng and drummers overlay elaboraterhythmic constructs, called ocak-ocakan , over the melody. Bambooflutes, called suling , and occasionally a spike fiddle, called rebab ,reinforce and further elaborate the song's core melody. The texture asa whole is punctuated by the large suspended gongs, considered to bethe spiritual centre of the ensemble.

Gong kebyar uses a five-tone modal scale, called selisir , which isderived from a seven-note scale used in several older Balineseensembles. The gangsa are two octave instruments, and the reyong 's12 gongs contain a little more than two octaves. A gong kebyar 's

pitch range for its melodic instruments is a little over four octaves.

Much of the gong kebyar repetoire is designed to accompany danceand other theatric performances, and musicians and dancers in Balioften work for days on end to perfectly coordinate a dancer's everymovement with a musical counterpart, from a simple walk from oneend of the stage to another, to the eye movements and facialexpressions of the dancer.

Gamelan Angklung

While the instrumentation of gamelan angklung is similar to gong kebyar , it has several critical differences. First, the scale of gamelan angklung only uses four pitches, derived from a different set of notesin the traditional seven-note scale. Secondly, whereas many of theinstruments in gong kebyar span multiple octaves of its pentatonicscale, gamelan angklung instruments only contain one octave.

Gamelan angklung also has a more delicate and sweeter sound than gong kebyar . The instruments are considerably smaller, and hencemore portable, than gong kebyar . Part of the reason for this

portability is its use in cremation rituals in Bali, where the musiciansoften play in a procession as the funeral bier is carried from thecemetary to the cremation site, in addition to playing music toaccompany the ceremony.

The structure of the music is similar to gong kebyar . Jublag and jegog carry the basic melody, which is elaborated by gangsa , reyong ,ceng-ceng , drum, and flute. A medium sized gong, called kempur , isgenerally used to punctuate a song's major sections. And althoughmost older compositions generally do not employ gong kebyar 's more

ostentatious virtuosity and showmanship, many Balinese composershave created kebyar -style works for gamelan angklung , oftenfeaturing dance.

Gender Wayang

A gender (pronounced with a hard "g" sound) is a bronze-keyedmetallaphone, similar to gangsa , but with somewhat thinner, moredelicate keys. It also differs from gangsa in the way it is played.Whereas the gangsa is played with a single mallet, the gender is

played with two mallets.

Gender wayang is an ensemble of four gender used to accompany

shadow puppet plays, or wayang kulit . It is considered one of themost difficult gamelan instruments to play, partly because of the

playing technique, but also because these four instruments, alongwith a puppeteer and his assistants, perform all of the duties of a

gamelan group. The gender players play a slower basic melody,similar to what the jublag , jegog and penyacah would play in gong kebyar , with their left hands, while playing elaborations similar to

gangsa and reyong with their right. The puppeteer, or dalang , acts asconductor, knocking a small piece of wood , called cepala , againstthe puppet box, giving signals similar to those given by a drummer,while he maneuvers the puppets, speaking and/or singing all their

parts.

The themes of the puppet shows are generally derived from theHindu epic, the Mahabharata. Sometimes the Ramayana, a tale of theexile of Prince Rama of Ayuda, is used as a basis of the plot, but inthis case, the gender wayang is augmented with additionalinstruments such as drums, ceng-ceng , flute, a cluster of bells called

gentorag , and many of the smaller gongs used for time keeping inother gamelan ensembles.

Gender wayang is also played as an accompaniment the Balineseceremonial tooth filing, where a young person's teeth are ritually filedto refine his or her appearance, weddings, and other templeceremonies.

Joged Bumbung

A Joged bumbung ensemble consists of four ten-keyed bambooinstruments played with rubber mallets. The technique for playing issimilar to gender wayang , with the left hand playing a basic melodywhile the right hand plays elaboration. It is an ensemble used for social occasions, and accompanies a flirtatious social dance. Female

joged dancers invite members of the audience to dance with them,giving young men an opportunity to show off their dance skills andflirt with the dancers.

Tektekan

Tektekan is played with bamboo slit drums, called kul-kul , that arecradled in the players' arms and struck with a wooden mallet,



producing a sharp rhythmic sound. Groups of between 10 and 20 players strike these in interlocking patterns similar to kotekan, andthey are sometimes accompanied by drum and gongs to punctuaterhythmic cycles.

Tektekan is often used to accompany a performance calledcalanarong , a ritual drama wherein men go into trance and are

possessed by the spirits of witches, led by a queen named Rangda.This ritual is believed to be dangerous to both participants andspectators, and is only carried out at specific times under conditions

very carefully controlled by a Balinese priest. Today, a more benignform of calanarong is staged for tourists in Bali, where the participants simply enact the possession. However, many of the same precautions are taken, as there is always a danger that thereenactment could become real.

Other uses of tektekan include processions, since the instruments arevery portable. Tektekan has also recently been incorporated into newgong kebyar pieces.

Bebonangan/Beleganjur

Bebonangan , or beleganjur , is processional music, and has a very

similar history and function as marching bands in the West. Likemarching bands, it was originally used to lead armies into battle, andtoday it is used for parades and festivals.

However, beleganjur has an additional use in religious ceremoniessuch as odalan , held on the anniversary of a temple's concecration,and cremations. In fact, if a particular gamelan is not available for aceremony, beleganjur often takes its place, because the instrumentsused are comparatively less expensive than most other gamelan .

The simplest form of beleganjur can consist of only about nineinstruments: a large gong ageng , a second gong called bendé , four

pairs of large, handheld cymbals called ceng-ceng , two drums playedwith mallets, and some kind of small time-keeping instrument called

ketuk, kempli, or tawa-tawa . The drums and cymbals playinterlocking patterns of a repeating gong pattern.

This form of gamelan can be then augmented with more cymbals, asmaller gong to compliment the gong ageng , two tuned, handheldgongs called ponggang , and small tuned gongs often taken from thereyong of a gong kebyar . When these gongs are used in this context,they are often called bonang , hence the name bebonangan or beleganjur bebonangan .

In recent years, this ensemble has gain popularity among young men,who are attracted by its martial qualities, high volume, and thechallenge of playing the instruments, particularly the ceng-ceng ,bonang , and drum, as they demand physical strength and endurance.

Ensembles often compete fiercely for prizes in competition, and the performances often include elaborate, bewildering and physicallyexhausting compositions played at breakneck speed, accompanied bydetailed and difficult choreography.

The University of Pittsburgh Gamelan Ensemble plays the gamelanmusic of the Sundanese people, an ethnic group that inhabits roughlythe western third of the island of Java. Gamelan refers to a set of

predominantly percussion instruments including tuned gongs, metal-keyed instruments, and drums (as well as bowed lute and voice).Gamelan music is played as accompaniment to dance, drama, puppettheater, and martial arts, as well as for concerts of listening music.Gamelan is performed in conjunction with special occasions and tomark important life-cycle events.

Each gamelan has a unique tuning and character²instruments in oneset are tuned to each other and are not interchangeable withinstruments from other sets. Gamelan sets are often named to reflecttheir individual character. The University of Pittsburgh gamelan,which arrived in October 1995, is named appropriately "Kyai TirtaRukmi," or "Venerable Rivers of Gold." The gamelan is actuallycomposed of two sets of instruments, and each set is tuned to adifferent intervallic structure ( laras ). One set is tuned to laras

salendro (a five-tone tuning system made up of approximatelyequidistant intervals), and the other set is tuned to laras pelog (aseven-tone tuning system with large and small intervals).

Pitt's gamelan group includes students as well as communitymembers. Participants in the gamelan program are encouraged to useSundanese processes of learning as much as possible; oraltransmission of musical parts is preferred over written notation andworking together as an ensemble is more important than developing

individual talent. Students are also encouraged to learn and play morethan one instrument and to learn the relationships among them.Therefore, in our concerts, the musicians move from one position toanother in order to put into practice what they have learned.

Each year, the Department of Music sponsors a large-scale gamelanconcert. The department invites guest artists from Indonesia to serveas artists-in-residence. During their residence in Pittsburgh, guestartists present lecture-demonstrations, public lectures, workshops,and performances that reach people from a variety of sectors in theUniversity and the broader Pittsburgh community. These events areintended to increase the community's awareness of Indonesian

performing arts and culture.



R ampak refers to a group performance and kendang is a set of threedrums made up of one large drum and two small drums. Each set is

played by one person and there are three sets played in this recording.Conventional rhythmic patterns played on the kendang are arrangedand coordinated to create a feeling of excitement. The piece playedon the gamelan is a new composition ( karangan anyar ) based on thetonal structure of a traditional piece ("Gendu").

Almost every where in Yogya, Solo, Semarang and other citiesin Central Java, in Karatons, in the market, in the villages, in

the hotel's lobby, you should hear the magical melodiouspercussion music - the gamelan Javanese orchestra .

In his book ' music of Java ' Jaap Kunst says, "Gamelan iscomparable to only two things, moonlight and flowing water....mysterious like moonlight and always changing like flowingwater ...".

Gamelan music is an integral part of all cultural activities inJava such as wayang kulit (leather puppets) performance,court dance, uyon-uyon (symphony orchestra performance),etc. There are two kinds of laras (tuning) in gamelan, namelyslendro (comparable to minor key in Western music) and Pelog(major key). A complete set of gamelan consist of two sets of

different instruments of Slendro and Pelog, such as:

1. K endang (double ended drum beaten by hands)It is a leading instrument. The pengendang (drumer)is the conductor of the gamelan orchestra. There arefive (5) different sizes of kendang from 20 cm to 45cm.

2. Saron A glockenspiel with bronze bar struck with woodenmallet. There are three kinds; Saron Barung, SaronPeking, Saron Demung.

3. Bonang Barung A double row of bronze kettles resting on a horizontalframe, played with two long stick bound with red cord

at the striking end.4. Bonang Penerus

5. Slentem

Thin bronze bars suspended over bamboo resonatingchambers, struck with a padded disc on the end of astick.

6. Gender Similar to slentem with more bronze keys and smaller bamboo chamber, struck with two disc-shapedhammers.

7. Gambang Wooden bars laid over a wooden frame struck withtwo sticks of supple buffalo horn, ending with a small,round, padded disc.



8 . Gong Each slendro and pelog set had three gongs. Two biggongs (Gong Ageng) and one gong Suwukan about

90 cm, made from bronze, suspended on a woodenframe. It marks the end of the largest phrase of themelody. 9. K empul

Smaller gongs, marks a smaller phrase. In eachslendro and pelog set, there are 6 (six) or 10 (ten)kempuls.

10. K enongSmaller gongs lay horizontally on crossed cord, insidea wooden frame. A complete set of kenong in eachslendro and pelog consist of 10 (ten) kenongs.

11. K etug The kenong player also plays it smaller kenong,marks subdivisions of phrases.

12. Clempung A string instrument, each slendro and pelog set needsone clempung.

13. Siter

Smaller cemplung, each slendro and pelog set needsone siter

14. Suling It is a flute, each slendro and pelog set, needs onesuling.

15. Rebab A two stringed viol, the same as slendro and pelog.

16. K eprak and K epyak Needed for gamelan to accompany dances.



17. Bedug It is a very big drum.

The bars of the gamelan instruments can be made either fromiron, copper or bronze. The bronze bars are the best choice.

All the gamelan players are sitting cross-legged on a matduring a performance.

In a gamelan music concert or karawitan performance, theKendang player or pengendang conducts the Tempo, while themelody is led by the bonang player

The gamelan orchestra includes some singers (Pesinden),female as well as male. There are some very famousPesindens, their names are almost known by everybody in thisregion.

Some believe that in the ancient time, the first set of gamelan,by the name of Lokananta was created by gods and played inMount Lawu, Eastward of Solo.

In short the history of gamelan was as follow:The first gamelan was the three-toned Munggang , then the

five-toned slendro gamelan and the last: the seven-tonedpelog gamelan .

Patet In the laras slendro, there are:

y Slendro patet nemy Slendro patet sangay Slendro patet manyura

In the laras pelog, there are:

y Pelog patet limay Pelog patet nemy Pelog patet barong

Patet is a place to lay the gending or to establish the gending.In the wayang kulit (shadow puppet) whole night show, thegamelan plays,Slendro patet nem from 9.00-12.00 p.m.Slendro patet sanga from 00.00-03.00 a.m.Slendro patet manyura from 03.00-06.00 a.m.

For an experienced gamelan player it should not difficult todetermine the patet of a particular gamelan music. Or it can besaid that patet is used to create mood, with the gamelanaccompaniment. It is already known that various gamelantunes are played to create different atmosphere of the situationor feeling such as joy, sorrow, anger etc.

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A Friend is a Treasure