Gamelan

A gamelan is a set, not a collection: the gongs, metallophones, drums and hanging kettles are tuned to each other and to no other ensemble, so instruments are never swapped between sets. Javanese gamelan is slow, low and deliberate, built around long cycles marked by the largest gong. Balinese gong kebyar is fast and bright and full of sudden stops, with paired instruments tuned slightly apart so the sound shimmers. Players learn by sitting in, not by reading. In Yogyakarta and Solo the palace ensembles rehearse on set days, and visitors can sit at the edge of the pavilion and listen for as long as they like.

What you actually see

• The great gong - the deepest instrument, marking the close of each cycle.
• Paired tuning - Balinese instruments set slightly apart to produce a beating shimmer.
• Interlocking parts - two players sharing one fast line between them.
• Palace rehearsals - open sessions in the Yogyakarta and Solo court pavilions.

When to go

Court rehearsals in Yogyakarta follow a weekly timetable posted at the palace, usually in the morning. In Bali, village banjar halls practise in the evening and outsiders who sit quietly at the back are generally left alone. Temple ceremonies bring out the full ensembles and follow the two hundred and ten day Balinese calendar.

Honest expectations

Javanese gamelan is genuinely slow, and a single piece can run half an hour on one cycle, which defeats a lot of listeners. Hotel performances are shortened and often badly amplified. The tuning sounds out of tune to ears trained on Western scales, and no amount of explanation changes that at first hearing. Photography during rehearsals is sometimes unwelcome.

Nearby

Shadow theatre uses the same orchestra and frequently the same players.