Balinese Gamelan

Balinese gamelan is the percussion-orchestra tradition of Bali, Indonesia, built from bronze metallophones, gongs, drums and bamboo flutes tuned to the five-tone slendro and seven-tone pelog systems. Dozens of distinct ensembles serve temple festivals, dance drama and shadow theatre, all organised around colotomic cycles in which large gongs mark the structure while paired instruments play interlocking patterns at high speed. The most influential modern style, gong kebyar, appeared around 1915 with explosive contrasts of tempo and dynamics. Village clubs rehearse to competition standard, and the music is inseparable from the ritual calendar of Balinese Hinduism, which gives it a density of performance unmatched in the region.