Title: Gamelan Gender Wayang
(If link does not work, watch it on youtube and skip to 5:44, the clip I am referring to ends at approximately 15'')
Performers: Evan Ziporyn and Christine Southworth
Culture: Balinese/American
Instrumentation: two gender paired (tuned) Jegog or possibly Jublag/Calung (pronounced "Chalung"
Context:
This is a very common genre of music in Bali. The name "Gender Wayang" comes from the paired tunings of the instruments used in this recording. Often, when two of one instrument are present, they are tuned in gendered pairs, the male instrument being slightly higher, the female being slightly lower. The pitch classes are the same, but there is difference of several cents between the similar bars, creating a whirring sound which "brings the sound of the gamelan to life", and to some imitates a sort of breathing.
What I find most intriguing about this recording is the performer Evan Ziporyn. Evan, a new virtuoso of the Clarinet was previously a member of the Bang On a Can All-Stars, and has released recordings of solo music and new works for clarinet such as "This is not a Clarinet"consisting of 21st century music for the instrument. He is also a Kenan Sahin distinguished professor of music at MIT. With this list of achievements, one would expect only a devout clarinet player and classical musician. Instead, he is an incredibly diverse musician; he composes music for gamelan ensemble, is heavily involved with his own gamelan ensemble at MIT, and the Gamelan Galak Tika from Boston. Unless I truly need to say more, I believe that this man is a truly stellar example of a 21st century musician.
This is a very cool video Ian! It's interesting to see how the instruments are tuned in gendered pairs, the male instrument being higher and the female being lower. I think this definitely speaks to performance authenticity that these performers are trying to achieve. Do you think this is a type of music that could be easily taught in the American classroom? I personally think it would have a nice transition and be good for our music classrooms. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI agree, very cool! I do agree that 21st-century musicians have to be versatile in order to succeed in the field--but this Evan Ziporyn is extremely so. On the other topic you mentioned, I find it so interesting that these ensembles tune their instruments to be just out of sync with each other to give "life" to the sound. In Western music that is exactly what we are avoiding, in order to bring our own interpretation of "life" to the sound with tuning as near matching as we can get it!
ReplyDeleteI think this would be an awesome tie-in to an Orff unit of some type, transitioning directly into this instrument (or one equivalent that might not be so delicate and is conducive to general music classroom use.) It is always neat to see performers who are not native to a music's country of origin perform that music. While they both try to remain relatively serious throughout the performance, I was glad to see both of them smiling every once in a while. It's a nice reminder that music is a joyful experience that we often can overlook or forget in our study of it.
ReplyDeleteOften the entire gamelan is presented and it is particular helpful for the unfamiliar ear to listen to the attributes of just two instruments to understand the tuning. Would be a great video to share with students!
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