Western Influence in Gamelan Music
Author(s): Judith Becker
Source: Asian Music , 1972, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1972), pp. 3-9
Published by: University of Texas Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/834100
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
University of Texas Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Asian Music
This content downloaded from
86.59.13.237 on Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:38:12 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
WESTERN INFLUENCE IN GAMELAN MUSIC
by
Judith Becker
It is commonly assumed that there is no Western influence in gamela
When one compares gamelan music with Indonesian krontjong or other hyb
forms of mainland Southeast Asia, it does appear that gamelan music has kept
free from Western influence. Only rarely does one hear Western pop tunes played
by a gamelan. Western diatonic scales have not replaced slendro and pelog.
Violins and saxophones do not substitute for traditional stringed or wind instru-
ments. But the absence of obvious borrowings does not mean that the Western
world has not had its impact on gamelan music. The word influence cannot be
limited in interpretation to mean only simplistic adoption. Influence also includes
the impact of technology and Western concepts.
Western thought and Western technology have become increasingly widespread
and accepted in Java over the last three hundred years. As a nation, Indonesia
is fully committed to the ideals of modern agriculture, improved harbors, rail-
roads, trucking and bus systems, public education for all, rational economic
policies, European government bureaucracy, a large standing army and general
elections. Most Javanese feel that advancement and status should be the result
of talent and effort, not birth. Most desire a society with social mobility and hope
that their children will be better educated and higher in status than themselves.
In Java one continually hears of the need to be madju, or progressive, which
usually turns out to mean Western. While not abandoning traditional Javanese
values, a new set of motives and aspirations has been added to old values. To
say that music is not affected by these developments is to believe music systems
are closed systems with totally internal governings, and that they do not necessarily
partake of the changes in the society as a whole. To accept the idea that gamelan
music is free from Western influence is to somehow believe that it is not people
who make music.
The aspect of Western civilization which has had the most profound impact
upon gamelan music is communications, including music notation. Beginning in
the second half of the 19th century when notation systems based upon European
models were first developed in central Java, notating gamelan compositions has
become increasingly widespread. 2 This innovation seems innocent enough but
it is affecting certain aspects of gamelan playing, notably regional styles. The
central Javanese area around Surakarta and Jogjakarta have long been the centers
of the most prestigious styles of gamelan playing. Any gamelan within the cultural
sphere of these court cities wants to play like the court gamelans. Formerly,
communications being poor, it wasn't really possible. Now however, books of
gamelan pieces with only Surakarta or Jogjakarta versions are sold very cheaply
all over central and eastern Java. These books include notation for a middle-
strata or saron part. As the parts for all instruments of lower density or slower
moving parts are implied by the saron part, any gamelan can exactly reproduce
This content downloaded from
86.59.13.237 on Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:38:12 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
at least half the instrumental parts from the printed books. If the gamelan had
formerly been playing a somewhat different version of the same piece, it will
likely change in order to conform to the prestigious court-city version. Thus
notation, a device based upon European models, is contributing to the homogeni-
zation of gamelan styles.
In addition, gamelan notation has introduced the concept of correctness and
the idea of exact imitation into gamelan playing. Written parts for some of the
higher-density, fast-moving instrumental lines are sometimes available. A
written part by a renowned master has great authority for a Javanese musician.
Before notation, imitation of a master was limited to those in his immediate circle
and tempered by memory lapses and the personal creativity of the student. Slavish
imitation was never possible to any great extent, and was not considered of value
anyway. Notation, however, has introduced the concept of standardization and
uniformity which in some gamelans has severely limited the autonomy of the
individual musician.
More recent than the adoption of notation, is the use of Western radio commu-
nications. Each week, gamelan broadcasts from Surakarta and Jogjakarta are
avidly followed in central and eastern Java. These broadcasts reinforce the
tendency to imitate court-city styles by providing living examples of the sound of
Surakarta/l Jogjakarta gamelans. A new industry, gamelan recordings, has
the same effect. Nearly all Javanese record companies record exclusively
Surakarta/ Jogjakarta gamelan music. While few people can afford to buy
records, they are frequently played on amateur radio stations, as well as pirated
by casette companies who turn expensive records into cheap casettes without so
much as a rupiah going to either record company or performers. Notation sys-
tems, radio broadcasts and recordings, all work together to make possible a
widespread imitation of court styles to the detriment of regional styles.
An instrument of Western communication which has had a rather different
impact upon Javanese music is the microphone. As a large ensemble of large
instruments, a gamelan takes up a lot of space. Traditionally, all instruments
are rather uniform in loudness and no one part takes precedence over any other
part. The whole of the musical ensemble is meant to produce a feeling of
balance, of equilibrium. The musical effect is hoped to produce a similar mental
effect, namely iklas, that psychological state of repose so valued in Java. The
smooth and homogeneous texture reflects symbolically the balance of opposing
forces of the spirit, powers of nature, or if you like, tensions of the mind. Thus
musical texture rather accurately mirrors a psychological ideal, mental stability
and repose. The introduction of the microphone disturbs this neat fit of mental
state and musical texture. Given the state of the Javanese economy, hardly any
one owns several high-quality overhead mikes. Nearly always, there is only one
available standing mike. Practice has established that it is to be placed in front
of the pesinden, or female singer. This automatically makes a soloist out of the
pesinden with the gamelan relegated to an accompanying role. This practice may
be an unconscious imitation of Western practice. The simple introduction of an
electronic device, the microphone, alters the whole system of relationships
This content downloaded from
86.59.13.237 on Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:38:12 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
among the various musical lines and basically alters both feeling and the meaning
of the music.
The general effect of Western technology is complemented by specific instances
of Western influence upon specific composers.
Modern gamelan composition has been totally ignored by Western musicologists.
The brilliance and depth of traditional court gamelan have probably been respon-
sible for this fact. Most Westerners, particularly students, are dazzled by the
court traditions and find themselves unable to look beyond. This has led to a
myopic view of Javanese gamelan and gives the outsider the impression that there
is little else besides palace traditions. Also, it must be admitted, snobbishness
is a factor. It is the Americans who are courtless who become so romantically
involved in court traditions. Aside from this, it is true that at least 95 percent of
the gamelan music one hears all over the island is traditional in style, whether
traditional court style, traditional Surabaja style, traditional East Java style,
Banjuman style, etc. It might be possible to discount the remaining 5 percent
were it not for one very important factor. The Javanese themselves are very
much interested in new gamelan music. A concert of new pieces by a popular
composer will be well attended, covered by the major newspapers, the subject of
descriptive or philosophical reviews, (never critical reviews) in news magazines,
and the topic of countless discussions by both those in attendance, and perhaps
more so, by those who were not present. A concert of new pieces in Djakarta is
known the next day in East Java. Traditional performances do not, as a rule,
receive anything like that kind of coverage. The new music has its enthusiastic
followers as well as its vehement detractors.
One of Java's most prominent modern composers is Ki Wasitodipura, formerly
Ki Tjokrowasito. Wasitodipura comes from a family of musicians traditionally
attached tothe Paku Alaman court in Jogjakarta. Like his father before him,
he is the head of the musicians of the Paku Alaman court. As is to be expected,
court gamelans are staunch preservers of tradition and are unlikely breeding
grounds for innovation. But Wasitodipura has wider activities. He is also the
director of the gamelan at the local branch of the national broadcasting company,
RRI, Radio Republic Indonesia, at Jogjakarta.. In this role, he is brought into
contact with a totally different world than the tradition-bound, etiquette-heavy
Javanese court. The national broadcasting network includes a number of stations
in the large cities of Indonesia which are notable for the high quality of their
programs. Music is important in their programming as they try to encourage
regional arts as well as the seemingly contradictory aim of fostering national
consciousness. As a high-ranking member of the RRI team in Jogjakarta,
Wasitodipura comes into contact with national planners, is involved in such con-
temporary devices as the committee meeting, works in an environment where
ranking is more or less according to ability, and where a group of people work
systematically toward rational goals. The RRI gamelan, unlike the Paku Alaman
court gamelan, often plays new pieces by Wasitodipura.
In addition to his directorship of the Paku Alaman court gamelan, Wasitodipura
has another important role. He is the musical director for the Sendratari or
This content downloaded from
86.59.13.237 on Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:38:12 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
dance-drama performances of the innovative choreographer Bagong Kussudiardjo.
Bagong produces around two new dance-dramas each year. His dance style is
basically traditional but with many innovations reflecting his own study with
Martha Graham as well as his interest in dance styles everywhere. Bagong is
remarkably unencumbered with Javanese politesse and ranking and pointedly treats
all people equally. As his musical director, Wasitodipura not only has the
opportunity but the necessity for producing new music, both traditional and
innovative in style.
Thus Wasitodipura is a composer whose credentials as a traditional musician
are impeccable, while at the same time he is associated with modern developments.
It is a measure of the man that he moves with such grace within and between his
various worlds.
The musical example is the opening of a gamelan concert of new pieces by
Wasitodipura recorded in 1968 by the sendratari gamelan of Bagong, directed by
Wasitodipura. A short introduction is usual before gamelan compositions, but
this one has little in common with a traditional introduction. After the brief gong
and flute introduction, the concert opens with an Old-Javanese invocation to the
Gods.
"Hong I la Hing awig namastu nama sidam muga muga rahajuwa
Negaran6, Bangsan6, Rakjat6. " (three words Modern Javanese)
Alam Kala tida swasti
"By the name of God the merciful and powerful, Bless our
Country our Land our People, even in this difficult era. "
This Old-Javanese invocation is still used in Hindu Bali, as a solo sung by
the dalang in a Javanese wayang kulit performance, and is also used in rituals of
the pre-Islamic mixture of animism, Hinduism and Buddhism known in Java as
Kedjawen.
The words of this first composition would lead one to expect a traditional
setting, but the title of the piece immediately indicates otherwise. It is called
"Suara Bersama Pamudji". Pamudji means prayer or supplications. Suara
Bersama is the name of a new choral technique accompanied by gamelan in which
two or three musical lines sing in a Western contrapuntal style. It is found not
only in works by Wasitodipura but in the works of other composers as well. In
traditional vocal style, each voice sings patterns which relate melodically but not
harmonically, horizontally but not vertically. In Suara Bersama technique, the
voices sing harmonics, in this case in interlocked parallel lines. In the West,
this type of strict parallelism is associated with Catholic Church litergy. The
Catholic Mass would seem to be an unlikely source of inspiration for a Kedjawen
court musician, unless one is aware of the special role of the Catholic Church in
Jogjakarta. In the heartland of traditional Java, the Catholic Church has provided
a catalyst for change and innovation and produced writers and artists far out of
proportion to their membership in the whole society. The Catholic Church in
This content downloaded from
86.59.13.237 on Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:38:12 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Jogjakarta and in Semarang have held gamelan masses long enough for there to
have developed a body of gamelan pieces for church use. While Wasitodipura is not
Catholic, he has surely followed these developments in his own city. Even though
based upon a medieval church style, Suara Bersama Pamudji is nevertheless a
Western borrowing. Also, the vocal quality of the singers is not the rather tense,
nasalized quality of a Javanese chorus, but a more open sound associated with
Western choruses.
The concert continues with a gamelan piece called "Kagok Pangrawit". The
title means something like deviating or strange gamelan playing. Anyone familiar
with the generally slow-paced gamelan melodies and the regular stress patterns
of traditional Javanese music will agree this piece is strange indeed. The imme-
diate inspiration for "Kagok Pangrawit" seems to be Bali, not the Western world.
However, something rather striking occurs during the course of the piece. The
second time through nearly all the melodic instruments drop out, leaving the two
gender playing alone with hard mallets, Balinese style. The third time through,
all the instruments play again. This did not happen spontaneously, it was..planned
that way. The manipulation of orchestral sound is a prerogative of a Western
composer, as a person distinct from the performer. In traditional Javanese music,
the way an instrument is played depends upon tradition, when it is played depends
upon the style of the piece and the tempo, never upon the whim of one man, a
composer or a director. No traditional gamelan director has anything like the
power of a Western composer or conductor. Likewise, the autonomy of any game-
Ian player far exceeds that of his Western orchestral counterpart. A knowing
smile is practically the strongest reprove one musician can direct toward another.
The fact that Wasitodipura has the power to turn off half the gamelan at his will
is the assumption of a kind of control common in Western music traditions but
unknown in traditional Java. And the practice of selecting certain instruments
for prominence, recalling again the use of the microphone in front of the singer,
seems based upon Western practice.
Underlying all conscious innovation of which the opening pieces of this program
are but a few examples, is the unspoken assumption that experimentation is legiti-
mate, even praiseworthy. This premise is so natural to us that we tend to believe
it is universal. Traditional Javanese society and to a great extent, present-day
Javanese society, does not value experimentation. Any new program in Java will
encounter great opposition, or rather, monumental passive resistance. There
seems to be a residue of suspicion, probably well-founded, that any innovation
will not be better than the old way, and very likely will be worse. The disap-
pointing results of high-minded programs such as the miracle-rice program in
Java only tend to confirm this deep-seated feeling. Reluctance toward innovation,
specifically musical innovation, is illustrated by the results of a contest held in
the 30's to judge new gamelan compositions. The criteria of originality had to
be abandoned as the compositions submitted all seemed based upon traditional
pieces. 3 For certain segments of the population, this traditionally conservative
stance is changing. Due to large numbers of Western-trained Javanese in high-
level positions in government, education, business, communications and the arts,
experimentation is becoming less suspect. While Wasitodipura is in background
This content downloaded from
86.59.13.237 on Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:38:12 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
and behavior a traditional Javanese, his frequent and sometimes intensive con-
tact with the "new Indonesian", the Western-influenced 6lite in government, army
and business has given him ample opportunity to observe and absorb the new
approaches and attitudes of this prestigious group. From conversations with
him, I derived the impression that there was nothing he would not try in gamelan
composition if it satisfied his musical taste. I cannot believe it would have been
possible to find such an attitude held by a palace musician fifty years ago. In
some respects this is due to outside, extra-musical influence.
In conclusion, Western influence is evident in technological innovations, in
notation, in attitudes held by musicians, and to a smaller degree, in direct
borrowings. These combined influences are subtly changing the ethos, the
symbolical meaning, the rasa of gamelan music. It is not the role of the
musicologist to either applaud or condemn these developments. But the new
directions of gamelan music are clear indications that it is a viable music
system and inseparable from the whole of Javanese society. Those same forces
pressuring Javanese society out of traditional modes are mirrored in Javanese
art forms. Indeed, it cannot be otherwise.
NOTES
1. Hood, Mantle, The Ethnomusicologist, McGraw-Hill, 1971, p. 305, "
viability of The Tradition, measured against the incompatible force, "
(European cultures - parentheses are mine) "has not been affected except
for the practice of radio broadcasts, the occasional use of the public address
system, and sometimes the electric light bulb in lieu of the blintjong, or
oil lamp. "
2. A fuller discussion of the introduction and development of notation in Java
will appear in a forthcoming issue of Selected Reports, UCLA, entitled
"From Oral to Written Tradition in Javanese Gamelan Music, " by the author.
3. Wasisto Surjodiningrat, Gamelan Dance and Wajang in Jogjakarta0Gadjah
Mada University, Jogjakarta, Java, Indonesia, 1970, p. 50.
Musical example is the first page of a ten-page booklet of compositions
by Ki Wasitodipura given in concert at the Bangsal Kepatihan, Jogjakarta,
in May 1968. The booklet was given to the author by Ki Wasitodipura,
the tape recording of the same performance was copied from master tapes
by the courtesy of P. L. T. Bagong Kussudiardjo.
This content downloaded from
86.59.13.237 on Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:38:12 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
KAWIWZTAN MEDITASI/KONSENTRASI
Suara Bersama Pamudji
Pelog Patet Nem
Key: sijem - kempul - 7
ketuk - A gong - O
5 5 61 55561 (flute, suling)
Rebab I . 1 . 6 5 ...
Rebqb II 3 . 6 6 53
Rebab III 1 .23 .2 .
A um
3 635 r3 6 .3 5 . 6 .. 0.6. ' 32
n 1.. I * 2 .. ~ 5
Hong I la hing a wig na mas - tu - na ma si
3 3. 6.3 5 6.5.6.
.2;
66 6 .... ...
~ i.j 2 .5 i . 22 -o.3 2.
dam muga miga raha ju wa
.42 4 5 . 9 6 5.. .365
. 6 . 2 . 5 3 ... 25
Negara ne Bang -sa. . . 6 Ra
Negara ne Bang -sa n4 RakjEt6
.3 3 5......
.2 . .235 5 .....
Alam ka-la-ti-da s-asti
Ka ok Pangrawit
..11 ..116. 5.456 .1..1..16.5.456
223.1232323.323 656.65323235323
113 .1232323.323
161.1615.16.166 161.1615.16.1.6 656. 653
This content downloaded from
86.59.13.237 on Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:38:12 1976 12:34:56 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
